Research on ultra-cold atoms lies at the intersection of atomic physics, many-body physics, quantum optics and quantum information. Quantum physics dominates the behavior of atomic gases cooled to near absolute zero temperature, and cold trapped atoms provide an ideal experimental system for studying quantum many-body physics. Our research focuses on ultra-cold gases of Rubidium atoms and Ytterbium/Rubidium mixtures, with the goals of studying novel condensed matter systems and engineering quantum control over many-body systems, including dissipative baths.
James Graduates!!
Congratulations to Dr. James! James successfully defended his thesis, entitled Floquet Heating and Relaxation of Interacting Bose Einstein Condensates
Varun Vaidya
Research Areas:
Ultracold Rb/Yb Mixtures
Where are they now?:
Varun is a postdoc in Ben Lev's group at Stanford University working on Many-Body Cavity QED.
Daniel Ohl de Mello
Research Areas:
Cold Atoms in Optical Lattices
Where are they now?:
Daniel is a Ph.D. student in Gerhard Birkl's group at Technische Universität Darmstadt
Ultracold Rb/Yb Mixtures
Mixtures of ultracold atoms provide a range of opportunities for cold atom research beyond single-species experiments. In this project we use mixtures of 87Rb and Yb atoms to study quantum gas mixtures. Ytterbium is particularly attractive because there are seven stable isotopes (including five bosonic species and two fermionic species with nuclear spin 1/2 and 5/2), allowing for study of Bose-Bose and Bose-Fermi mixtures.
Interacting Photons
This project, jointly led by Steve Rolston and Trey Porto, uses strong photon-photon interactions mediated by Rydberg atoms for quantum networking applications. Single-photon nonlinearities allow for significantly improved quantum networking protocols, but it is challenging to generate such photon interactions at the few photon level. This projects explores the use of Rydberg-dressed polaritons to realize photon nonlinearities and develop tools for quantum networking applications.
Cold Atoms in Optical Lattices
Optically trapped, ultra-cold atoms provide a natural platform for quantum simulation and quantum computing. In this project, we use cold 87Rb atoms trapped in dynamic optical lattices to study many-body physics and to explore experimental quantum control of atom states. An optical lattice, produced by interfering two or more laser beams in free space, traps atoms into arrays of individual sites, reminiscent of condensed matter crystals or atomic registers.
Bob Wyllie
Research Areas:
Cold Atoms in Optical Lattices
Where are they now?:
Bob is a research scientist at Georgia Tech Research Institute
Silvio Koller
Research Areas:
Cold Atoms in Optical Lattices
Where are they now?:
Silvio is a researcher at Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) working on optical clocks.
Brandon Grinkemeyer
Research Areas:
Cold Atoms in Optical Lattices
Where are they now?:
Brandon is doing a gap year before graduate school, working in the lab of Mark Saffman at Wisconsin.
Nathan Fredman
Research Areas:
Interacting Photons
Where are they now?:
Nathan is a physics PhD student at the University of Illinois.