Application of atomic systems for computation and fundamental studies on superradiance

Abstract

The ability to coherently manipulate quantum systems enables a wide range of applications in the field of quantum information. In this thesis we are going to address two applications of quantum interaction between light and an atomic medium. First, in the case of a single charged atom (ion), we propose a set of logical gates for quantum computation. Second, we use a macroscopic ensemble of neutral atoms as quantum memory for the storage of quantum entanglement to be used in fundamental studies of the process of superradiance. The first part of this thesis is a theoretical work with experimental perspectives. The traditional platform for the development of quantum computing with a chain of ions confined in a Paul trap is based on the model introduced in 1995 by Cirac and Zoller (CZ). In this model the electronic levels describe the qubits and the collective vibrational modes act as mediators between the qubits. In order to help mitigate the problems of scalability, we have proposed a new architecture that is a true reversal of the CZ scheme. Our approach consists in using the internal degrees of freedom of a single ion as a mediator (bus) and harnessing the motion of ions as the unit of quantum information, which leads us to a continuous variables picture of the problem. In addition we developed a toolbox of quantum operations complete enough to achieve computational universality. In the second part of the thesis, we develop a study not only theoretical but also experimental using quantum memories in an atomic ensemble. The idea here is to use a set of atoms to store quantum information over a certain period of time. This stored information is originally packaged in a collective atomic mode, which could subsequently be extracted on demand in a light field, presenting non-classical correlations with a previously detected heralding field. The atomic medium used is a cloud of cold Rubidium atoms obtained from a magnetooptical trap, when the trap is off. The generation of photon pairs, correlated through interaction with the atoms, is done by implementing a "write-read" scheme inspired by the Duan-Lukin-Cirac-Zoller protocol for long-distance quantum communication. A characteristic of the photons that mediate these interactions is that they are narrowband enough to allow a direct study of the temporal shape of their wave packet. Through the analysis and theoretical modeling of this wave packet, we investigate the dynamics of extraction of the quantum information stored in the quantum memory of the atomic ensemble. We report an experimental finding of non-classical characteristics of superradiance by implementing the process not only with a single excitation, but also with two-photon Fock states. Specifically, this work presents the experimental measurement and the theoretical modeling of wave packets in both single-photon and two-photon superradiance regimes. This new step opens the way for the study of interactions between collective quantum memories and light modes in a regime of higher-order components of the electromagnetic field.