Research
A major topic in our theoretical work is inspired by the study of atomic systems, a quantum platform whose precise optical control offers unique opportunities in the study of many-body physics, simulation and metrology. Here you can find a general description of our research interests.
Extended interactions in atomic arrays
Over the last decade, advances on the cooling and control of Rydberg atoms and dipolar molecules has allowed the community to go beyond the local interactions often found in optical lattices. Following this opportunity, we have studied some of the interesting physical consequences that the presence of long-range interactions has for the thermalization, transport and topology of quantum systems.
We have also worked to introduce a set of experimental schemes capable of inducing highly-tunable extended interactions using an additional atomic species as a mediator, which opens the door to the analog simulation of chemistry-related problems. For example, we have proposed how ultracold fermionic gases can mediate effective RKKY forces between atoms trapped in an optical lattice, as the electrons of a metal also mediate between the nuclear atomic spin.
Tuning long-range fermion-mediated interactions in cold-atom quantum simulators
JAL, A González-Tudela, D González-Cuadra. Physical Review Letters 129, 083401 (2022)
Engineering analog quantum chemistry Hamiltonians using cold atoms in optical lattices
JAL, T Shi, A González-Tudela. Physical Review A 103 (4), 043318 (2021)
Analog simulation of physical chemistry
Many physical problems, both practical and fundamental, are based on the behavour of the electrons that form a material or participate in a chemical reaction. As they are described by quantum mechanics, it is often challenging to describe their properties using classical numerical methods. The development of quantum simulators capable of reproducing the physical laws of these systems offers us an alternative to study these phenomena.
One of these challenges is the description of High-Harmonic Generation, a highly non-linear phenomenon where a system absorbs many photons of the driving laser and emits a single photon of much higher energy. Using external electromagnetic gradients, we have proposed an alternative strategy to access HHG and extract the associated emission yield using ultracold atomic clouds, and presented details on the experimental parameters used to simulate specific atomic targets.
Analog simulation of high harmonic generation in atoms
JAL, J Rivera-Dean, P Stammer, AS Maxwell, DM Weld, M Lewenstein. PRX Quantum (2024)
Analogue quantum chemistry simulation
JAL, A González-Tudela, T Shi, P Zoller, JI Cirac. Nature 574 (7777), 215-218 (2019)
Quantum simulation of two-dimensional quantum chemistry in optical lattices
JAL, A González-Tudela, T Shi, P Zoller, JI Cirac. Physical Review Research 2 (4), 042013 (2020)
Dissipation in quantum systems
In real-life experiments, quantum systems are not isolated, but interact with their environment. Understanding how this dissipation takes place is fundamental to take imperfections into account, protect quantum communications, or optimally prepare a state of interest.
In this direction, we have proposed a microscopic description of the decoherence and inelasticity that affects nanoscale conductors, capturing the asymmetric distribution of heat experimentally observed in molecular unions. We have also designed an experimental setup based on the combination of a single atom and a cavity mode that allows one to access the strong optomechanical coupling regime in devices with high cooperativity, even if the coupling strength is weaker than the cavity decay rate, as it occurs in contemporary experiments with atoms coupled to optical fibers or photonic crystals.
Optomechanical strong coupling between a single photon and a single atom
JAL, DE Chang. New Journal of Physics 24, 023006 (2022)
Heat asymmetries in nanoscale conductors: The role of decoherence and inelasticity
JAL, D Sánchez, R López. Physical Review B 91 (16), 165431 (2016)
