Overview

   Current Projects

   Astrophysics

   Cosmology

   Plasma and Fluids

 Quantum/Condensed Matter

   Space Physics

Home > Research > Quantum and Condensed Matter Physics

Quantum and Condensed Matter Physics

Condensed matter physics is the science of the material world around us. We seek to understand how diverse complex phenomena arise when large numbers of constituents such as electrons, atoms and molecules interact with each other. Advances in our understanding of condensed-matter systems have led to fundamental discoveries such as novel phases of matter as well as many of the technological inventions that our societies are built on, including transistors, integrated circuits, lasers, high-performance composite materials and magnetic resonance imaging.

The Quantum and Condensed Matter Group at Dartmouth focuses on a range of problems at the intersection of quantum information processing, quantum statistical mechanics, and condensed matter physics. In this new frontier of condensed matter physics, our research involves not only understanding how systems work, but also how to design and control physical systems to function as we want. Common threads that run through both the experimental and theoretical research programs include: coherent control and many-body dynamics of complex quantum systems; dynamics of open quantum systems, quantum decoherence and quantum measurements; hybrid quantum device architectures.

Theory

Professor Blencowe's research interests are primarily within mesoscopic physics, in particular nanometer-to-micrometer scale systems that possess quantum electronic, mechanical, and electromagnetic degrees of freedom.

Professor Viola's research focuses on theoretical quantum information physics and quantum engineering. Current emphasis is on developing strategies for robustly controlling realistic open quantum systems, and on investigating fundamental aspects related to many-body quantum dynamics, entanglement and quantum randomness.

Professor Lawrence (Emeritus) is exploring practical and foundational aspects of quantum information theory. A current focus is the study of alternative operator bases relevant to quantum tomography, including mutually unbiased basis sets (MUBs), generalized Pauli operators, and Wigner distribution operators on discrete phase space.

Transport of a localized magnetic moment in a 25-spin XX spin chain with uniform couplings.

Pictorial representation of "Cayley-graph" constructions that are used to generate "dynamically corrected" quantum gates in the presence of arbitrary single-qubit errors.

Experiment

Professor Rimberg's research focuses on radio-frequency and microwave techniques to investigate quantum phenomena in such nanostructures as quantum dots and single-electron transistors. The group has active collaborations with the University of Wisconsin and NIST Boulder. Professor Ramanathan's research addresses the challenge of controlling and measuring quantum phenomena in large many-body systems by exploring the quantum dynamics of solid state spin systems. The group has active collaborations with the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, Harvard University and MIT. Professor Wright is investigating the properties of quantum systems using ensembles of ultracold atoms, with an emphasis on atom-photon interaction in many-body systems. Specific topics of interest include nonequilibrium phase transitions, transport phenomena, cavity optomechanics and cavity QED. Research and Adjunct Faculty Jifeng Liu, Assistant Professor (Thayer School of Engineering) focuses on the design of optoelectronic materials and devices for both solar cells and energy-efficient information technologies. Francesco Ticozzi, Adjoint Visiting Assistant Professor focuses on quantum control theory, information encoding and communication in quantum systems, and information-theoretic approaches to control systems. Some of our recent publications (on arXiv.org).

Conductance of a few-electron Si/SiGe quantum dot versus gate and bias voltage. Conceptual rendering of a ring-shaped superfluid of ultra-cold atoms being stirred by a rotating laser beam. This configuration is analogous to a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID).