Harnessing Synthetic Quantum Matter
Abstract:
Recent advances in condensed matter, optical, and atomic physics led to the emergence of highly controllable synthetic quantum matter, such as superconducting circuits, implanted solid-state defects, trapped atoms or ions, and strongly interacting photons. In addition to allowing us to gain fundamental insights into peculiar and diverse behavior of many-body -- that is, large and interacting -- quantum systems, synthetic quantum matter paves the way for building revolutionary quantum technologies such as extraordinarily powerful computers, unbreakably secure communication devices, and exceptionally accurate sensors. In this talk, we will explore two facets of synthetic quantum matter. First, we will argue that sampling complexity, that is the question of how hard it is to produce a sample from a given probability distribution, lies at the heart of understanding and harnessing synthetic quantum matter. Second, we will show how to engineer interactions between individual photons and use these interactions for building quantum technologies and accessing exotic few-body and many-body physics. Finally, we will put this work in the context of a broader quest to design, understand, control, and harness synthetic quantum matter.
Bio:
Alexey Gorshkov received his A.B. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard in 2004 and 2010, respectively. In 2013, after three years as a Lee A. DuBridge Postdoctoral Scholar at Caltech, he became a staff physicist at NIST. At the same time, he started his own research group at the University of Maryland, where he is a fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute and of the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science. His theoretical research is at the interface of quantum optics, atomic physics, condensed matter physics, and quantum information science. Applications of his research include quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum sensing.
