Ultrafast and ultracold quantum simulator with attosecond precision

Many-body correlations govern a variety of important quantum phenomena including the emergence of superconductivity and magnetism in condensed matter as well as chemical reactions in liquids. Understanding quantum many-body systems is thus one of the central goals of modern sciences and technologies. Here we demonstrate a new pathway towards this goal by generating a strongly correlated ultracold Rydberg gas with a broadband ultrashort laser pulse. We have applied our ultrafast coherent control with attosecond precision [1] to a strongly correlated Rydberg gas in an optical dipole trap, and have successfully observed and controlled its ultrafast many-body electron dynamics [2-4]. This new approach is now applied to an atomic BEC, Mott insulator lattice, and arbitrary array assembled with optical tweezers to develop into a pathbreaking platform for quantum simulation of strongly correlated many-body electron dynamics on the ultrafast timescale [5-7].

This project is in progress in tight collaboration with Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.

  [1] H. Katsuki et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 51, 1174 (2018). [2] N. Takei et al., Nature Commun. 7, 13449 (2016). Highlighted by Science 354, 1388 (2016); IOP PhyscisWorld.com (2016). [3] C. Sommer et al., Phys. Rev. A 94, 053607 (2016). [4] C. Liu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 173201 (2018). [5] M. Mizoguchi et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 253201 (2020). [6] Patents (US and Japan) "Quantum simulator and quantum simulation method", H. Sakai (Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.), K. Ohmori (NINS) et al., 1 patented (US: 3rd Nov. 2020) and 1 notice of allowance (JP: 31st Mar. 2021) ; etc. [7] UC Boulder / NIST Quantum Technology Website : CUbit Quantum Initiative https://www.colorado.edu/initiative/cubit/newsletter/newsletter/june-2020 "A metal-like quantum gas: A pathbreaking platform for quantum simulation"