Fri May 25, 2018 2:00 pm
Cold Quantum Gases: Order, Information, Computation, Topology and Gravity
Location:MIT 26-214
Professor Nate Gemelke,
Penn State University
I will review some recent directions in the study of cold quantum gases formed by neutral atoms, showing how some seemingly disparate topics might be brought together in the laboratory under a common suite of techniques. I will begin by describing several observations of phases and transitions between phases of varied order in the quantum limit, particularly in low-dimensional quantum gases, and describe how these might be utilized in quantum information applications. Following this, I will describe the creation of topological phases, particularly analog states of fractional phases made from bosonic neutral atoms, and their interrogation for specialized behavior, including novel statistical exchange. Taking cues from the dynamics of these phases, I will also briefly describe some surprising connections to gravitational physics, and suggest some ways in which certain features of quantum gravity might be “simulated” in a laboratory.