R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminars |
Events on Thursday, April 25th, 2024
- Rydberg physics: From Ultralong-Range Molecules to Quantum Simulation and Quantum Optimization
- Time: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Peter Schmelcher, U Hamburg
- Abstract: A review on the most recent activities in Rydberg physics at the center for optical quantum technologies will be provided. I start out with addressing the exotic properties of ultralong-range Rydberg molecules (ULRM). ULRM possess extreme bond lengths of the order of several micron and huge dipole moments. Their potential energy curves mimic the highly oscillatory structure of the Rydberg wave function thereby offering new possibilities for engineering molecular properties on vastly different time and length scales. Trilobite and butterfly states can easily be controlled by weak external electric or magnetic fields. I demonstrate that synthetic dimensions based on quantum numbers can be used to design conical intersections and consequently non-adiabatic interaction effects in the spectra of ULRMs. Ultrafast decay processes are a consequence of these intersections. Quenches of external fields then lead to a rich rovibrational quantum dynamics of ULRM. The second part of this talk focuses on quantum simulation and quantum optimization. I provide evidence for novel quantum phases of strongly interacting many-body Rydberg setups, specifically the so-called bond order density wave is unraveled and the extended control of Luttinger liquid phases is presented. On the quantum optimization side I describe how a local detuning approach can enhance the tweezer array-based control of the famous graph theoretical MIS and Max-Cut problems. The traditional order $\propto N^2$ approach is here replaced by a linear system size scaling approach. Finally, I will make a short excursion into our recent work on single atom implementation of integer linear programming. Here, a single Rydberg atom will be used to encode linear and even nonlinear integer problems which are known to be difficult to solve in a classical manner.
- Host: Mark Saffman