Tapping into hidden resources in trapped atom quantum processors*

When employing atoms for quantum information (QI) applications, it is often tempting to abstract them into faceless qubits with two (and only two) levels.  However, despite the early and frankly understandable belief that complex atoms are too unwieldy to pursue seriously for hosting qubits, we have reached a point where building QI platforms from multilevel atoms is feasible.  I will discuss some of the ways we have begun to utilize metastable beyond-qubit states in trapped ion qubits and how those capabilities can boost the capabilities of existing trapped-atom-based quantum processors and simulators.