PIRSA:20040081

Video URL

https://pirsa.org/20040081

Making Quantum Matter from Light

Simon, J. (2020). Making Quantum Matter from Light . Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. https://pirsa.org/20040081

Simon, Jonathan. Making Quantum Matter from Light . Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Apr. 21, 2020, https://pirsa.org/20040081 

          @misc{ scivideos_PIRSA:20040081,
            doi = {10.48660/20040081},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/20040081},
            author = {Simon, Jonathan},
            keywords = {Particle Physics},
            language = {en},
            title = {Making Quantum Matter from Light },
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics},
            year = {2020},
            month = {apr},
            note = {PIRSA:20040081 see, \url{https://scivideos.org/pirsa/20040081}}
          }

Jonathan Simon University of Chicago

Talk numberPIRSA:20040081
DOI10.48660/20040081
Source RepositoryPIRSA
Collection
Talk Type Scientific Series
Subject

Abstract

In this talk I will discuss ongoing efforts at UChicago to explore matter made of light. I will begin with a broad introduction to the challenges associated with making matter from photons, focusing specifically on (1) how to trap photons and imbue them with synthetic mass and charge; (2) how to induce photons to collide with one another; and (3) how to drive photons to order, by cooling or otherwise. I will then provide as examples two state-of-the-art photonic quantum matter platforms: microwave photons coupled to superconducting resonators and transmon qubits, and optical photons trapped in multimode optical cavities and made to interact through Rydberg-dressing. In each case I will describe a synthetic material created in that platform: a Mott insulator of microwave photons, stabilized by coupling to an engineered, non-Markovian reservoir, and a Laughlin molecule of optical photons prepared by scattering photons through the optical cavity. Indeed, building materials photon-by-photon will provide us with a unique opportunity to learn what all of the above words mean, and why they are important for quantum-materials science. Finally, I will conclude with my view of the broad prospects of photonic matter in particular, and of synthetic matter more generally.