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IQUIST seminar: "Coherent Control of Processes that Break the Dipole Blockade", presented by Aaron Reinhard, Kenyon College

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
IQUIST
Location
190 Engineering Sciences Building, 1101 W Springfield Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
Date
Feb 1, 2022   11:00 - 11:50 am  
Speaker
Aaron Reinhard, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Kenyon College
Contact
Hannah Stites
E-Mail
hstites2@illinois.edu
Phone
217-300-4072
Views
118
Originating Calendar
IQUIST Seminar Series

Coherent Control of Processes that Break the Dipole Blockade

Abstract: The Rydberg excitation blockade has enabled impressive achievements in quantum information and simulation.  However, unwanted processes may compromise the single-excitation behavior of the blockade and reduce its efficiency.  We study one such process, state-mixing interactions.  When ultracold atoms are excited to Rydberg states near Förster resonance, up to 50% of the detected atoms can be found in dipole-coupled product states within tens of ns of excitation. There has been disagreement in the literature regarding the mechanism by which this mixing occurs.   

We use state-selective field ionization spectroscopy with single-event resolution to probe state mixing near the 43D5/2 Förster resonance in Rb.  Our method allows us to control the mechanism by which state-mixing interactions occur during Rydberg excitation.  Additionally, we use a rotary echo technique to demonstrate the coherence of the evolution of mixed three-particle states during our Rydberg excitation pulses.  The ability to coherently control state-mixing events will allow experimenters to avoid this unwanted process when implementing quantum devices using neutral atoms.

Bio: Aaron Reinhard is an experimental atomic physicist studying ultracold Rydberg atoms.  His current work focuses on the Rydberg excitation blockade, a key ingredient in neutral atom quantum gates and quantum simulators.  With his team of undergraduate student collaborators, he seeks to understand processes that make the single-excitation behavior of the blockade break down.   Aaron also does physics education research.  He is especially interested in the role of metacognition in promoting expert-like problem-solving behaviors. 

Aaron earned a B.S. in physics and a B.S.E.E in electrical engineering from Valparaiso University in 2003, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Michigan in 2008.  He did a postdoc at Penn State University and has held appointments at Otterbein University and Kenyon College, where he has been an associate professor since 2017. 

To watch online go to the IQUIST youtube channel:   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCzAySwQXF8J4kRolUzg2ww

For Zoom link you may check the IQUIST calendar weekly email or contact Kelly Foster (foster5@illinois.edu), or Hannah Stites (hstites2@illinois.edu). To subscribe to our weekly email for event announcements, please go to https://lists.illinois.edu/lists/subscribe/iquist-announcements.

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