Joint Quantum Institute

The Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) is a publicly funded research organization dedicated to basic and applied research in quantum physics, with particular emphasis on quantum information science.

Location

Located on the campus of the University of Maryland (UMD) at College Park, Maryland, Joint Quantum Institute was created on September 11 2006 by a joint memorandum of understanding among University of Maryland, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Laboratory for Physical Sciences. [http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/joint_quantum_institute.htm] It has an annual budget of approximately $6 million, which supports both theory and experimental research by Joint Quantum Institute’s 26 Fellows, associated graduate students and postdoctoral scientists.

Membership and governance

Joint Quantum Institute’s co-directors are Christopher J. Lobb, Professor of Physics at University of Maryland, and Carl J. Williams, Chief of the Atomic Physics Division at NIST. Approximately half the Joint Quantum Institute fellows are from University of Maryland and half from NIST. One is from the Laboratory for Physical Sciences, a university-government facility adjacent to the College Park campus.

Objectives

The official objectives of Joint Quantum Institute are to
* develop a world-class research institute that will build the scientific foundation for understanding coherent quantum phenomena and thereby lay the foundation for engineering and controlling complex quantum systems capable of using the coherence and entanglement of quantum mechanics;
* sustain and enhance the nation’s leading role in high technology through the creation of a powerful collaboration among NIST, University of Maryland and LPS; and
* establish a unique, interdisciplinary center for the interchange of ideas among atomic physics, condensed matter and quantum information scientists. In pursuing these objectives, the Joint Quantum Institute is expected to train scientists and engineers for future industrial opportunities and provide U.S. industry with cutting-edge research results.

Selected Research

Current research areas include:
* Quantum properties of superconducting quantum bits
* Quantum entanglement, control, and transport of atoms in cavities and optical lattices
* Decoherence studies with atoms and condensed matter systems
* Spin- and charge-based quantum computing
* Using topology to do fault-tolerant quantum computing
* Quantum coherence and entanglement
* The quantum-classical interface
* Quasi-one-dimensional fluid flow as an analog to superconductivity
* Using the bi-layer quantum Hall effect for quantum computing
* Quantum analog simulations of condensed matter systems using neutral atoms in optical lattices JQI also operates a National Science Foundation Physics Frontier Center under a five-year cooperative agreement with NSF. The project, titled “Processing Quantum Coherence,” supports three major research activities:
* Correlated and Topological Matter with Cold Atoms
* Supercircuits at the AMO/CM Interface
* Quantum optics with Hybrid quantum systemsThe co-Directors of the Physics Frontier Center are Nobel laureate William D. Phillips of NIST and UMD, and Luis Orozco of UMD. The PFC Research Council also includes Sankar Das Sarma (UMD), Christopher Monroe (UMD) and Glenn Solomon (NIST).A list of Fellows and programs, along with other information, can be found at http://www.jqi.umd.edu.http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/joint_quantum_institute.htm

Sources

* [http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/joint_quantum_institute.htm NIST]
* [http://www.jqi.umd.edu Joint Quantum Institute]