Quantum Many-Body Physics

With our increasing perfection in the control of quantum mechanical many-body systems we are approaching the realization of first simple quantum computers. Various physical systems may serve as a basis for such quantum computers. The most prominent examples are coupled superconducting circuits and trapped ions.

Neutral Rydberg atoms in optical tweezers for another platform for quantum computing, which saw  dramatic technological progress in the recent years. This platform unites fundamentally indistinguishable qubits and precise control via laser fields with scalability in the size of the qubit register.

In our project we aim at the unification of the optical tweezer technology with cryogenic technology at 4K. This will result in record-long coherence and life times of the atoms in the optical tweezer array and forms the basis for scalability to large atom numbers. Furthermore, the intensity of black-body radiation is strongly reduced at cold temperatures. This reduces the anwanted coupling between neighboring Rydberg states, a potential source for collective decoherence in the quantum processor.

This project is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research within the quantum technologies initiative. We are partner in the project "MuniQC-Atoms", which aims at the realization of a quantum computing demonstrator based on strontium atoms.