Lecture Today on Quantum Computing With Neutral Atoms

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The Department of Physics in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences presents its Physics Colloquium, titled "Quantum Computing with Neutral Atoms," given by Mark Saffman, professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The lecture will be from 4-5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, in PHYS 133. Refreshment will be begin at 3:30 p.m. in PHYS 134.

Quantum computing is a few decades old and is currently an area where there is great excitement, and rapid developments. A handful of distinct approaches have shown the capability of on-demand generation of entanglement and execution of basic quantum algorithms. Many researchers now believe that it will prove possible to build useful quantum computing machines and, in the last few years, development efforts have spread from university research labs to commercial research and development.

One of the daunting challenges in developing a large-scale quantum computer is the need for a very large number of qubits. Neutral atoms are one of the most promising approaches for meeting this challenge. I will give a snapshot of the current status of experimental quantum computing, describe the physics underlying neutral atom qubits and quantum gates, and present the current status and prospects for the next few years.

Saffman is an experimental physicist working in the areas of atomic physics, quantum and nonlinear optics, and quantum information processing. He has made significant contributions to the physics of optical solitons, pattern formation, sources of entangled light, and quantum computing. His current research effort is devoted to the development of neutral atom based quantum computing devices. His research team was the first to demonstrate a quantum CNOT gate between two trapped neutral atoms, and the deterministic entanglement of a pair of neutral atoms. This was done using dipole mediated interactions between highly excited Rydberg atoms. He is currently developing scalable neutral atom platforms using arrays of trapped atoms