My research examines experimental implementations of quantum information processing. Quantum mechanics offers substantial algorithmic advantages over classical physics, including integer factoring and simulation of physical systems. One of the best candidate architectures for quantum information processing is a system of trapped ions. My research focuses on measuring and understanding interactions between ions in two novel systems: lattice ion traps, and ions in separate traps connected by a transmission line.
Lattice ion traps for quantum simulation
Quantum simulation is the technique of using one system that obeys quantum mechanics to mimic the dynamics of another system that's harder to control or measure. Examples of quantum simulations include the simulation three-body interactions and the BCS model with NMR, and simulation of the Bose-Hubbard model in optical lattices. It has also been shown that regular arrays of trapped ions can in principle solve condensed matter physics problems that are very difficult for classical computers, such as phase transitions in quantum spin models. For this scheme to work, ions in neighboring traps spaced by 50-100 μm must interact through the Coulomb interaction with each other. Thus, an important step in constructing such a device is measuring the strength of this interaction, performing laser cooling and micromotion compensation, and measuring heating rates in such a situation. This is what I am working on now. Previously, I have trapped strontium ions in a lattice with a spacing too large to see ion-ion interactions between atomic ions, but this interaction has been measured with charged microspheres.
Ion-ion coupling over a transmission line
An oscillating trapped ion induces time-varying image charges in nearby electrodes. These charges can influence the motion of an ion in another trap. In fact, Heinzen and Wineland showed in 1990 that two ions joined by a transmission line can exchange motional states in a quantum-mechanical way. This could provide a new tool for performing quantum information processing, laser cooling inaccessible species, detecting tiny electrical currents, or interfacing atomic with condensed-matter quantum systems. At the IQOQI in Innsbruck, we are measuring the effect of a moveable floating wire on single trapped ions in preparation for performing sympathetic Doppler cooling over a wire.
Previous work
Before beginning this work, I performed an experimental quantum simulation of pairing models using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). See my "Papers" page. To get started with NMR quantum computing, visit this site. As an undergrad, I mostly worked in physical chemistry, in the group of Terry Miller at Ohio State and Jeff Gray at Ohio Northern.
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