JILA PFC Homepage

An artist's depiction of the frequency comb's molecular detection in vapor
Using Frequency Combs to Detect Molecules in Your Breath

​A team of physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a…

An optical lattice clock)embedded in the curved spacetime formed by the earth’s gravity. Dynamical interplay between photon-mediated interactions and gravitational redshift can lead to entanglement generation and frequency synchronization dynamics.
Sneaky Clocks: Uncovering Einstein’s Relativity in an Interacting Atomic Playground

For over a century, physicists have grappled with one of the most profound questions in science: How do the rules of quantum mechanics, which govern the smallest particles, fit with the laws of general relativity,…

Exploiting the hyperfine structure in repulsive light-assisted collisions (LAC) on a 87-Rubidium atom pair in an optical tweezer. 
Quantum Billiard Balls: Digging Deeper into Light-Assisted Atomic Collisions

When atoms collide, their exact structure—for example, the number of electrons they have or even the quantum spin of their nuclei—has a lot to say about how they bounce off each other. This is especially true for…

Cells with around 100 billion rubidium atoms are exposed to microwave signals, which help to determine the atoms' magnetic fields
Tracking Magnetic Field Directions Using Tiny Atomic Compasses

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a novel method to measure magnetic field orientations using atoms as minuscule compasses. The research, a collaboration between JILA Fellow and CU…

Schematic of the multi-level atomic array structure used in this study
Making a Leap by Using “Another State to Entangle”

Interactions between atoms and light rule the behavior of our physical world, but, at the same time, can be extremely complex. Understanding and harnessing them is one of the major challenges for the development of…

A schematic of the deposition process, as thorium ions get vaporized then deposited in a thin film on the substrate's surface.
Building a Safer and More Affordable Nuclear Clock

In the quest for ultra-precise timekeeping, scientists have turned to nuclear clocks. Unlike optical atomic clocks—which rely on electronic transitions—nuclear clocks utilize the energy transitions in the atom’s…

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Major Activities

JILA PFC Partnerships

FIU logo.FIU-JILA Partnership for Research and Education in Physics: https://fiujilaprep.fiu.edu/Student-faculty exchange diagram.
 

An NSF-sponsored partnership between FIU Physics and JILA Physics Frontier Center (PFC) for research excellence and diversity in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) Physics. Click diagram for a larger image.

Latest News

JILA graduate student Anya Grafov (second to the right) holds up her award for Best Lightning Talk
| JILA Graduate Students Anya Grafov and Iona Binnie Receive Top Honors at MMM Intermag 2025 Conference

Congratulations to JILA graduate students Anya Grafov and Iona Binnie—who conduct their cutting-edge research in the laboratory of JILA Fellows and the University of Colorado Boulder professors Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn—for their outstanding achievements at the MMM Intermag 2025 conference!

  

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Recent Publications

Exploring the Dynamical Interplay between Mass-Energy Equivalence, Interactions, and Entanglement in an Optical Lattice Clock
1 A.. Chu, V.. inez-Lahuerta, M.. Miklos, K.. Kim, P.. Zoller, K.. Hammerer, J.. Ye, and A.M.. Rey, Physical Review Letters 134, (2025).
Investigators: Jun Ye | Ana Maria Rey
Modulated ringdown comb interferometry for sensing of highly complex gases
1 Q.. Liang, A.. Bisht, A.. Scheck, P.. Schunemann, and J.. Ye, Nature 638, (2025).
Investigators: Jun Ye
Quantifying Light-assisted Collisions in Optical Tweezers Across the Hyperfine Spectrum
1 S.. Pampel, M.. Marinelli, M.O. Brown, J.P. D’Incao, and C.A. Regal, Physical Review Letters 134, (2025).
Investigators: Cindy Regal | Jose D'Incao
Engineering One Axis Twisting via a Dissipative Berry Phase Using Strong Symmetries
1 J.. Young, E.. Chaparro, A.. Piñeiro Orioli, J.K. Thompson, and A.M.. Rey, Physical Review Letters 134, (2025).
Investigators: James Thompson | Ana Maria Rey
Entanglement and iSWAP gate between molecular qubits
1 L.. Picard, A.. Park, G.. Patenotte, S.. Gebretsadkan, D.. Wellnitz, A.M. Rey, and K.-K.. Ni, Nature 637, (2025).
Investigators: Ana Maria Rey
Observation of Generalized t-J Spin Dynamics with Tunable Dipolar Interactions
1 A.N. Carroll, H.. Hirzler, C.. Miller, D.. Wellnitz, S.R. Muleady, J.. Lin, K.. Zamarski, R.R.W. Wang, J.L. Bohn, A.M.. Rey, and J.. Ye, Science in press, (2025).
Investigators: Ana Maria Rey | Jun Ye | John Bohn

See all JILA PFC Publications