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Physical Measurement Laboratory /Quantum Measurement Division

Laser Cooling and Trapping Group

We use ultracold gases and other atomic systems to study quantum phenomena including many-body physics, superfluidity, and quantum information.

News and Updates

Stephen Eckel

A Primary Standard for Measuring Vacuum

A novel, quantum-based vacuum gauge system invented by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has passed its first test to be

Projects by Staff Members

Select one of the Staff Members below to obtain background information regarding their research interests.

Gretchen K. Campbell
Charles W. Clark
Nicole Yunger Halpern
Paul D. Lett
William D. Phillips
James (Trey) Porto
Ian Spielman
Eite Tiesinga

Projects and Programs

schematic diagram

Fundamental Constants in Nature

Ongoing
The Task Group on Fundamental Constants periodically publishes updated evaluations of the fundamental constants of physics and chemistry. These evaluations serve two purposes. First, they provide a self-consistent set of recommended values of the constants for all to use. Second, because they
Quantum Computations in Optical Lattices

Quantum Computation and Simulation with Neutral Atoms

Ongoing
Advances in quantum information have the potential to significantly improve sensor technology, complete computational tasks unattainable by classical means, provide understanding of complex many-body systems, and yield new insight regarding the nature of quantum physics. At NIST and around the world
chip experiment

Quantum matter from atomic gases

Ongoing
Ultracold atoms are a very different sort of system than conventional materials, composed of a few hundred to a few hundred million atoms, with densities ranging from 10 12 cm -3 to 10 15 cm -3, and at temperatures from below 1 nK to a couple uK. These atomic systems are unique in the simplicity of

Spinor Condensates and Ultracold Collisions

Ongoing
A Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) collapses the wavefunctions of many particles in to a single quantum state. In a spinor BEC the atoms can be in a superposition of internal quantum states. Thus, a BEC of spin-1 particles, like the F = 1 ground state of Na atoms, can be thought of as being a single

Using Quantum Information for Thermodynamics

Ongoing
We re-envision thermodynamics using the mathematical and conceptual toolkit of quantum information theory. We call this research “quantum steampunk,” after the steampunk genre of art, literature, and film that juxtaposes Victorian settings with futuristic technologies. Leveraging quantum

Publications

Dynamical structure factor from weak measurements

Author(s)
Emine Altuntas, Rosaria Gabriella Lena, Stuart Flannigan, Ian Spielman, Andrew Daley
Much of our knowledge of quantum systems is encapsulated in the expectation value of Hermitian operators, experimentally obtained by averaging projective

Awards

Press Coverage

Contacts

Group Leader

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