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May 10, 2021 | Research News

JQI Researchers Generate Tunable Twin Particles of Light

Identical twins might seem “indistinguishable,” but in the quantum world the word takes on a new level of meaning. While identical twins share many traits, the universe treats two indistinguishable quantum particles as intrinsically interchangeable. This opens the door for indistinguishable particles to interact in unique ways—such as in quantum interference—that are needed for quantum computers.

A red beam with packets of photons represented as dots passes through a cloud of atoms represented by a cluster of blue spheres.
April 26, 2021 | Research News

Two (Photons) is Company, Three’s a Crowd

Photons—the quantum particles of light—normally don’t have any sense of personal space. A laser crams tons of photons into a tight beam, and they couldn’t care less that they are packed on top of each other. Two beams can even pass through each other without noticing. This is all well and good when making an extravagant laser light show or using a laser level to hang a picture frame straight, but for researchers looking to develop quantum technologies that require precise control over just one or two photons, this lack of interaction often makes life difficult. Now, a group of UMD researchers has come together to create tailored interactions between photons in an experiment where, at least for photons, two’s company but three’s a crowd. The technique builds on many previous experiments that use atoms as intermediaries to form connections between photons that are akin to the bonds between protons, electrons and other kinds of matter. These interactions, along with the ability to control them, promises new opportunities for researchers to study the physics of exotic interactions and develop light-based quantum technologies.
A photo of JQI Fellow Alexey Gorshkov
April 19, 2021 | People News

JQI Fellow Gorshkov to Receive Flemming Award for Outstanding Federal Service

Alexey Gorshkov, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and a Fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) and the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS), is among 12 exceptional public servants chosen to receive the Arthur S. Flemming Award for 2020. The awardees will be honored during a virtual celebration this summer.
Data in the form of a rainbow laid out around a central point next to a whorl of hair on a baby's head.
March 3, 2021 | Research News

Researchers Comb Atoms into a Novel Swirl

When you brush your hair in the morning, there’s a pretty good chance you’re not thinking about quantum physics. But the way your hair swirls as you brush is actually related to some features of the quantum world. Important properties of quantum particles are described by topology—a field of mathematics that classifies objects according to how many holes they have. This is not merely a question of fashion. In physical materials, topology can determine many interesting properties. Now, a team of JQI researchers has engineered a new kind of topological matter—one with a single whorl—by breaking free from the constraints of crystalline solids. They managed to do this by grooming their atomic states into a whorl situated in an abstract, infinite plane, rather than a coconut or donut shape.
Timothy Qian wearing a blue Regrneron STS 2021 Finalist shirt while on a porch standing in front of a snowy yard.
February 4, 2021 | People News

Gorshkov Summer Student Named Regeneron Science Talent Search Finalist

Timothy Qian, a senior at Montgomery Blair High School, has been named a finalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) 2021 competition for the research from his summer research internship at the University of Maryland. He performed the work with the mentorship of JQI Fellow Alexey Gorshkov, who is also a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and a Fellow of the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science, and Jacob Bringewatt, a graduate student in physics at UMD. He developed a procedure for using networks of quantum sensors to perform optimal measurements of things like the electric field generated at a particular point by a distribution of electrons or the magnetic field produced by atomic nuclei. 
A photo of JQI Fellow Jacob Taylor
January 20, 2021 | People News

Taylor Receives Department of Commerce Gold Medal Award

JQI Fellow Jake Taylor has been recognized by the federal government for his role in expanding U.S. policy and efforts in the fiercely competitive field of quantum information science. Taylor, who is also a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is the recipient of the 2020 Gold Medal Award from the Department of Commerce.
January 6, 2021 | Research News

A Frankenstein of Order and Chaos

Normally the word “chaos” evokes a lack of order: a hectic day, a teenager’s bedroom, tax season. And the physical understanding of chaos is not far off. It’s something that is extremely difficult to predict, like the weather. Chaos allows a small blip (the flutter of a butterfly wing) to grow into a big consequence (a typhoon halfway across the world), which explains why weather forecasts more than a few days into the future can be unreliable. Individual air molecules, which are constantly bouncing around, are also chaotic—it’s nearly impossible to pin down where any single molecule might be at any given moment.
December 8, 2020 | Research News

Proposal Shows How Noisy Qubits Might Correct Themselves

One of the chief obstacles facing quantum computer designers—correcting the errors that creep into a processor’s calculations—could be overcome with a new approach by physicists from and the California Institute of Technology, who may have found a way to design quantum memory switches that would self-correct. The team’s theory paper, which was published Dec. 8, 2020 in the journal Physical Review Letters, suggests an easier path to creating stable quantum bits, or qubits, which ordinarily are subject to environmental disturbances and errors. Finding methods of correcting these errors is a major issue in quantum computer development, but the research team’s approach to qubit design could sidestep the problem. 
December 7, 2020 | Research News

Enhanced Frequency Doubling Adds to Photonics Toolkit

The digital age has seen electronics, including computer chips, shrink in size at an amazing rate, with ever tinier chips powering devices like smartphones, laptops and even autonomous drones. In the wake of this progress, another miniature technology has been gaining steam: integrated photonics. Photons, which are the quantum particles of light, have some advantages over electrons, the namesakes of electronics. For some applications, photons offer faster and more accurate information transfer and use less power than electrons. And because on-chip photonics are largely built using the same technology created for the electronics industry, they carry the promise of integrating electronics and photonics on the same chip.
November 24, 2020 | People News

Kollár Receives Air Force Young Investigator Grant

JQI Fellow Alicia Kollár has been awarded a grant by the Air Force’s Young Investigator Research Program (YIP). She is one of 36 early-career researchers around the US to receive the three-year, $450,000 award.
November 20, 2020 | People News

Two JQI Fellows Named 2020 Highly Cited Researchers

Two JQI Fellows are included on the Clarivate Web of Science Group’s 2020 list of Highly Cited Researchers, which recognizes influential scientists for their highly cited papers over the preceding decade. The two researchers are Sankar Das Sarma, the Director of the Condensed Matter Theory Center and the Richard E. Prange Chair and Distinguished University Professor of Physics at the University of Marlyand (UMD), and Christopher Monroe, Distinguished University Professor and the Bice Zorn Professor of Physics at UMD and a Fellow of the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science.

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