In new a review published in Communications Physics, researchers from ICFO and Dynamite team members, UPC, UAB, DIPC, HRI and Adam Mickiewicz University present the recent progress on utilizing synthetic dimensions of quantum matter for exploration of exotic quantum phenomena.
Quantum physics needs high-precision sensing techniques to delve deeper into the microscopic properties of materials. From the analog quantum processors that have emerged recently, the so-called quantum-gas microscopes have proven to be powerful tools for understanding quantum systems at the atomic level. These devices produce images of quantum gases with very high resolution: they allow individual atoms to be detected.
https://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Dynamite_Noti_20240422_01.png7131266Jordi Corteshttps://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Dynamite_Logo_color_WithoutLegend-01-300x123.pngJordi Cortes2024-04-22 14:14:112024-06-11 12:00:51QUIONE, a quantum simulator capable of observing individual atoms in a strontium quantum gas
A team of researchers, some of them Dynamite team members, theoretically prove that the emitted light after a high harmonic generation (HHG) process is not classical, but quantum and squeezed. The study unveils the potential of HHG as a new source of bright entangled and squeezed light, two inherent quantum features with several cutting-edge applications within quantum technologies.
https://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Dynamite_Noti_20240409_01.png7131266Jordi Corteshttps://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Dynamite_Logo_color_WithoutLegend-01-300x123.pngJordi Cortes2024-04-09 13:33:442024-06-11 13:24:43Researchers theoretically unveil high harmonic generation as a new source of squeezed quantum light
https://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Dynamite_Noti_20240229_01.png7131266Jordi Corteshttps://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Dynamite_Logo_color_WithoutLegend-01-300x123.pngJordi Cortes2024-03-01 12:03:202024-06-11 13:39:20Mapping the future of quantum simulators at Trieste
A team of researchers, including DYNAMITE project team members, has theoretically proposed a new experimental platform based on analog simulation with atom clouds to study high-harmonic generation, an ultrafast dynamic process whose study challenges conventional computational methods. Their simulator can be adapted to approach a wide range of complex phenomena, opening the door to regimes that theory and direct experimentation are struggling to reach.
Despite all the successes in understanding electron dynamics at their natural attosecond (one quintillion of a second) time scale, one of the fundamental processes core to this field, high-harmonic generation (HHG), raises new challenges for cold-atom simulation. It consists in a highly non-linear phenomenon where a system absorbs many photons of an incoming laser and emits a single photon of much higher energy.
The unique characteristics of HHG make it an exceptional source of extreme ultraviolet radiation and consequently of attosecond pulses of light, which has important applications to various fields such as nonlinear optics or attosecond science.
Ultracold Atoms Mimic High-Harmonic Generation
The main obstacle hindering the study of this process, apart from the ultrafast speed at which it occurs, is the high number of variables involved. In any given material, many atoms and electrons are present, so to study most of the occurring chemical processes in all its complexity would require not only to describe all these components, but also their interactions with external fields and even among themselves. This turns out to be an extremely challenging task for any current classical computer. An alternative route is to use quantum devices, building the so-called analog simulators, whose nature allow them to better capture the complexity of the system.
Now, ICFO researchers Javier Argüello, Javier Rivera, Philipp Stammer led by the ICREA Prof. at ICFO Maciej Lewenstein, DYNAMITE coordinator, and in collaboration with other institutes all over the globe (Aarhus University, University of California and Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology) have proposed, in a Physical Review X Quantum publication, an analog simulator to access the emission spectrum of HHG using ultracold atomic clouds. Besides showing that an accurate replication of the key characteristics of the HHG processes in atoms was possible, they also provide details on how to implement it to specific atomic targets and discuss the main sources of errors.
The potential of analog simulation
An analog simulator allows scientists to study a complex quantum system, which poses computational challenges, by controlling and manipulating a much simpler system accessible through experimentation. However, not every choice is valid; a connection between the two systems must exist.
In this particular work, the researchers chose high-harmonic generation as the complex phenomenon to benchmark their idea. In this process, the atomic bound electrons tunnel out through the barrier formed by the atomic Coulomb potential and a laser electric field. Then, the acceleration of these free electrons causes the emission of radiation at characteristic harmonic frequencies upon recombination with their parent ions. The researchers aimed to recover this emission spectrum of the HHG.
The researchers established the connection to a much simpler quantum system by replacing specific components. They proposed to use an atomic gas trapped by a laser beam instead of an electron and a nuclear potential. They also suggested an external, tunable magnetic gradient instead of the incoming light and its electric field. It turns out that the absorption images of this engineered system match the desired emission yield.
Therefore, researchers can indirectly study the emission spectrum of atomic high-harmonic generation by taking absorption images of the analog simulator.
