OP: Full Temporal Characterization of Interacting Photon Wavefunctions Using Real-Time Multi-Mode Quantum Measurements

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The field of quantum information science is rapidly advancing because of the anticipated impacts that will come from new quantum technologies such as secure communication protocols, improved measurement systems, and revolutionary computing methods. Many of these technologies require nonlinear optical phenomena and sources of correlated light quanta, or photons. This project will pioneer new ways to generate and characterize complex quantum states of light. One aim is to use optical cavities surrounding a sample of cold atoms in order to enhance the way one light beam can control the phase shift for another light beam. A second aim is to use a graphical processor unit (GPU) for real-time characterization of quantum states of light. This will serve as a benchmarking tool for quantum networks, and allow on-the-fly tuning of operational parameters in sophisticated networks of quantum gates and memories. Developing tools for real-time characterization of quantum networks trains students working on this project to use cutting-edge technologies from computer engineering, atomic physics, and photonics.This research has three main thrusts. First, the deployment of different novel physical platforms in which single-photon level quantum nonlinearities can be observed. Second, the design and implementation of state-of-the-art characterization tools that make it possible to explore the quantum process tomography of the gate processes in an extended Hilbert space. Third, the realization of experiments to develop reliable quantum gate operations with single photon fields. An overarching goal of this project is to understand the physics governing atom-mediated photon-photon interactions in a framework with multiple optical frequency modes. To study the performance of quantum phase gates, the team will use GPU hardware to develop quantum state evaluation tools. This approach will also enable real-time characterization of phase-shift operations using interacting photons.