TriesteQuantum

Month: January 2024

  • Two new quantum labs have been inaugurated

    Trieste, January 23, 2023 – Two new laboratories for quantum physics at the University of Trieste have been inaugurated: the ArQuS laboratory (Artificial Quantum Systems), where artificial quantum systems will be studied through the control of individual atoms, and the  QCI (Quantum Communication and Information) laboratory for quantum communication.
    The laboratories are located in the spaces of the National Research Council (CNR) at the Area Science Park (Basovizza) and are led by Francesco Scazza (UniTS) and Alessandro Zavatta (INO-CNR).

    ArQuS Laboratory – Cold atoms for quantum sciences and technologies
    The ArQuS laboratory (Artificial Quantum Systems) is established to create artificial quantum systems through precise control of individual ytterbium atoms.
    Francesco Scazza, the laboratory’s director, explains: “The quantum systems of cold atoms realized in the ArQuS laboratory can be used as prototypes for studying the interaction of a large number of quantum particles, creating the so-called quantum simulators. Precise control over individual atoms can also be exploited to generate states of matter strongly correlated, such as entangled states with many particles, an essential resource for future quantum computers and atomic clocks.”

    QCI Laboratory – Quantum networks for maximum security of information systems
    The QCI laboratory is dedicated to research and technological development of new solutions for quantum communications over optical fiber.
    Angelo Bassi emphasizes: “While in traditional computer networks, data can be intercepted, in a quantum network, this is impossible.”
    Alessandro Zavatta, the laboratory’s director, explains: “Quantum communications represent an advanced and highly secure approach to information transmission. In the QCI laboratory, we are currently developing innovative systems for quantum distribution of cryptographic keys and direct quantum communications, both over optical fiber and in free space.”

    QCI is funded by Quantum FVG and QuFree. ArQuS has received funding from OrbiDynaMIQs, FastOrbit, and CoQuS.

  • Metrology & Sensing

    Research groups of: C. Braitenberg, U. Marzolino, A. Trombettoni

  • Communication & Photonics

    Researchers harness the quantum properties of light to realize secure telecommunications systems through Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). Several research projects aim at building a quantum communication infrastructure in the Region, with both a terrestrial segment, as well as a space segment.

    Research groups of: A. Bassi, A. Gregorio

  • CoQuS – Buildup of Complexity in Quantum Simulators from the Bottom Up (PRIN 2022)

    Thermodynamics is a highly successful framework to describe many-particle equilibrium systems through a small number of collective variables. Yet, in quantum systems, it is still unclear how thermodynamic behaviour emerges microscopically from far-from-equilibrium initial conditions, as the evolution of closed quantum systems is unitary. While it has been realised that the distribution of correlations among many constituents is a key driving mechanism of equilibration, microscopically tracking the dynamical build-up of this process is a formidable challenge: At long times, close to equilibrium, hydrodynamics allow for an efficient description in terms of few collective degrees of freedom, but intermediate time scales are characterised by high complexity and pose serious challenges even for the most advanced theoretical and computational techniques. Significant progress in understanding the microscopic evolution of complexity and the emergence of equilibration can only be driven by a strong confluence of theoretical and experimental endeavours.

    An exciting inroad in this context is opened by a new generation of quantum simulation machines, where many-body systems can be engineered at the level of individual constituents. Amongst the possible implementations, quantum simulators based on ultracold atoms offer an unprecedented magnifying glass for probing coherent out-of-equilibrium dynamics over long time scales.

    In CoQuS, we will follow a bottom-up approach and implement atomic simulators with a small number of precisely assembled constituents. Such small-scale quantum simulators are excellent playgrounds to shed light on the reciprocity between equilibration and complexity, both from the theoretical and the experimental point of view, as they allow for tracing an explicit connection between microscopic dynamics and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. To this aim, we will leverage some of the most powerful tools in statistical and computational physics: (i) fluctuation-dissipation relations and (ii) complexity theory. A new experimental platform based on ultracold two-electron atoms will enable novel diagnostics for quantifying equilibration and complexity, owing to an increased coherent control and ultra-precise probing capabilities. Experimental explorations will be guided by state-of-the-art theoretical approaches, allowing us also to devise new strategies and establish presently lacking, rigorous connections between complexity and non-equilibrium dynamics.