News & Research Highlights

Quantum Information Science & Technology
Molecules in Flat Lands: an Entanglement Paradise
Published: March 18, 2021

Entangled particles have always fascinated physicists, as measuring one entangled particle can result in  a change in another entangled particle, famously dismissed as “spooky action at a distance” by Einstein. By now, physicists understand this strange effect and how to make use of it, for example to increase the sensitivity of measurements. However, entangled states are very fragile, as they can be easily disrupted by decoherence. Researchers have already created entangled states in atoms, photons, electrons and ions, but only recently have studies begun to explore  entanglement in gases of polar molecules. 

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Related Publications: Dynamical generation of spin squeezing in ultra-cold dipolar moleculesInvestigators: Ana Maria Rey | Jun Ye
Quantum Information Science & Technology
Using Quantum Knots to Build a Secure Internet
Published: March 01, 2021

When looking within a quantum internet, the Sun Lab is looking at specifically photons. By entangling these photons, scientists tie little quantum knots between them, so they jointly represent the information to be delivered. The photons aren’t just paired off within these quantum knots. They’re connected to hundreds of other photons in a tree-shaped pattern. The robust redundancy of these photons means that scientists can still read the information, even if a few photons are lost.

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Related Publications: Deterministic Generation of Loss-Tolerant Photonic Cluster States with a Single Quantum EmitterInvestigators: Shuo Sun
Physics Education | Quantum Information Science & Technology
Heather Lewandowski wins the 2021 Boulder Faculty Excellence Award
Published: February 15, 2021

JILA Fellow Heather Lewandowski has been awarded the 2021 Boulder Faculty Excellence Award. This award was given specifically for Lewandowski's excellence in teaching and pedagogy.

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Investigators: Heather Lewandowski
Astrophysics | Precision Measurement | Quantum Information Science & Technology
Scientists develop new, faster method for seeking out dark matter
Published: February 11, 2021

For nearly a century, scientists have worked to unravel the mystery of dark matter—an elusive substance that spreads through the universe and likely makes up much of its mass, but has so far proven impossible to detect in experiments. Now, a team of researchers have used an innovative technique called “quantum squeezing” to dramatically speed up the search for one candidate for dark matter in the lab. 

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Related Publications: Improved analysis framework for axion dark matter searchesInvestigators: Konrad Lehnert
Atomic & Molecular Physics | Laser Physics | Quantum Information Science & Technology
New JILA Tools ‘Turn On’ Quantum Gases of Ultracold Molecules
Published: December 12, 2020

For the first time, researchers can turn on an electric field to manipulate molecular interactions, get them to cool down further, and start to explore collective physics where all molecules are coupled to each other.

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Related Publications: Dipolar evaporation of reactive molecules to below the Fermi temperatureInvestigators: Jun Ye
Atomic & Molecular Physics | Laser Physics | Quantum Information Science & Technology
JILA’s Electric ‘Knob’ Tunes Chemical Reaction Rates in Quantum Gas
Published: December 10, 2020

Building on their newfound ability to induce molecules in ultracold gases to interact with each other over long distances, JILA researchers have used an electric “knob” to influence molecular collisions and dramatically raise or lower chemical reaction rates.

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Related Publications: Resonant collisional shielding of reactive molecules using electric fieldsInvestigators: Jun Ye
Atomic & Molecular Physics | Laser Physics
Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn honored by National Academy of Inventors
Published: December 08, 2020

Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn, who pioneered technologies for generating coherent X-rays, which helped propel research in dynamic processes in atoms, molecules and materials, have been named fellows of the National Academy of Inventors.

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Investigators: Margaret Murnane | Henry Kapteyn
Atomic & Molecular Physics | Laser Physics | Quantum Information Science & Technology
Advanced Atomic Clock Makes a Better Dark Matter Detector
Published: November 30, 2020

JILA researchers have used a state-of-the-art atomic clock to narrow the search for elusive dark matter, an example of how continual improvements in clocks have value beyond timekeeping.

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Related Publications: Precision Metrology Meets Cosmology: Improved Constraints on Ultralight Dark Matter from Atom-Cavity Frequency ComparisonsInvestigators: Jun Ye
Quantum Information Science & Technology
Konrad Lehnert named as a 2020 AAAS fellow.
Published: November 25, 2020

Konrad Lehnert becomes the 6th JILA Fellow elected as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow by the Council of the AAAS.

