IQC Newbit, Issue 31, Winter 2017
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INSTITUTE FOR QUANT UM COMPUTING, UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO, ONTARIO, CANADA | NEWBIT | ISSUE 30 | WINTER 2 | NEWBIT ISSUE CANADA ONTARIO, UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO, UM COMPUTING, QUANT FOR INSTITUTE 30 | NEWBIT ISSUE CANADA ONTARIO, UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO, QANTUM COMPUTING, FOR | INSTITUTE WINTER 2017 ONTAR UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO, COMPUTING, QUANTUM FOR | INSTITUTE 30 | WINTER 2017 | NEWBIT ISSUE CANADA NEWBIT | ISSUE 31 ISSUE | IN WINTER 2017 this issue FROM THE EDITOR BUILDING A Much of the content in this issue focuses on taking the QUANTUM PLATFORM science out of our labs and offices. At IQC, we’ve been pg 04 doing this for some time through outreach initiatives and Researchers at IQC’s Laboratory for conferences, but it’s especially true this year with the first Ultracold Quantum Matter and Light keep travelling exhibition that made its debut at THEMUSEUM their cool as they develop platforms for in Kitchener in October. It will continue its path across quantum applications. Canada throughout 2017. Some of our researchers and staff will travel to the TAKING QUANTUM cities where QUANTUM: The Exhibition will land. This INTO SPACE is in addition to the talks they give at conferences and pg 08 courses at other institutions. In the fall, we had researchers IQC researchers first to demonstrate present at the ETSI/IQC Workshop on Quantum-Safe an uplink to an airborne quantum Cryptography in Toronto and at the London Mathematical satellite receiver prototype. Society Research School at Queen’s University Belfast. QUANTUM: THE An experiment by one of our research groups also went EXHIBITION outside the lab during the fall term – and I mean literally pg 12 outside. THOMAS JENNEWEIN’s team travelled to Smiths Falls, Ontario with a custom-built light source and receiver Celebrating Canada 150 payload. This was the first demonstration of an uplink on a large, small scale. to an airborne quantum satellite receiver prototype for secure quantum communication, and you can learn more ON THE COVER about it in one of this issue’s feature articles. Experimental station for As much as we like to go out and share IQC research, cavity-coupled Rydberg polaritons we think it’s equally important to open our doors and welcome people to the Lazaridis Centre. That’s one of Cover Photo by: IQC the reasons why we participated in Doors Open Waterloo Region again in September. It gave us the opportunity to WINTER 2017 share what’s happening here with nearly 1,000 people. publisher And in addition to the usual school visits, we held our IQC COMMUNICATIONS & second weekend workshop for teachers, now named STRATEGIC INITIATIVES Schrödinger’s Class. The workshop will help us to teach even more people about the wonderful world of quantum. IQC.UWATERLOO.CA Institute for Quantum Computing 200 University Avenue West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1 JODI SZIMANSKI, Senior Communications Manager iqc.uwaterloo.ca Phone: 1 - 519 - 888 - 4021 Fax: 1 - 519 - 888 - 7610 Email: [email protected] 0 | SPRING IO 17 , , New FACULTY members K. RAJIBUL ISLAM CRYSTAL SENKO JON YARD Quantum Innovators (QI) While completing her From the Station Q team at 2015 workshop alumnus postdoctoral research at the Microsoft Research, JON YARD K. RAJIBUL ISLAM returns to Center for Ultracold Atoms, joins IQC as Associate Professor in IQC to lead the Laboratory for CRYSTAL SENKO focused on the Department of Combinatorics Quantum Information with the development of a photonic and Optimization in the Faculty of Trapped Ions (QITI). His research crystal waveguide for information Mathematics and as an Associate interests include quantum transfer between atoms. During her Faculty member with the Perimeter computation, experimental fellowship she attended QI in 2015. Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI). quantum many-body physics and the use of holography and At IQC, and as a member of At IQC, Yard tackles complex high resolution microscopy to the Department of Physics and mathematical problems in the areas manipulate many-body systems. Astronomy, Senko explores of quantum information, quantum how single atoms encoded with computing, algebraic number Before joining the Department of multiple levels of information, theory, quantum field theory and Physics and Astronomy, Islam was called qudits, can improve the computational complexity theory. a postdoctoral researcher at the efficiency of encoding information His research aims to understand MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold in quantum systems. Her work the capabilities and limitations Atoms (CUA), where he studied with trapped ions looks at the of devices for computing and entanglement in ultra-cold neutral