The Quantum Age: From Bell Pairs to Quantum Computers

Quantum mechanics has not one but two mysteries: the double-slit experiment and quantum correlations (entanglement) between two or more particles. Criticized by Einstein as “spooky action at a distance”, entanglement is now seen as an essential part of the physical world. The Bell inequalities, introduced to experimentally distinguish local hidden variable theories from quantum physics, have been confirmed to agree with quantum mechanics in many experiments.

Building on entangled Bell pairs, the last few years have seen a remarkable development in our ability to control many neutral atoms individually, and induce controlled interactions between them on demand. This progress ushers in a new era where one can create highly entangled states of many particles, break certain limits for quantum sensors, or study quantum phase transitions. I will present results on quantum simulation with atomic arrays containing more than 250 atoms. Finally, I will discuss prospects for near- and medium-term neutral-atom quantum computers with full quantum error correction.

Speaker:Vladan Vuletic, Massachusets Institute of Technology