APPLIED PHYSICS Ph.D. DISSERTATION DEFENSE: Tori Borish
Department of Applied Physics
PhD Dissertation Defense
Many-Body Spin Dynamics with Rydberg-Dressed Atoms
Tori Borish, PhD Candidate
Research Advisor: Professor Monika Schleier-Smith
Monday November 16, 2020 @ 2:00 PM Pacific Time
Zoom Link: https://stanford.zoom.us/j/92639490420?pwd=UXczYkxRQjRKaVlvdkkramtEWW5iZz09
(Email mariaf67 [at] stanford.edu (mariaf67[at]stanford[dot]edu) for password.)
Abstract
A fundamental challenge of quantum science is to introduce controllable interactions in well isolated quantum systems. This is necessary for generating entangled many-body states with applications in the fields of quantum computing, quantum optimization, quantum metrology, and quantum simulations. Controlling inter-particle interactions optically allows for them to be switchable, locally addressable, and tunable. One way to do this is by exciting neutral atoms to Rydberg states, characterized by a high principal quantum number of the outer electron, which creates optically controlled long-range interactions. In order to take advantage of both the long-range interactions of the Rydberg states and the long spin coherence times of ground state atoms, we off-resonantly couple a cold dilute gas of cesium atoms to Ryberg states, using a technique known as Rydberg dressing.
In this talk, I present the first experimental realization of the transverse-field Ising model with Rydberg dressing. We demonstrate the creation of Ising interactions and characterize them via Ramsey spectroscopy, a step towards creating spin-squeezed states with finite range interactions. By adding in a periodic microwave drive, we are able to detect dynamical signatures of the paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic phase transition. This work paves the way for many applications including creating arrays of spin-squeezed states via local optical control and implementing a many-qubit quantum gate.