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7:30 pm, Thursday, April 30, 2015
Hebb theatre, 2045 East Mall, UBC

 

Photons in a box and 'Schrodinger Cats' of light

Serge Haroche

College de France, Paris
Nobel Laureate 2012

The founders of quantum physics used to analyse "thought experiments", to discuss state superposition, complementarity and entanglement. They imagined manipulating single particles, such as electrons, atoms or photons; they would be surprised to see that experiments with isolated atoms, molecules or photons are now carried on in many laboratories throughout the world. In our Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics (CQED) studies, we stabilize and count photon number states in the cavity. We also prepare and reconstruct photonic superposition states suspended between different 'classical realities', generating a laboratory version of Schrodinger famous 'Cat', which he had imagined to be simultaneously dead and alive. We have also investigated the decoherence process, which explains the transition between the quantum and the classical worlds. CQED physics has recently been extended to artificial 'atoms' made from superconductors, in a new domain of mesoscopic physics called "Circuit QED". This development opens the way to applications in quantum information science.

To learn more please visit his webpage.

Note:Professor Haroche will be giving TWO public lectures - the 2nd is on Friday 1st May. Please check here.

Additional resources for this talk: slides (small version, large version) and video.