YALE QUANTUM INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 on the Cover
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YALE QUANTUM INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT 2020 On the cover At first glance the YQI logo seems straightforward, however it contains a few hidden meanings. The Q and I are Director's Word stacked on top of one other to evoke the superposition of state like a on/off button, and the feline-like tail of the Q hints at Schrödinger's cat. But this year, our logo gets atomized! Robert Schoelkopf Sterling Professor of Applied Physics and Physics 1.6 YQI investigator Nir Navon’s group focuses on the quantum many-body 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 role in the next phase of growth in this research, engineering and 1.4 problem. They devised a program known as quantum simulation, in 1.2 teaching activity at Yale. 50 which well-controlled quantum systems can be used to investigate 1 100 0.8 prototypical quantum many-body models. These quantum simulations This year YQI welcomed to our membership six additional faculty 0.6 consists of quantum matter cooled down to “ultracold” scales. members for a 5-year term (see page 11), bringing to 23 the 150 0.4 density Optical 0.2 numbers of faculty members working under the Institute umbrella. 200 0 Ultracold quantum matter is a fascinating platform to conduct this We have broadened our research portfolio by including members x- and y-axis: pixels (1.85 µm/px) (proportional to the number o atoms) program. Researchers can control the laser traps in which the atoms are from the Chemistry department and from areas of physics focused confined, the interactions between particles, or subject them to effective gauge fields. These ultracold atoms offer on fundamental topics, such as the origin of dark matter. a “magnifying glass” to study phenomena that are hard to measure in other many-body systems. For instance, The Institute hosted more than 80 events in the past year to while inter-particle spacing in an electron gas is at the angstrom scale, their atoms are typically separated by engage the scientific community working on quantum science and micron-scale distances, making it relatively easy to probe their ultracold quantum matter, down to the single information, and to train a growing population of undergraduate particle constituent. Out-of-equilibrium solid-state systems often relax on very short time scales (femtoseconds and graduate students responding to the promise of 21st century or less). However, in these ultracold systems they can persist for much longer (sometimes seconds), offering a new quantum science. These events included cutting-edge research window into the poorly understood territory of far-from-equilibrium quantum dynamics. seminars and symposia in QSTEM by visiting scientists, tutorials on relevant topics in quantum science and information, professional Jere Mäkinen, a YQI Fellow in Navon's group, with the help of group members Yunpeng Ji, Franklin Vivanco, Gabriel and workforce training, and interdisciplinary Yale team meetings Assumpcao, and Grant Schumacher, used this platform to create images made by absorption imaging of ultracold to formulate and execute research programs to advance the field. fermions, at temperatures of a few tens of nano Kelvins, with a new optical system allowing it to traps atoms in YQI and Yale have played a key role in serving the workforce needs arbitrary geometries. Jere recreated for us the YQI logo, used as a cover for this report. The background image is of the exploding field of QIS, sending many of our trainees to top the optical table used to create the trap. The front cover shows the table when the lasers are on – and the lights off QS research universities such as Caltech, ETH, Harvard, Max Plank – while the back cover shows the table with the lasers off and the lights on. Institute, and industrial labs such as IBM, Google, Microsoft... In addition YQI has hosted or participated in many outreach events to educate the general public and interested government and Entering the sixth year since its founding, the Yale Quantum business leaders. Our most ambitious project, organized by Institute Institute is fully engaged in its mission to support research and Manager Florian Carle, is Quantum Week at Yale (see page 20). This training in quantum science at Yale. event, now scheduled for spring of 2021, will involve more than 20 events all over campus in collaboration with 16 departmental and This was a banner year for quantum science at Yale and at the YQI. institute partners to encourage anyone, from interested novice to The university science strategy committee has designated quantum quantum expert, to celebrate and learn more about quantum. information science and quantum materials as a top priority for Yale and YQI are playing a key organizational role in a consortium growth and recommended significant growth in the number of of universities, national laboratories, and industrial partners in the faculty working in these areas across multiple physical science tri-state area responding to the US National Quantum Initiative. If YQI Executive Team and engineering