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Investigators: Konrad Lehnert
Atomic & Molecular Physics | Precision Measurement | Quantum Information Science & Technology
Jun Ye named 2020 Highly Cited Researcher
Published: November 20, 2020

JILA fellow Jun Ye has been named Highly Cited Researcher for 2020 by Clarivate Analytics. Ye has been awarded the Highly Cited Researcher in the field of physics every year since 2014.

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Investigators: Jun Ye
Atomic & Molecular Physics
Measuring Spinning Donuts
Published: November 04, 2020

Follow that electron! JILA researchers have proposed a means of capturing an electron's flight path during ionization, and in doing so, determining the state of the atom at that moment.

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Related Publications: Asymmetries in ionization of atomic superposition states by ultrashort laser pulsesInvestigators: Andreas Becker | Agnieszka Jaron-Becker
Chemical Physics
Electron Fly-Bys on the Chemical Reaction Pathway
Published: November 02, 2020

When it comes to chemical reactions, shape matters. The Lewandowski Group have studied acetylene and its reactions with propyne and allene to find out how an isomer changes the chemical reaction pathway.

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Related Publications: Isomer-selected ion–molecule reactions of acetylene cations with propyne and alleneInvestigators: Heather Lewandowski
Physics Education
Now Hiring: The New Quantum Workforce
Published: October 29, 2020

We're in the Second Quantum Revolution, and companies are eager to build and market new technology based on rapid advances in quantum physics. JILA Fellow Heather Lewandowski and her group decided to find out what qualifications these companies were looking for in the new quantum workforce. 

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Related Publications: Preparing for the quantum revolution: What is the role of higher education?Investigators: Heather Lewandowski
Chemical Physics
The Rules of Photon Thunderdome
Published: October 05, 2020

During upconversion photoluminescence in rubrene, four triplet state ions fight it out to release a single high-energy photon. 

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Related Publications: Spectroscopy of Resonant Intermediate States for Triplet–Triplet Annihilation Upconversion in Crystalline Rubrene: Radical Ions as SensitizersInvestigators: J. Mathias Weber
Atomic & Molecular Physics
Total Ellipse of the SU(N)
Published: September 11, 2020

A strangely shaped cloud of fermions revealed a record-fast way of cooling atoms for quantum devices.

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Related Publications: Thermodynamics of a deeply degenerate SU(N)-symmetric Fermi gasInvestigators: Jun Ye | Ana Maria Rey
Biophysics
Grabbing Proteins by the Tail
Published: August 11, 2020

"Unraveling" cell membrane proteins could help us understand how to build better drugs and treatments for disease.

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Related Publications: Quantifying the native energetics stabilizing bacteriorhodopsin by single-molecule force spectroscopyInvestigators: Thomas Perkins
Physics Education
What to Know if You’re Teaching Physics Labs Remotely
Published: August 05, 2020

In the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, instructors are planning their courses for virtual platforms—a major challenge for laboratory classes. JILA Fellow Heather Lewandowski has gathered some helpful tools for those teaching physics labs in a virtual classroom.

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Investigators: Heather Lewandowski
Atomic & Molecular Physics | Precision Measurement
Falling Dominos and an Army of Schrödinger’s Cats
Published: July 27, 2020

Using the laser from the strontium optical atomic clock, physicists can generate multiple cat-state atoms quickly and easily.

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Related Publications: Generating Multipartite Spin States with Fermionic Atoms in a Driven Optical LatticeInvestigators: Ana Maria Rey
Atomic & Molecular Physics
The Sisyphean Task of Cooling Molecules
Published: June 03, 2020

Bringing molecules down to ultracold temperatures takes a mythic approach, but the Ye Group finds that their new scheme can hold up under tough conditions.

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Related Publications: Sub-Doppler Cooling and Compressed Trapping of YO Molecules at uK TemperaturesInvestigators: Jun Ye
Atomic & Molecular Physics
Phases on the Move: A Quantum Game of Catch
Published: April 29, 2020

The world is out-of-equilibrium, and JILA scientists are trying to learn what rules govern the dynamic systems that make our universe so complex and beautiful, from black holes to our living bodies.

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Related Publications: Exploring dynamical phase transitions with cold atoms in an optical cavityInvestigators: Ana Maria Rey | James Thompson