Antiferromagnetic spinor Bose-Einstein condensates: from quantum quenches to quantum information

这个实验研究项目使用超冷物质来研究不稳定性是如何在微观领域发展和传播的，而不是宏观领域。在微观领域，大多数物体遵循量子物理定律，而不是经典物理定律。这两套定律的不同之处在于，它可以为量子技术带来巨大的力量，从承诺无与伦比的计算速度的量子计算机，到预示着测量技术改进的新型量子机械传感器。今天，人们越来越需要理解使这种量子机制成为可能的科学，并发现与量子世界相关的物理定律和限制。这个团队将使用一种超冷原子气体来推进这种科学认识。通过将气体冷却到非常接近绝对零度，这个团队将实现一个被称为玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体（BEC）的近乎纯的量子系统，他们可以用它来探索纯量子行为的极限。这个项目的一个目标是通过磁场产生人工不稳定性来控制BEC的磁性，并利用这些不稳定性来了解量子系统是如何升温并失去其纯量子性质的，以及人们如何能够控制这一过程。除了推动作为未来技术基础的科学之外，这个团队还在培养一个由学生和未来教育工作者组成的多元化社区，其中一些人将成为这些未来技术的建设者和建筑师。提出了一套聚焦于钠旋量玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体（BECs）的实验，以探索量子猝灭的多模性质。这些实验强调了该小组独特的实验能力，并受到早期资助工作中出现的有趣问题的激励。将测量由猝灭产生的自旋mF = +1和-1原子的概率分布，寻找多模场景下的超泊松波动。在第二个项目中，将探索零二次塞曼位移的旋量BEC的平衡物理。最后，对自旋进行无损成像，研究连续量子测量对自旋BEC的影响。破坏性和非破坏性实验成像技术的结合将被磨练和部署，以揭示关于正在研究的系统的新的和丰富的详细信息。拟议的研究将产生广泛的科学影响，特别是在凝聚态物质和量子光学方面，并通过外展努力，扩大亚特兰大社区。在上一个资助周期中发起的与凝聚态物质和量子光学同事的科学合作将得到加强。研究生的教学和培训将继续得到重视，本科生的研究也将继续得到重视。向当地教室提供高清视频会议、参加高中教师暑期讲习班和其他相关的外展活动将是该方案产生更广泛影响的重要组成部分。

This experimental research program uses ultracold matter to study how instabilities develop and propagate in the microscopic realm, rather than the macroscopic one. In the microscopic domain, most objects obey the laws of quantum physics, not classical physics. The difference between these two sets of laws is what can lend tremendous power to quantum technologies, ranging from quantum computers that promise unparalleled computational speed, to new quantum mechanical sensors that herald improved measurement technologies. Today there is an increased need for understanding the science that enables such quantum machinery, and to discover the physical laws and limitations relevant to the quantum world. This team will use an ultracold atomic gas to advance such scientific understanding. By cooling gases very close to absolute zero, this team will realize a nearly pure quantum system known as a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), with which they can explore the limits to pure quantum behavior. One aim of this project is to control the magnetic properties of a BEC using magnetic fields to generate artificial instabilities and to use these instabilities to learn how a quantum system heats up and loses its pure quantum nature, and how one might be able to control that process. In addition to advancing the science that underlies tomorrow's technologies, this team is also training a diverse community of students and future educators, some of whom will become the builders and architects of these future technologies. A focused set of experiments on sodium spinor Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) is proposed that probes the multi-mode nature of a quantum quench. The experiments emphasize the group's unique experimental capabilities and are motivated by intriguing questions that have emerged from earlier funded work. The probability distribution of spin mF = +1 and -1 atoms generated by the quench will be measured, looking for super-Poissonian fluctuations in a multi-mode scenario. In a second project, the equilibrium physics of a spinor BEC exactly at zero quadratic Zeeman shift will be explored. Finally, non-destructive imaging of the spin will be implemented to study the effect of continuous quantum measurement on a spinor BEC. A combination of destructive and non-destructive experimental imaging techniques will be honed and deployed to reveal new and richly detailed information about the system under study. The proposed research will have broad scientific impact, particularly in condensed matter and quantum optics, and through outreach efforts, to the broader Atlanta community. Scientific collaborations with condensed matter and quantum optics colleagues, initiated in the previous funding cycle, will be strengthened. Graduate student teaching and training will continue to be emphasized, as will exposure of undergraduates to research. HD videoconferencing to local area classrooms, participation in summer workshops for high school teachers and other, related outreach activities will be important components of the broader impact of this program.