2:00 pm
ERC 161 5640 S Ellis Ave
Quantum sensing with delocalized atomic clocks
Optical atomic clocks are mankind’s most precise measurement device. A precision corresponding to losing one second in the age of the Universe is routinely reached in many labs. This exquisite precision has enabled the detection of gravitational redshift over a one-millimeter elevation change near Earth’s surface. In parallel, “atomic array optical clocks” have emerged in the last five years and combine precision with control and detection of each individual atom. This setting enables new ways to interrogate atomic clocks, and it opens the door to quantum computing tools that can further improve precision and suppress errors.
In this talk, I will motivate and demonstrate our steps towards adding one more ingredient: delocalization. I will describe new techniques that we are developing to place an atomic array clock in a superposition of two or three locations spanning meter- or km-scale elevation differences. These techniques will allow us to explore the interface between gravity and quantum mechanics, and they are major steps towards modular quantum computing and long-distance quantum communication.
Speaker: Jacob Covey, Asst. Prof. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Host: Cheng Chin, Prof. of Physics (cchin@uchicago.edu), Andrew Cleland, Prof. of Molecular Engineering (anc@uchicago.edu)