CAREER: Connecting Remote Atomic Quantum Registers via Entanglement

互联网已经彻底改变了社会，而量子互联网将使基于信息处理的进一步革命性进步具有全新的能力。例如，量子互联网可以通过将模块连接在一起来促进量子计算机的扩展；它可以实现新的，更灵敏的测量设备；它将为基于量子协议的安全通信提供一个平台。经典网络和量子网络之间的一个关键区别是，量子网络将利用比经典相关性更强的量子态，称为纠缠态，可以在网络节点之间共享。为了实现一些最引人注目的应用，纠缠需要在多个网络节点上进行分布、存储和操作。这是一项艰巨的挑战，因为纠缠非常脆弱，在纠缠态中编码的量子信息很容易丢失。该项目将开发基于单个捕获中性原子阵列的量子网络新工具。原子将形成一个量子寄存器，可以存储纠缠和处理量子信息。此外，两个或多个寄存器将通过使用光-物质界面来通过单个光子分布纠缠而连接起来。展示这些能力将构成构建量子互联网的重要一步，并将阐明纠缠分布的物理和工程。该研究计划与教育和推广工作相结合，以提高对量子科学的参与和认识。教育和推广活动将在几个场地重点展示量子实验。单独捕获的原子阵列最近成为量子信息处理和量子模拟的一个有前途的平台。该项目将通过探索新的量子网络方法来扩大被困原子的应用范围。这个项目将结合原子阵列和纳米光子腔，在电信波长下工作，以促进远距离纠缠分布。在阵列内处理量子信息，同时在远距离阵列之间产生纠缠，将为量子网络提供几种可能的应用，如分布式量子计算、增强量子传感和洲际量子通信。该团队的目标是在这些应用上取得进展，他们展示了高速多路纠缠产生的速率远快于节点的退相干速率，并在相隔50公里的寄存器之间创建了多个纠缠的贝尔对。本项目开发的技术还可以扩展量子模拟的工具包，例如，通过使用这种方法研究具有量子模拟体系结构的凝聚态物理模型，其中相互作用由光子晶体波导中的光子介导。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。

The internet has revolutionized society, and a quantum internet would enable further revolutionary advances based on information processing with profoundly new capabilities. For example, a quantum internet could facilitate scaling up quantum computers by linking modules together; it may enable new, more sensitive measurement devices; and it would provide a platform for secure communication based on quantum protocols. A key difference between classical and quantum networks is that quantum networks will utilize quantum states with stronger-than-classical correlations, called entangled states, that can be shared between network nodes. To enable some of the most compelling applications, entanglement will need to be distributed, stored, and manipulated at multiple network nodes. This is a daunting challenge, as entanglement is quite fragile and the quantum information encoded in entangled states is easily lost. This project will develop new tools for quantum networking based on arrays of individually trapped neutral atoms. The atoms will form a quantum register that can store entanglement and process quantum information. Furthermore, two or more registers will be linked by using a light-matter interface to distribute entanglement via single photons. Demonstrating these capabilities will constitute an important step towards building a quantum internet and will elucidate the physics and engineering of entanglement distribution. This research program is integrated with educational and outreach efforts to increase participation and awareness in quantum science. The educational and outreach activities will highlight demonstrations of quantum experiments in several venues.Arrays of individually trapped atoms have recently become a promising platform for quantum information processing and quantum simulation. This project will expand the range of applications for trapped atoms by exploring new quantum networking methods. This project will combine arrays of atoms with nanophotonic cavities that operate at telecom wavelengths to facilitate long-distance entanglement distribution. Processing quantum information within an array while generating entanglement between distant arrays will enable several possible applications for quantum networks such as distributed quantum computing, enhanced quantum sensing, and intercontinental quantum communication. This team aims to make progress towards these applications by demonstrating high-speed multiplexed entanglement generation with rates that are much faster than the decoherence rate of the nodes, and creating multiple entangled Bell pairs between registers that are separated by 50 kilometers. Techniques developed in this project can also expand the toolkit for quantum simulation, for example, by using this approach to study condensed matter physics models with quantum simulation architectures in which interactions are mediated by photons in a photonic crystal waveguide.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.