EQuAL Seminar: Shankari Rajagopal

Exploring and Harnessing Quantum Entanglement in Locally Interacting Atomic Gases

Entanglement is a unique resource found in quantum systems that can enable advances in precision measurement of time and electromagnetic fields, quantum simulation of solid-state systems, and the development of quantum information resources. Thus far, many experiments have used global interactions and collective entanglement among large ensembles of particles to realize quantum sensors that surpass the sensitivity of their classical counterparts. Other experiments have used extremely local interactions and short-range entanglement between neighboring atoms to demonstrate high-fidelity quantum gates. How can we interpolate between these regimes in useful ways? We can, for example, strive to develop an understanding of local entanglement on a microscopic level, and figure out how to apply it to quantum sensor ensembles which might not natively allow global interactions. In this talk, I will mainly focus on an experimental way to address this problem, using Rydberg interactions in an ensemble of trapped cold atoms. I will conclude by exploring future directions we can take to understand quantum entanglement using both local and global interactions in experimental systems. In particular, I will describe construction of a new experimental platform at the University of Michigan to (a) expand control over experimental sequences in time and (b) develop new techniques using measurement, to study and steer the evolution of quantum systems for applications in metrology, simulation, and information.