possibilities of building quantum distributing information. bosonic atoms in optical potentials systems, including spin chains with and optical potentials created in a complicated behaviour that has yet high quality optical resonator. to be demonstrated in a lab. 03 FEATURE ARTICLE Building 04 iqc.uwaterloo.ca It may happen on a very small scale, but it’s no small feat. Controlling individual atoms, photons and their interactions could lead to developments in simulating complex quantum systems. The Laboratory for Ultracold Quantum Matter and Light at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) is working with atoms at extremely low temperatures to build a platform for quantum applications like sensors, metrology, computing and communication. a quantum platform Atom by atom, photon by photon “Beginning with one atom and one interact very strongly with each other. insight into condensed matter photon, we can individually control When the atom-photon interaction physics, potentially leading to the state of the atoms and make use is strong enough, they become advancements in building novel of the interaction between atoms and completely hybridized, like a molecule, and robust quantum technologies. photons to build, from the bottom called a Rydberg-dressed cavity up, a large-scale system where we polariton. The interactions between can utilize artificial interactions the atoms compete with the strong Technical challenges that are completely synthesized atom-light interaction, so it becomes from a vacuum,” explained principal a puzzle for the atoms and photons Since joining IQC in 2014, Choi has investigator and faculty member, to arrange themselves in an order been focused on developing the KYUNG SOO CHOI. that creates extremely correlated technical infrastructure for his lab. quantum material consisting of cavity The technical specifications required Garnering the control of one atom polaritons. Influencing the light, or for his investigation of atom-light and one photon, using an optical the photon, influences the atom, interactions at the quanta level do cavity for manipulation, can mediate setting the stage for tunable quantum not yet exist, however that hasn’t very long-range or exotic interactions simulation of topological quantum slowed down Choi’s lab set-up. His whose functional forms are designed spin liquids, supersolidity, high- team, including postdoctoral fellows for particular quantum simulations. temperature superconductivity YING DONG, CHANG LIU, MAHMOOD Rydberg atoms are one of the key and exotic quantum magnetism. SABOONI, Master’s students HYERAN elements in Choi’s lab because they The ability to simulate these quantum KONG, YOUN SEOK LEE, SOMENDU are highly excited and, as a result, systems provide unprecedented MAURYA, SAINATH MOTLAKUNTA, Close-up microscopy image of the experimental station for Rydberg-dressed cavity polaritons 05 FEATURE ARTICLE Actual distance 1.5 cm Three-dimensional rendering of the experimental station PUSHING for Rydberg-dressed QUANTUM cavity polaritons. SYSTEMS TO THE MAX One major milestone that Choi and his team are trying to achieve is the realization of many-body and undergraduate research assistants JUNGJOON LEO KIM and CLAIRE states for light, opening up WARNER, is designing and building the custom infrastructure to perform a new realm of research experiments with ultracold Rydberg atoms in an optical cavity. combining optical physics Competing technical requirements pose challenges when building and quantum materials. experiments for Rydberg atoms. Rydberg atoms are so sensitive to “It would be a breakthrough electromagnetic fields that they can essentially act as quantum sensors if photons, or more with unprecedented sensitivity well beyond any classical device. The specifically polaritons, utilization of ultra-narrow Rydberg transition means that any type of suddenly decide to electromagnetic interference could cause its quantum phase to change. interact with each It takes a tremendous amount of effort to reduce environmental noise other in the same way that could interfere with the atomic state. Even the mere presence of a that electrons behave mirror in an optical cavity can cause interference. in a high-temperature Choi’s team built a novel cavity system for Rydberg-dressed cavity superconductor,” proposed polaritons that satisfies all technical requirements. “This is a world Choi. “That’s the kind of record optical finesse cavity system for Rydberg-dressed cavity research we are doing polaritons,” described Choi. Engineered for cutting-edge experiments here. We push quantum with cavity-coupled Rydberg polaritons in quantum degenerate gases, systems to extremal the cavity system is impressive. regimes heretofore not predicted.” The cavity system uses superpolished titanium blade electrodes and a single-crystal sapphire cage to shield all external electromagnetic fields, Possible applications