How Much Control Can We Get Over the Interactions Between Atoms?

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

In my labs, we work with either rubidium or sesium a. Those are both in the first column of the periodic table. They have one valence electron, which gives you sort of a relatively simple atomic stranger to work with. Am, they have sort of convenient lazer frequencies that we can use to drackat them. And and then that sort of just tart for the first stage of our experiments.

When it comes to thinking about quantum mechanics, there are levels. One level is shut-up-and-calculate: find a wave function, square it to get a probability. One level is foundational: dig deeply into the underlying ontology. But there’s a level in between, long neglected but recently coming to life. In this level you think about — or do experiments with — entangled quantum systems in the real world, putting entanglement to use. Monika Schleier-Smith is an experimental physicist specializing in cold atoms, which can be both entangled and manipulated. We discuss how to use such systems to study everything from metrology to quantum gravity.

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

Monika Schleier-Smith received her Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is currently an Associate Professor of Physics at Stanford University. Among her awards are a MacArthur Fellowship, a Sloan Fellowship, and the I. I. Rabi Prize in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics from the American Physical Society.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.