The Sisyphean Task of Cooling Molecules
If you want to control the quantum world, it helps to make things really cold—like a few millionths of a degree above absolute zero. When atoms reach those ultracold temperatures, they slow down and scientists can better probe them and...
Sorting the Glow from the Flow
How do you find a single cell in sea of thousands? You make it glow. Adding fluorescence helps track movement and changes in small things like cells, DNA, and bacteria. In a library of millions of cells or bacteria, flow cytometry sorts...
Drumming to the Heisenberg Beat
“It's not noiseless but in principle it could be noiseless, and in practice it's approaching that limit.” - Robert Delaney At JILA, scientists work on mechanical oscillators which are the size of a grain of salt. They may be tiny, but...
The Power of the Dark Side
"Dark states are stable and they do not decay. There is the possibility that they live forever." -Ana Maria Rey How long can a unique atomic state live? Atoms normally live in their ground state, where its electrons are sitting in...
How universal is universality?
“Atoms aren’t like protons. They’re full of pulleys and bells and whistles. Sometimes, those 'guts' matter.” - Eric Cornell We understand pretty well how a single atom behaves. Two atoms interacting with each other? Still solvable. But...

The JILA Physics Frontier Center (JILA PFC) brings together 20 investigators in collaboration to share goals, ideas, expertise and technology in their aim to realize precise measurement, innovative manipulation, and harvesting ever-more intriguing meaning, all in the world of complex  quantum systems.

A theme that runs through all of JILA PFC research is the importance of interactions in understanding and exploiting the nature of quantum many-particle systems. The JILA PFC seeks to foment a new quantum revolution, in which matter with built-in quantum correlation will be understood, controlled, and harnessed. In this process, we will gain new insights into the emergence of universal rules that govern complex materials. At the same time, the JILA PFC envisions inventing novel quantum-measurement approaches for exploring unknown corners of our physical world.

The JILA PFC is housed within the JILA institute, which is a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Major Activities

Center News

Quantum Matter from Basic Constituents
Quantum Correlated States and Measurement for Fundamental Physics
Out-of-Equilibrium Dynamics of Quantum Systems
eXpanding the Impact of our Science and Technology
Department of Defense Awards Konrad Lehnert Prestigious Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship
JILA Fellow Adam Kaufman wins Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award
JILA Fellow Jason Dexter Wins 2020 Sloan Fellowship
JILA Fellows Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn Win the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Physics

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JILA’s NSF Physics Frontier Center follows University of Colorado polices for ensuring harassment-free environments.  For more detailed information please read the whole Discrimination and Harassment Policy and Procedures.