Rydberg Synthetic Dimensions: A New Simulator for Quantum Matter

摘要：“量子模拟”指的是使用一个可控的、容易理解的系统来重建一个更复杂系统的基本元素，这是一个具有挑战性的实验探索，超出了传统计算技术的能力来建模。这种方法类似于使用风洞来优化汽车或运动性能。量子模拟器有望提高我们对许多相互作用的粒子在量子力学定律支配下的行为的理解，这是许多科学领域的一个突出问题。反过来，这可以解锁技术应用，例如设计具有新的和有利的电，磁或机械性能的材料的能力。量子模拟是一个年轻的领域，有许多潜在的方法正在研究中。该项目将开发一种有前途的新型量子模拟器，该模拟器基于原子中电子束缚的动力学，并由定制的电场操纵。研究生和本科生将接受量子科学方面的培训，这是一个具有重大国家利益的领域。拓展计划将使初高中教师和学生接触到激光和原子研究的兴奋。技术观众摘要：该项目将支持基于多个高激发原子态（“里德堡态”）与毫米波耦合的大型合成晶格空间的构建。在内部状态之间移动的原子居群将模拟粒子在物理晶格的位置之间隧穿。该平台提供了前所未有的对哈密顿量所有参数的控制和强大的单点分辨率种群诊断，使研究新的单粒子和多体量子系统成为可能，包括实现在真实的三维空间中不可能实现的空间几何。这项工作的具体目标是：(1)开发Rydberg合成维度工具箱，(2)表征复杂合成空间中的单粒子带结构和动力学，如呼吸Kagome晶格和莫比乌斯带中的量子态和动力学，以及(3)观察少体量子系统中相互作用的特征。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

General audience abstract:“Quantum simulation” refers to the use of a controllable and well-understood system to recreate the essential elements of a more complex system that is challenging to probe experimentally and beyond the capabilities of traditional computational techniques to model. This approach is similar to the use of a wind-tunnel to optimize automobile or athletic performance. Quantum simulators promise to improve our understanding of the behavior of many, interacting particles in a regime dominated by the laws of quantum mechanics, which is an outstanding problem in many areas of science. In turn, this can unlock technological applications, such as the ability to design materials showing new and advantageous electrical, magnetic, or mechanical properties. Quantum simulation is a young field with many potential approaches under investigation. This project will develop a promising new type of quantum simulator based on the dynamics of an electron bound in an atom and manipulated by tailored electric fields. Graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in quantum science, an area of great national interest. Outreach programs will expose middle and high school teachers and students to the excitement of research with lasers and atoms.Technical audience abstract:This project will support construction of a large synthetic lattice space based on coupling of multiple highly excited atomic states (‘Rydberg states’) with millimeter waves. Atomic population moving between the internal states will simulate particles tunneling between sites of a physical lattice. This platform offers unprecedented control over all parameters of the Hamiltonian and powerful population diagnostics with single-site resolution to enable study of new classes of single-particle and many-body quantum systems, including realization of spatial geometries not possible in real, three-dimensional space. The specific goals of the work are to (1) develop the toolbox for Rydberg synthetic dimensions, (2) characterize single-particle band structure and dynamics in complex synthetic spaces such as the breathing Kagome lattice and quantum states and dynamics in a Mobius strip, and (3) observe signatures of interactions in few-body quantum systems.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.