Quantum Research

A wide variety of quantum research, both theory and experiment, is led by researchers at WSU. Here are some of the main groups and collaborations within in the iq@wsu.

Atomic Physics

Discoveries at WSU occur in some of the coolest places in the universe. Literally! Peter Engels cools atoms to within a billionth of a degree of absolute zero in the Fundamental Quantum Physics Lab, where their wave nature starts to dominate, and a new phase of superfluid matter emerges. These cold atom experiments provide a platform to study fundamental quantum physics and look for new phenomena that might form the basis for the next generation of quantum technology. Ideas and technologies being explored at WSU include spintronics, negative-mass hydrodynamics, gravitational caustics, and atom-interferometric imaging.

Brian Saam uses atoms in high magnetic fields to Brian Saam’s research group works on spin physics and magnetic resonance in alkali-metal vapors and noble gases, with applications to magnetometry and magnetic resonance imaging.

Photo of the HIP trap in the Fundamental Quantum Physics Lab.
HIP trap in the Fundamental Quantum Physics Lab that shuttles ultra-cold atoms from the site where they are cooled to the site where they are manipulated to study superfluid dynamics.

Nonlinear Optics

Mark Kuzyk is building a quantum light factory capable of deterministically shaping photons into arbitrary states of light: e.g. single photons, multiple spatially/color-entangled photons, and shaped photon statistics.

Lowell Elm tree.

Quantum Sensors and Measurement

Brian Saam uses atoms in high magnetic fields to Brian Saam’s research group works on spin physics and magnetic resonance in alkali-metal vapors and noble gases, with applications to magnetometry and magnetic resonance imaging.

Quantum sensors promise advantages over classical sensors in measuring fields, forces, and time. Their design and fabrication are pursued in Mei’s lab. Rydberg sensors are an emerging technology that promises a breakthrough for the detection of broadband RF and microwave signals, from DC to THz with orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity compared to dipole antenna. Mei plans to build up a laser-cooled- and-trapped atomic Rydberg sensing system integrated with photonic circuits for low-noise portable Rydberg electrometer. Such sensors might be useful for detecting stray electromagnetic fields in LIGO, which generate unwanted forces and torques, and can adversely affect detector sensitivity.

Photo of the HIP trap in the Fundamental Quantum Physics Lab.
HIP trap in the Fundamental Quantum Physics Lab that shuttles ultra-cold atoms from the site where they are cooled to the site where they are manipulated to study superfluid dynamics.

Quantum Simulation / Analog Quantum Computing

Universality is a powerful tool in physics where very different systems can be described by the same underlying theory. Perhaps nowhere is this more extreme than the universality embodied by the unitary Fermi gas, which allows neutron stars to be simulated by cold atoms. Neutron stars – the hot remnants of exploding supernova – contain the highest density of matter in the universe, at the cusp of collapsing into a black hole. The neutrons in the crust are though to form a quantum superfluid whose properties are responsible for some puzzling observations called pulsar glitches.

Numerical simulation of compressible turbulence in a unitary Fermi gas on a 1003 cubic lattice. A perturbed interleaved vortex–anti-vortex lattice decays through quantum turbulence through the crossing and reconnection of vortices. Compressible systems also permit wave turbulence through sound waves, the interplay of these mechanisms will be one of the topics discussed in this program. This type of superfluid can be studied in cold atom experiments, but is a good model for the dilute neutron superfluid in the crust of neutron stars. One idea of quantum simulation is to use cold-atom experiments as analog quantum computers to validate these models for quantum dynamics neutron stars where experiments are impossible. For details see: Wlazlowski et. al, “Characterizing the cascade of energy in fermionic quantum turbulence: Pushing the limits of high-performance computing”, PNAS Nexus 3, p. 160 (2024).

Digital Quantum Computing

Yefeng Mei’s lab uses neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers and ensembles and their highly excited Rydberg states for multi-qubit and photon gates as key components for quantum computing and networking. Neutral atoms possess many attractive features as qubits, including reproducibility, excellent coherence, large scalability, and configurable strong interaction with photons.

Lowell Elm tree.

Quantum Materials

Lowell Elm tree.