RII Track-4:NSF: Introducing Quantum Logic Spectroscopy to Greater Southern Nevada as a Vital Quantum Control and Information Process Method

这个研究基础设施改善轨道-4 EPSCoR研究员项目将提供奖学金，以助理教授和培训一名研究生，每个项目年在内华达州拉斯维加斯（UNLV）的大学。这项工作将与美国国家标准与技术研究所（NIST）的研究人员合作进行。由NIST于2005年率先推出的量子逻辑光谱学（QLS）是一种革命性的方法，可以实现通用的量子控制和离子检测，并对精密测量领域产生了重大影响。该奖学金旨在促进QLS技术和专业知识从NIST转移到UNLV。这一目标将通过多种手段实现。PI和研究生将对NIST进行多次访问，每次访问持续约几个月。这将使研究人员获得实践经验，并与NIST专家互动，同时还将继续努力在UNLV建立QLS实验平台。预期成果将是多方面的。首先，将在UNLV建立一个实用的QLS平台。其次，NIST和UNLV之间将建立一个强大的连接。第三，将在UNLV培养两名经验丰富的研究生。四是在重分子离子的量子控制和状态读出方面产生科学成果。第五，将为UNLV的量子科学研究和教育中心做好准备。作为基础研究和工业应用的主要研究重点，由EPSCoR奖学金发起的量子科学研究提供了大量的职业机会，并可以在提高女性，代表性不足的少数民族和第一代大学生的招聘和系统保留的多样性方面发挥至关重要的作用。PI在UNLV的研究小组专注于开发使用分子离子的极其敏感的量子传感器，以探索标准模型之外的新物理。虽然QLS技术在原子钟、高电荷离子和分子离子方面有着显著的先进精度测量，但其在测试基本对称性方面的应用，如探索CP破坏效应，仍然未被探索。主要的挑战来自于CP违反测量所需的偏置电场和QLS方案所需的运动纠缠之间的不兼容性。为了克服这一障碍，UNLV的PI小组提出了一种创新的旋转诱导量子控制协议。通过将QLS计划到这个新提出的精密计量方法，有可能大大提高CP违反测量的灵敏度。这反过来又可能导致标准模型之外的新物理学的发现或约束。此外，该方法可以适用于广泛的分子物种，如232 ThF+，229 ThF+，181 TaO+和175 LuOH+。研究通用分子物种的能力使人们有机会并行研究基础物理学中的广泛问题。在该奖学金的支持下，PI的团队有机会在NIST的大力支持下开发用于181 TaO+精密光谱的指定QLS平台。这是迈向CP违规测量新时代的关键一步。此外，引入QLS技术将使UNLV的研究活动集中在研究锕系元素化学的光谱学和化学反应性方面。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-4 EPSCoR Research Fellows project will provide a fellowship to an Assistant Professor and training for one graduate student per project year at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). This work will be conducted in collaboration with researchers at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). Pioneered by NIST in 2005, Quantum Logic Spectroscopy (QLS) stands as a revolutionary methodology enabling universal quantum control and detection of ions and has significantly impacted the fields of precision measurements. This fellowship aims to facilitate the transfer of QLS technology and expertise from NIST to UNLV. This objective will be realized through multiple means. The PI and graduate students will make several visits, each extending about a few months, to NIST. This will allow the researchers to gain hands-on experience and interact with NIST experts, while also having persistent efforts to establish a QLS experimental platform at UNLV. The anticipated outcomes will be multifold. First, a functional QLS platform will be established at UNLV. Second, a robust connection between NIST and UNLV will be created. Third, two experienced graduate students will be developed at UNLV. Fourth, scientific outputs in quantum control and state readout of heavy molecular ions will be generated. Fifth, the groundwork will be prepared for a research and education center dedicated to quantum science at UNLV. As a leading research focus in both fundamental studies and industrial applications, quantum science research initiated by this EPSCoR fellowship presents substantial career opportunities and can play a crucial role in enhancing the diversity of recruitment and systematic retention of women, underrepresented minorities, and first-generation college students in science and engineering. The PI’s research group at UNLV focuses on developing extremely sensitive quantum sensors using molecular ions to explore new physics beyond the Standard model. Although QLS technology has significantly advanced precision measurements in atomic clocks, highly charged ions, and molecular ions, its applications in testing fundamental symmetries, such as exploring CP-violating effects, remain unexplored. The primary challenge arises from the incompatibility between a biased electric field necessitated for CP-violating measurements and the motional entanglement required by the QLS scheme. To overcome this obstacle, the PI's group at UNLV has proposed an innovative rotation-induced quantum control protocol. By incorporating the QLS scheme into this newly proposed precision metrology approach, it is possible to greatly enhance the sensitivity of CP-violating measurements. This, in turn, could lead to the discovery or constraint of new physics beyond the Standard Model. Furthermore, this method could be applicable to a wide range of molecular species, such as 232ThF+, 229ThF+, 181TaO+, and 175LuOH+. The capability of investigating generic molecular species enables opportunities to study broad questions in fundamental physics in parallel. With the support of this fellowship, the PI’s group has opportunities to develop a designated QLS platform for precision spectroscopy of 181TaO+ with strong support from NIST. This constitutes a critical step towards ushering in a new era of CP-violation measurements. Moreover, introducing QLS technology will enable research activities at UNLV focused on studying actinide chemistry in terms of spectroscopy and chemical reactivity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.