Southwest Quantum Information and Technology

Topology and Non-Local Quantum Engineering with Ultracold Atoms

Monika Schleier-Smith, Stanford University

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A conceptually appealing vision for fault-tolerant quantum computation involves encoding information in non-local, topological properties of a many-particle quantum system. Motivated by this prospect, I will present recent experiments employing atom interferometry to measure geometric phases imprinted in the band structure of an optical honeycomb lattice. Using a Bose-Einstein condensate as a momentum-resolved probe, we have directly detected the singular quantized Berry flux of a Dirac cone. Major outstanding challenges are to combine suitable geometric phases with interactions to realize topologically ordered states; and to develop methods of accessing non-local degrees of freedom. With the latter challenge in mind, I will present plans for engineering non-local interactions among cold atoms via strong coupling to a single optical resonator mode. These highly coherent and controllable interactions will also provide new opportunities for entanglement-enhanced metrology and for fundamental studies of many-particle quantum dynamics.