departments at Yale. Initial gifts to help fund this successful Yale would play a leading role in a new 125M$ research initiative have been pledged and the University has engaged in hub that will span the range of quantum physics, quantum sensing, a planning exercise for a new state-of-the-art physical science quantum information science and technology activities, and engage and engineering building, with a site in the Science Hill area as the fully with the computer science, materials science and engineering proposed location. With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, we activities related to the Second Quantum Revolution. have all been concentrating on maintaining research continuity and We invite you to learn more about our work and programs through supporting all of the members of our community as best we can in this annual report, and to share our optimism for new scientific and a socially-distanced mode. Although the pandemic will introduce technological advances for the benefit of mankind, once our current some delays in all of our plans, the University remains committed challenges are behind us. to the priorities articulated in the strategy for quantum science and engineering, and we are continuing to advance the planning and lay Stay safe, the groundwork for rapid progress when the immediate crisis has passed. The YQI and our members stand ready and will play a key Rob Schoelkopf DOUGLAS STONE FLORIAN CARLE RACQUEL MILLER Deputy Director Institute Manager Event Coordinator Carl Morse Professor of Applied Benjamin Franklin College Fellow Physics and Physics 02 QUANTUMINSTITUTE.YALE.EDU ANNUAL REPORT 03 Yale Quantum Institute About the Institute process quantum information. The goal is to better understand the fundamental quantum laws of our universe, and to harness the unique features of quantum mechanics for novel sensors, secure communications, and eventually, the realization of large-scale quantum computers. We now know that by employing a kind of massive parallel processing, computers based on “quantum bits” can address problems that would otherwise remain forever Life as we now know it would not be possible beyond the reach of our current computers. These without several profound scientific and problems include basic algorithms underlying secure technological revolutions over the last century: communication on the internet, as well as quantum the Industrial Revolution, the internal combustion simulations of new materials, complex optimization engine, the telephone, and, most recently, the Digital problems, and improved machine learning. As with Revolution which ushered in computers, cellular conventional computers, the true scope of their YQI by the numbers in 2019 phones, and the Internet. This transformative utility will only be discovered once they are built. period was made possible by the understanding Beginning with pioneering work on macroscopic of the fundamental laws of the atom, and of light, Events Hosted 86 quantum coherence in the 80’s, to the realization embodied in quantum theory which was developed of today’s quantum information processors, Yale professors are renowned for their leadership in the first half of the 20th century. At the onset Faculty Members 23 of the 21st century, we are on the brink of a new in the Quantum Revolution. In the past fifteen quantum revolution – and Yale is paving the way. years, under the leadership of Devoret, Girvin, Postdocs & and Schoelkopf, the Yale superconducting science Our faculty members, spanning the departments 73 and technology team, comprising more than fifty of Physics, Applied Physics, Computer Science, and Research Assistants researchers, has demonstrated several milestones Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, are making in quantum computing including the development of Home of scientific breakthroughs that would have been Graduate Students 108 the first solid state quantum information processors unimaginable only a few decades ago. The Yale based on superconducting electronics. Together, the Quantum Institute was formed in 2015 to advance Staff Members everything 2 members of YQI are pursuing the collective goal of the progress in fundamental and applied quantum turning quantum physics into practical technologies science at Yale and in the broader community of Publications 171 and advancing our fundamental understanding of quantum researchers across the globe. Yale has particular quantum science and engineering. We welcome expertise in the theoretical and experimental researchers from around the world to visit and development of new technologies to store and Citations 15,123 at Yale Data: Scopus, Jan 2020 participate in this intellectual adventure. 04 QUANTUMINSTITUTE.YALE.EDU ANNUAL REPORT 05 Colloquia & YQI Fellowship Seminar Series In keeping with the mission of the Institute to facilitate research and teaching of quantum physics, the YQI Mission Every academic year, the Institute presents an Fellowship Program provides funding for recent Ph.D. exciting series of technical seminars and colloquia recipients to join any YQI faculty member’s group for from experts in the field of quantum information a 2-year period.