Ultimately, the research group has paved the way to demonstrate the potential of their alternative method for addressing complex systems that otherwise could only undergo theoretical approximations. They showed that state-of-the-art analog simulators can retrieve the HHG emission spectrum, and they established a correspondence between the experimental and simulated parameters. They also provided an exhaustive experimental analysis.
Furthermore, the platform offers twofold advantages. Firstly, researchers can easily tune the elements that emulate the incoming field and the nuclear potential. Secondly, the simulation provides temporal magnification. This implies a high level of accessibility, as researchers can avoid the attosecond time-scale, allowing them to work in a much slower (and thus more practical) frame.
The team emphasizes the adaptability of their approach, which is not limited to simulating HHG exclusively but could extend to other, more exotic configurations. In particular, the simulation of ultrafast processes, such as multielectronic dynamics or the reaction of matter to non-classical light, could benefit the most.
Original Article
Argüello-Luengo, J., Rivera-Dean, J., Stammer, P., Maxwell, A. S., Weld, D. M., Ciappina, M. F., & Lewenstein, M. (2024). Analog Simulation of High-Harmonic Generation in Atoms. PRX Quantum, 5(1), 10328. https://doi.org/10.1103/PRXQuantum.5.010328
https://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Dynamite_Noti_20240222_01.jpg7131266Jordi Corteshttps://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Dynamite_Logo_color_WithoutLegend-01-300x123.pngJordi Cortes2024-02-22 15:46:242024-06-13 09:44:34New analog simulators can facilitate the study of ultrafast dynamics processes
Several members of the Dynamite Project contributed to the recent Cold Atom Workshop 2024, held to discuss quantum properties of cold matter and to explore advancements in the field of cold atom physics. Among the participants were Pierpaolo Fontana, Javier Argüello, Julia Bergmann, and Sarah Hirthe, who not only attended the event but also participated as invited speakers in the event.
https://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Dynamite_Noti_20240201_01.png7131266Jordi Corteshttps://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Dynamite_Logo_color_WithoutLegend-01-300x123.pngJordi Cortes2024-02-01 15:59:002024-07-05 08:36:39Dynamite project members contribute to Cold Atom Workshop 2024
An international team of researchers reports on a new method that permits inducing symmetry-protected higher-order topology through a spontaneous symmetry-breaking mechanism in a two-dimensional system of ultra-cold bosonic atoms inside a cavity.
https://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Dynamite_Noti_20240117_01.jpg7131266Jordi Corteshttps://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Dynamite_Logo_color_WithoutLegend-01-300x123.pngJordi Cortes2024-01-17 12:41:492024-06-12 07:40:32Novel topological properties of matter emerge from an ultra-cold atom-cavity system
A team of researchers led by ICREA Prof. at ICFO Maciej Lewenstein, who is also the Dynamite project coordinator, reports in Physical Review Letters on the stability of Bose Einstein Condensates, where Bogoliubov excitation modes have non-trivial topological properties.
https://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Dynamite_Noti_20231219_01.png7131266Jordi Corteshttps://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Dynamite_Logo_color_WithoutLegend-01-300x123.pngJordi Cortes2023-12-18 15:50:002024-06-17 10:47:56Topological Bogoliubov Quasiparticles from Bose-Einstein Condensate in a Flat Band System
Monika Aidelsburger, researcher from Max-Planck-Institute of Quantum Optics & professor at LMU Munich, and consortium member of the Dynamite project, participated as a speaker in the “Quantum Achievements and Challenges” session of the “Conference on Quantum Technologies in Europe“. The conference, organized by Quantera in collaboration with the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) from Spain, took place on November 22 and 23, as a satellite event of the Spanish Presidency of the EU.
https://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231128_News_MAConferene_01.jpg7131266Jordi Corteshttps://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Dynamite_Logo_color_WithoutLegend-01-300x123.pngJordi Cortes2023-11-30 10:17:042024-06-12 10:10:27Quantum simulators based on cold atoms in optical lattices showcased at the “Conference on Quantum Technologies in Europe”
The Italian city of Trieste will host “The Quantum Simulators of the Future” workshop. The Dynamite project is co-sponsoring the event, and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is organizing it locally. The workshop will occur at the ICTP from February 20th to 22nd, 2024. Thirteen confirmed speakers will attend, bringing together some of the most influential and pioneering groups in quantum simulation
https://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231123_Noti_Workshop_01.png7131266Jordi Corteshttps://dynamite-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Dynamite_Logo_color_WithoutLegend-01-300x123.pngJordi Cortes2023-11-15 15:25:222024-06-17 10:22:17The registration for the “The Quantum Simulators of the Future” is open