Programmable Optical Tweezer Arrays for Studying Strongly Correlated Fermions

普通观众摘要：具有新特性的材料的开发是新技术的主要驱动力。电子在材料中的行为影响其电学、热学和光学性质。特别是，在低温下，量子力学的相互作用和电子之间的强烈相互作用导致了壮观的集体现象。其中包括超导性(电的无损传输)以及不寻常的磁性。对量子材料物理的微观理解对控制它们的性质非常有用，但在经典计算机上模拟大规模量子系统的基本限制阻碍了这一理解。该奖项支持可编程模拟量子计算机的开发，该计算机可以模拟多达100个粒子的电子系统，这是一项即使是最快的超级计算机也无法完成的任务。模拟量子计算机将由超冷原子组成，扮演电子的角色，在人造晶体中跳跃和相互作用，人造晶体由被称为光镊子的激光聚焦斑产生。与其他电子量子模拟平台不同，晶体几何可以在软件中进行编程，允许按需模拟各种模型电子系统。这项研究的主要成果将是在创造、控制和研究相互作用量子系统的能力方面取得重大进展。这项研究还将培养量子科学领域的研究生和本科生，并为他们在工业、国家实验室和学术界的职业生涯做好准备。技术观众摘要：相互作用的大量子粒子系综的确定性准备、控制和读出仍然是现代实验物理学的前沿。这一领域的最新进展增进了我们对多体系统的理解，并刺激了量子计算的进步。特别是，光学晶格中的超冷中性原子，由于其哈密顿量的容易定制，已经在包括多体局域、纠缠动力学和驱动多体系统在内的广泛的主题上提供了有价值的见解。然而，有两个挑战阻碍了费米子晶格气体的量子模拟发挥其全部潜力：制备具有足够低的熵以实现感兴趣的强关联相位的态，以及在单位水平上按需重新配置囚禁势。该奖项用于开发在可编程光学镊子阵列中利用量子气体显微镜的单点读数来制备强相互作用费米子原子的低熵态的技术。这项研究将集中于在一维Fermi-Hubbard梯形系统中实现相关态，包括相互作用的拓扑态和d波共振价键态。这将是未来在2D哈伯德镊子阵列中准备低熵状态工作的重要垫脚石。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

General audience abstract:The development of materials with novel properties is a primary driver for new technologies. The behavior of the electrons in a material influences its electrical, thermal and optical properties. In particular, at low temperatures, the interplay of quantum mechanics and strong interactions between the electrons gives rise to spectacular collective phenomena. These include superconductivity (the lossless transport of electricity) as well as unusual forms of magnetism. A microscopic understanding of the physics of quantum materials is very useful in controlling their properties, but it is hindered by fundamental limitations on simulating large-scale quantum systems on classical computers. This award supports the development of a programmable analog quantum computer which can simulate electronic systems of up to a hundred particles, a task beyond the reach of even the fastest supercomputers. The analog quantum computer will consist of ultracold atoms, playing the role of the electrons, hopping and interacting in artificial crystals created with focused spots of laser light known as optical tweezers. Unlike other platforms for electronic quantum simulation, the crystal geometry is programmable in software, allowing on-demand simulations of a wide range of model electronic systems. The main outcome of the research will be a major advance in the ability to create, control, and study interacting quantum systems. The research will also train graduate and undergraduate students in the field of quantum science and prepare them for careers in industry, national labs, and academia. Technical audience abstract:The deterministic preparation, control, and readout of large ensembles of interacting quantum particles remains a frontier in modern experimental physics. Recent progress in this arena has enhanced our understanding of many-body systems and stimulated advances in quantum computing. In particular, ultracold neutral atoms in optical lattices, due to the ease of tailoring their Hamiltonians, have provided valuable insights on a wide range of topics including many-body localization, entanglement dynamics and driven many-body systems. However, two challenges have impeded quantum simulations with fermionic lattice gases from reaching their full potential: the preparation of states with entropies low enough to realize strongly-correlated phases of interest and “on-demand” reconfigurability of trapping potentials at the single-site level. This award funds the development of techniques to prepare low-entropy states of strongly-interacting fermionic atoms in programmable optical tweezer arrays, with single-site readout from quantum gas microscopy. The research will focus on realizing correlated states in one-dimensional and two-leg Fermi-Hubbard ladder systems, including interacting topological states and d-wave resonating valence bond states. This will be an important stepping stone for future work on preparing low-entropy states in 2D Hubbard tweezer arrays.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.