Instructor: Daniel A. Steck
Office: 277 Willamette Phone: 346-5313 email: dsteck@uoregon.edu
Office hours: walk in anytime I'm around, you know where to find me.
Course home page: http://atomoptics.uoregon.edu/~dsteck/teaching/09spring/phys610
This is the primary web site for this course, where news,
course notes, etc. will be posted.
Schedule: MWF 12:00-12:50, 318 Willamette
Course reference number: 36261
Credits: 4
Prerequisites: none.
With the recent advances in the fields of atomic, molecular, and optical physics and condensed-matter physics, the study of quantum mechanics is entering a truly exciting era. For example, laser light can now be used to manipulate atoms with an unprecedented degree of control. This has resulted in a series of impressive achievements, including the ability to cool atoms to near-absolute-zero temperatures; the realization of dilute-gas Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC); the demonstration of numerous textbook quantum phenomena, including the quantum Zeno effect, entangled states of matter, and controlled studies of decoherence in open quantum systems; and substantial progress towards the realization of universal quantum-information processors and quantum many-body simulators.
The main focus of this course will be reviewing recent experimental developments, proposals, and research directions related to quantum mechanics and quantum information, spanning AMO and condensed-matter physics. However, the course content is flexible, according to the taste of everyone that registers; other options include reviewing recent theoretical advancements, techniques for numerical and computational analysis of quantum systems, and topics in mathematical physics.
Some examples of topics for this course include:
My intention is for this course to not require much time outside of the classroom, so this doesn't interfere with your research or other classes. Your primary workload will be to present 1 lecture on a topic of your choice, as a form of active learning at this advanced level. We will plan these in a relatively coordinated manner so I can provide background and context in my lectures relevant to your presentations. We will spend the first day of class working out the details of the presentations and topics, which will largely depend on who signs up for the class. The most important thing I want to emphasize now is that in the spirit of active learning, lectures and presentations should focus more on posing interesting questions for discussion, in class, rather than on raw transmission of information.
We will not be using a textbook, but rather primary sources as appropriate. I will post relevant primary sources on this web site.
Grades for the course will be assigned on a pass/no pass basis, based on in-class presentations and participation in discussion.
This schedule will be updated as the course progresses.
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday |
|---|---|---|
| 30 March No Class: Qualifying Exams |
1 April Course Planning Discussion, Overview of the Field notes |
3 April More Overview |
| 6 April Fundamentals: Quantum States, the Density Operator notes |
8 April Tenure Meeting: Class rescheduled for Wednesday, 6 May, 5-5:50 pm Ion-trap physics Reading: Blakestad 2009 |
10 April Fundamentals: the Density Operator and Entanglement notes |
| 13 April Fundamentals: Master Equations notes |
15 April POVMs notes |
17 April Bayesian View of Quantum Measurement notes Reading: Fuchs 2001 |
| 20 April Fundamentals: Two-Level Systems notes |
22 April Progressive Measurement of a Cavity State notes Reading: Brune 1996, Bertet 2001. |
24 April Measurement and Decoherence in Atom Interferometry Hayden McGuinness Reading: Chapman 1995, Kokorowski 2001 |
| 27 April Quasicontinuous QND measurement of photon number Ellery Ames Reading: Gleyzes 2007 |
29 April Learning Control of Molecules Yonatan Schultz Reading: Levis 2001 |
1 May Travel to Stanford: Class rescheduled for Monday, 11 May, 2-2:50 pm Coherence and Qubits in Biological Molecules Ali Almaqwashi Reading: Nelayev 2009 |
| 4 May Adaptive Measurements Paul Martin Reading: web overview, Armen 2002 |
6 May Quantum Coherent Feedback Control Jonathan Mackrory Reading: Mabuchi 2008 |
8 May Quantum Networking and Cavity QED Andrew Golter Reading: Boozer 2007 |
| 11 May
Neutral Atoms in Optical Lattices Eryn Cook Reading: Daley 2008 |
13 May Travel to Boston: Class rescheduled for Monday, 18 May, 2-2:50 pm Topological Quantum Computing Ryan Quitzow-James Reading: Das Sarma 2006 |
15 May Travel to NWAPS meeting: Class rescheduled for Wednesday, 27 May, 5-5:50 pm Verification of photon W-states Megan Ray Reading: Lougovski 2009 |
| 18 May Geometric Phases in Optics Cody Leary Reading: Tomita 1986, Galvez 2003 |
20 May Travel to DAMOP: Class rescheduled for Monday, 1 June, 2-2:50 pm Conductance Fluctuations in Quantum Dots Rick Montgomery Reading: Marlow 2006 |
22 May Travel to DAMOP: Class rescheduled for Wednesday, 3 June, 5-5:50 pm Towards Quantum Effects in Nanomechanics Mike Taormina Reading: Naik 2006 |
| 25 May No Class: Memorial Day |
27 May Shor's Algorithm Tom Baldwin Reading: Vandersypen 2001 |
29 May Entanglement Verification for Photons Dash Vitullo Reading: van Enk 2007 |
| 1 June Entanglement of Atoms in Optical Lattices Lucia Schwarz Reading: Mandel 2003 |
3 June Quantum Chaos and Fidelity Aaron Webster Reading: Cucchietti 2003 |
5 June Atom lasers Nik Strohfeldt Reading: Bloch 2000 |
1. Measurement and decoherence:
Dan: Progressive measurment of a cavity state in cavity QED, 22 April
Hayden: Measurement and decoherence in atom interferometry, 24 April
Ellery: Quasicontinuous QND measurement of photon number in cavity QED, 27 April
2. Quantum feedback control:
Yonatan: Learning control of molecules, April 29
Paul: Adaptive phase measurements, May 4
Jonathan: Coherent quantum feedback control, May 6
3. Qubits, stationary and flying:
Dan: Ion-trap physics, May 6 (5-5:50)
Andrew: Quantum communication and cavity QED, May 8
Eryn: Neutral atoms in optical lattices, May 11
Ali: Coherence and qubits in biological molecules, May 11 (2-2:50)
4. Algorithms and novel approaches in quantum info:
Cody: Geometric phases in optics, May 18
Ryan: Topological quantum computing, May 18 (2-2:50)
Tom: Shor's algorithm, May 27
5. Entanglement:
Megan: W-states, May 27 (5-5:50)
Dash: Entanglement verification, photon experiments, May 29
Lucia: Entanglement of neutral atoms in optical lattices, June 1
6. Quantum coherence and dynamics:
Rick: Conductance fluctuations in quantum dots, June 1 (2-2:50)
Aaron: Fidelity and quantum chaos, June 3
Mike: Towards quantum effects in nanomechanics, June 3 (5-5:50)
Nik: Atom lasers, June 5
Makeup days: May 6 (W 5-5:50), May 11 (M 2-2:50), May 18 (M 2-2:50), May 27 (W 5-5:50), June 1 (M 2-2:50), June 3 (W 5-5:50)
Other important dates:
Last day to drop classes without a “W”: 6 April
Last day to add/drop classes: 8 April
Last day to withdraw from classes: 17 May