Project Details
Projekt
E1 Tailoring dissipation using the ultra-narrow clock line of Yb
Applicant
Professorin Dr. Monika Aidelsburger
Subject Area
Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
Term
since 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 521530974
Quantum simulators of neutral atoms in optical lattices have reached system sizes and coherence times that significantly challenge classical simulations. Moreover, the development of quantum gas microscopes has enabled local control and manipulation techniques that enable the preparation of specific initial states and local potentials. However, there are still challenges due to finite temperatures that hinder the preparation of certain target states. While decoherence is often viewed as a detriment in quantum many-body systems, it offers intriguing new possibilities for state preparation and stabilization with broad applications in quantum simulation, computing and metrology. The primary focus of the proposed project is the development of experimental techniques to tailor dissipation for quantum many-body systems based on the unique level structure of alkaline-earth(-like) atoms, specifically, fermionic ytterbium (Yb). To achieve this, we will strongly benefit from tight collaborations with the theory projects of this research unit. Yb has two valence electrons resulting in an energy spectrum that consists of a singlet and triplet manifold. The respective ground states are connected via an ultra-narrow clock transition, which offers new opportunities for quantum simulation. In particular, we are planning to use the clock states of Yb to realize state-dependent potentials. We are going to work with a unique hybrid tweezer-lattice experiment, where deep tweezer beams localize excited state atoms which are immersed in a lattice of mobile ground state atoms. This constitutes an ideal setting for studying impurity physics, as well as qubits, which are exposed to controlled dissipation. The same hybrid tweezer-lattice will be used to develop techniques for dissipative preparation of many-body states. As a first step we are going to use the tweezer array to prepare disorder-localized initial states that are then adiabatically connected to extended states with well-defined filling. Moreover, by creating a reservoir of localized excited-state atoms and introducing a coherent drive on the clock transition, we are planning to dissipatively stabilize low-entropy Mott insulators of ground-state atoms. Lastly, we are going to develop local measurement techniques, where ground-state atoms are measured without destroying coherence in the excited-state manifold. In combination with the preparation of cluster states, which can be achieved via a combination of spin-orbit coupling introduced via the clock transition and superexchange interactions, state-selective local measurements open exciting possibilities for measurement-based quantum simulation and computation schemes using ultracold atoms in optical lattices.
DFG Programme
Research Units
