Collaborative Research: Carbon-Based Long-Coherence Quantum Bit

全球经济的基础是快速廉价地处理信息的能力。量子信息处理领域利用了量子物理学的不寻常特征，为信息的快速编码和操纵提供了一种新方法。在这个项目中，来自明德学院、哈佛和哥本哈根大学的研究人员创造并研究了由碳纳米管形成的量子比特（量子比特）“量子计算的基本构建块”。研究小组利用碳纳米管的独特性质来操纵和询问量子位，目的是展示脆弱量子态的相干控制。纳米管的关键特性使它们非常适合量子信息处理，它们本身就是新的理解，并且是基础物理学的前沿领域。这些性质包括与纳米管周围的圆周运动相关的自旋-轨道耦合、电子-核耦合以及控制电子自旋退相的能力。该项目在量子信息这一令人兴奋的领域的未来潜在应用与作为基础物理学的纳米级电子学中的凝聚态物理之间取得了良好的平衡。参与该项目的学生特别欣赏该活动的基础和应用组件之间的联系。该项目的主题“量子信息处理”具有革命性。此外，该项目旨在利用文科学院和研究型大学在教育学生和开展研究方面的特殊优势。本科生承担了很大一部分研究工作，为物理学职业提供了宝贵的培训。夏季在哈佛进行的研究直接进入了PI所在机构明德学院的课程，学生们同时进行学分项目和高级论文，并与哈佛的同龄人互动。其目的是培养学生的临界质量谁是深入从事研究的各个方面，从收集和分析数据，以呈现结果，谁拥有必要的培训和专业知识，在物理学中脱颖而出。

Underlying the global economy is the ability to process information quickly and cheaply. The field of quantum information processing, which harnesses the unusual features of quantum physics, offers a novel approach to rapid encoding and manipulation of information. In this project, researchers from Middlebury College, Harvard, and University of Copenhagen create and investigate quantum bits (qubits) "the fundamental building blocks of quantum computation" formed from carbon nanotubes. The team of researchers exploits the unique properties of carbon nanotubes to manipulate and interrogate the qubits, with the goal of demonstrating coherent control of the fragile quantum states. The key properties of nanotubes that make them well suited for quantum information processing are themselves newly understood, and are a forefront area of fundamental physics. Those properties include spin-orbit coupling associated with circumferential motion around the nanotube, electron-nuclear coupling and the ability to control dephasing of electron spin. The project is a good balance between future potential applications in the exciting area of quantum information, and condensed matter physics in nanoscale electronics, as fundamental physics. Students involved in the project particularly appreciate the connection between fundamental and applied components of the activity.The subject of the project "quantum information processing" is inherently revolutionary. In addition, the project is designed to build on the exceptional strengths of liberal arts colleges and research universities in educating students and conducting research. Undergraduates perform a significant portion of the research, providing invaluable training for careers in physics. Research conducted at Harvard during the summer feeds directly into the curriculum at the PI's institution, Middlebury College, as students work in parallel on credit-bearing projects and senior theses and interact with their peers at Harvard. The aim is to foster a critical mass of students who are deeply engaged in all aspects of research, from collecting and analyzing data to presenting results, and who have the training and expertise necessary to excel in physics.