Event Details

Physics Colloquium

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Abstract: Understanding the behavior of interacting electrons in solids or liquids is at the heart of modern quantum science and necessary for technological advances. However, the complexity of their interactions generally prevents us from coming up with an exact mathematical description of their behavior. Precisely engineered ultracold gases are emerging as a powerful tool for unraveling these challenging physical problems. In this talk, I will present recent developments at JILA on using alkaline-earth atoms (AEAs) - currently the basis of the most precise atomic clock in the world - for the investigation of complex many-body phenomena and magnetism. Specifically, I will discuss ideas on how to use AEAs dressed by laser fields as a tool to engineer useful entangled states. The proposed schemes open a window to enhance clock sensitivity beyond what is possible with uncorrelated atoms, and, set a foundation for future quantum computers.

Short Biographical Statement of Professor Ana Maria Rey

Professor Ana María Rey is a Fellow of JILA, a NIST Fellow, and a Professor Adjoint at the Department of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. She received a B.S. from Universidad de los Andes, in Bogota-Colombia, and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. Between 2005 and 2008, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, after which she joined the faculty at JILA and UC Boulder. Rey’s research interests are in the scientific interface between atomic, molecular and optical physics, condensed matter physics and quantum information science. She has been the recipient of various awards, including the American Physical Society DAMOP Thesis Prize (2005), a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (2013), the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2013), the Maria Goeppert Mayer Award of the American Physical Society (2014), and the Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists (2019). Rey is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society.