One-way quantum interactions for fun and profit

Aashish Clerk
Professor
Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
University of Chicago

Abstract

The most common kinds of interactions in physics obey a basic kind of reciprocity: when two systems or particles interact, each one influences the other, and information flows in both directions.  In this talk, I’ll discuss general methods for engineering interactions that break this symmetry, in a fully consistent quantum setting.  These engineered “one-way” quantum interactions open up a host of unusual possibilities, from new methods for manipulating and processing quantum information, to new kinds of topological and many-body physics.  I’ll introduce some of the basic theoretical ideas that underlie these unusual interactions, and connections to recent interest in “non-Hermitian” quantum systems.  I’ll also discuss recent experimental implementations in quantum optomechanical systems and superconducting quantum circuits.

Bio

My group is broadly interested in driven-dissipative quantum phenomena occurring in engineered quantum systems. Our research is at the intersection of condensed matter physics, quantum optics, and quantum information. While we are theorists, we work closely with a number of leading experimental groups around the world.