Applied Physics/Physics Colloquium: Monika Aidelsburger- "Quantum simulation – Engineering & Understanding Quantum Systems Atom-by-Atom"

Abstract: The computational resources required to describe the full state of a quantum many-body system scale exponentially with the number of constituents. This severely limits our ability to explore and understand the fascinating phenomena of quantum systems using classical algorithms. Quantum simulation offers a potential route to overcome these limitations. The idea is to build a well-controlled quantum system in the laboratory that represents the problem of interest, and whose properties can be studied through controlled measurements. This talk will introduce quantum simulators based on neutral atoms confined in optical arrays using laser beams. State-of-the-art experiments now generate arrays of several thousand particles while maintaining control at the level of single atoms. These systems can be used to study topological phases of matter and to simulate the dynamics of lattice gauge theories, opening new routes to explore phenomena inspired by high-energy physics. Recent developments in novel probes inspired by quantum information science, opening new opportunities for discoveries in fundamental quantum many-body physics across fields.

Monika Aidelsburger is a professor at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and leads a W2 research group at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. She received her PhD in Physics from LMU in 2015. From 2016 to 2017, she was a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at Collège de France before establishing her research group at LMU. Her research focuses on quantum simulation using ultracold atoms in optical lattices to investigate topological phases and lattice gauge theories. Aidelsburger has received numerous prestigious awards, including an ERC Starting Grant, the Alfried Krupp Prize and the Klung Wilhelmy Science Award.