JILA PFC Homepage | JILA Physics Frontier Center

BEC Science Cover

Thirty years of Bose-Einstein Condensates

The first Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) was first created by Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman, Mike Anderson, Jason Ensher, and Michael Matthews on June 5, 1995 in JILA at the University of Colorado Boulder. This new state…

Kendall Mehling, left, and Catie LeDesma, right, with a new kind of atom "interferometer" on the CU Boulder campus.

New quantum navigation device uses atoms to measure acceleration in 3D

In a new study, physicists at JILA and the University of Colorado Boulder have used a cloud of atoms chilled down to incredibly cold temperatures to simultaneously measure acceleration in three dimensions—a feat that…

Tunable Superexchange interactions in a 3D optical clock

The Pursuit of Perfect Timekeeping

In a recent study published in Science, by JILA and NIST Fellows and University of Colorado Boulder physics professors Jun Ye and Ana Maria Rey, interactions between atoms are explored in depth,…

Molecules sparsely occupy a deep 3D optical lattice. Molecules interact with induced dipole moments and transition dipole moments represented by squiggly lines between lattice sites. Lowering the lattice depth in the horizontal direction allows tunneling between sites within layers.

Where Motion Meets Spin: A Quantum Leap in Simulating Magnetism

The strange behaviors of high-temperature superconductors—materials that conduct electricity without resistance above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen—and other systems with unusual magnetic properties have…

Simulation using the gradiometer protocol

Combining Machine Learning with Quantum Metrology: Making a Universal Quantum Sensor

Researchers at JILA and the University of Colorado Boulder have developed an innovative platform that combines machine learning with atom interferometry to create a universal quantum sensor. This system uses…

Teleporting quantum information stored in collective spin states of ions within a two-dimensional crystal

Quantum Teleportation Gets an Ionic 2D Upgrade

Researchers at JILA, led by Ana Maria Rey, developed a new protocol for teleporting quantum information in collective spin states of ions within a two-dimensional crystal. This involves entangling ion groups through…

Major Activities

JILA PFC Partnerships

FIU-JILA Partnership for Research and Education in Physics: https://fiujilaprep.fiu.edu/

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

Cindy Regal in her lab

May 19, 2025 | Cindy Regal Named 2025 Brown Investigator for Pioneering Quantum Research

Professor Cindy Regal, Baur-SPIE Chair at JILA, has been named a 2025 Brown Investigator by the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences at Caltech.

Recent Publications

Quantum-State Controlled Formation of Cosmically Relevant Metallic Molecular Ions

¹ G.S. Kocheril, C.. Zagorec-Marks, and H.J. Lewandowski, Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, (2025).

Investigators: Heather Lewandowski

Education for expanding the quantum workforce: Students perceptions of the quantum industry in an upper-division physics capstone course

¹ K.A. Oliver, V.. Borish, B.R. Wilcox, and H.J. Lewandowski, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 21, (2025).

Investigators: Heather Lewandowski

Affordances and challenges of incorporating a remote, cloud-accessible quantum experiment into undergraduate courses

¹ V.. Borish, and H.J. Lewandowski, Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 21, (2025).

Investigators: Heather Lewandowski

Outcomes from a workshop on a national center for quantum education

¹ E.. Barnes, M.. Bennett, A.. Boltasseva, V.. Borish, B.. Brown, L.D. Carr, R.. Ceballos, F.. Dukes, E.. Easton, S.E. Economou, E.. Edwards, N.D. Finkelstein, C.. Fracchiolla, D.. Franklin, J.K. Freericks, V.. Goss, M.. Hannum, N.. Holincheck, A.. Kelly, O.. Lanes, H.J. Lewandowski, K.. Matsler, E.. Mercurio, I.. Montaño, M.. Murdock, K.. Peltz, J.. Perron, C.. Richardson, J.. Rosenberg, R.. Ross, M.. Ryu, R.. Samuel, N.. Schrode, S.. Schwamberger, T.A. Searles, C.. Singh, A.. Tingle, and B.M. Zwickl, EPJ Quantum Technol. 12, (2025).

Investigators: Heather Lewandowski

Termination of bottom-up interstellar aromatic ring formation at C6H5+

¹ G.S. Kocheril, C.. Zagorec-Marks, and H.J. Lewandowski, Nature Astronomy (2025).

Investigators: Heather Lewandowski

Time-Resolved Spectral Gap Spectroscopy in a Quantum Simulator of Fermionic Superfluidity inside an Optical Cavity

¹ D.. Young, E.. Song, A.. Chu, D.. Barberena, Z.. Niu, V.. Schäfer, R.J. Lewis-Swan, A.M. Rey, and J.K. Thompson, Physical Review Letters 134, (2025).

Investigators: James Thompson | Ana Maria Rey

About JILA PFC

The JILA Physics Frontier Center (JILA PFC) is sponsored by the NSF (National Science Foundation) Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) program which supports university-based centers and institutes where the collective efforts of a larger group of individuals can enable transformational advances in the most promising research areas. Read more about this program at the NSF website.

The 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.

The scientific vision of the JILA PFC is to develop and advance our capability to harness light-matter interactions and gain control over a large set of diverse quantum systems. This will allow us to shed light on open questions in many-body physics relevant to a broad class of disciplines ranging from atomic, molecular and optical physics, to condensed matter, to chemistry and biology which will enable us to unravel the fundamental laws that rule our universe.

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 Boulder (CU Boulder).