GENERAL PHYSICS COLLOQUIUM
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Title:
Dissipation: a new tool in quantum information science
Speaker:
Ignacio Cirac, Max-Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Garching
Time:
Wednesday, 1 June, 2011 at 3:15 p.m.
Place:
Physics Auditorium, 3rd floor, Department of Physics
Abstract
Quantum Entanglement, the most striking feature of Quantum Mechanics, is
also the basic ingredient in most applications in the field of Quantum
Information. Unfortunately, it is very fragile: in all experiments so far
the coupling of the systems to the environment has leads to dissipation
which either destroys entanglement or prevents its generation.
Here we propose, analyze, and demonstrate a new method to entangle two
distant macroscopic atomic ensembles by purely dissipative means. This
counterintuitive effect is achieved by engineering the coupling of our
systems to the environment, and leads to a more robust and therefore longer
lived entanglement. Apart from that, we show that engineered dissipation can
be used in quantum computation and communication, as well as to create
passive quantum memories.
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Coffee/tea and cake will be served at 3 p.m.
David Field
