Center for Ultracold Atoms

理解、控制和利用量子世界具有挑战性，但在设计新形式的物质和信息处理的新途径方面具有巨大潜力。超冷原子和类原子系统为实现这些目标提供了一条有希望的途径，因为它们现在可以以前所未有的精度进行控制和操纵。超冷原子中心（CUA）是麻省理工学院和哈佛大学的共同努力，旨在利用量子力学的力量为新物理学和新应用服务。通过这项物理前沿中心的奖励，CUA将开发各种理论和实验工具来研究超冷原子和分子的强相互作用多体系统，以及相干的单粒子或少粒子系统。该协会还将通过一系列广泛的活动，促进对科学界和公众的教育和推广。在这些努力中，美国大学学院将与新泽西教与学中心合作开发新的在线教育项目。该协会的研究活动分为三个领域。第一个专注于原子和分子的量子气体，并将扩展超冷量子气体物理的范围，在计算上难以处理的领域进行新的实验，并使用新的探针和工具来提高控制水平。第二个研究领域将集中在由光控制并与光相互作用的原子系统中的多体动力学。第三个领域的重点是探索与受控固态和混合系统的量子动力学中非平衡特性、纠缠和拓扑之间相互作用有关的多体现象。该物理前沿中心奖由数学与物理科学理事会物理部和计算机与信息科学与工程理事会计算与通信基础部共同资助。

Understanding, controlling, and utilizing the quantum world is challenging but holds great potential for designing new forms of matter and new paths for information processing. Ultracold atoms and atom-like systems provide a promising avenue for pursuing these goals since they can now be controlled and manipulated with unprecedented precision. The Center for Ultracold Atoms (CUA) is a joint effort between Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University aimed at harnessing the power of quantum mechanics for new physics and new applications. Through this Physics Frontiers Centers award, the CUA will develop a variety of theoretical and experimental tools to study strongly-interacting many-body systems of ultracold atoms and molecules, as well as coherent single or few particle systems. The CUA will also advance education and outreach, both for the scientific community and general public, with a broad portfolio of activities. Among these efforts, the CUA will develop new online education programs in partnership with the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning.The CUA research activities are organized into three areas. The first focuses on quantum gases of atoms and molecules and will extend the scope of ultracold quantum gas physics with new experiments in areas that are not computationally tractable and new probes and tools that will enable improved levels of control. The second research area will focus on many-body dynamics in atomic systems that are controlled by, and interact with, light. The third area focuses on probing many-body phenomena related to the interplay between non-equilibrium properties, entanglement, and topology in the quantum dynamics of controlled solid-state and hybrid systems. This Physics Frontiers Centers award is co-funded by the Division of Physics within the Directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and by the Division of Computing and Communication Foundations within the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering.