[Aspuru-Guzik Group List] ITAMP lunch seminar - Shimon Kolkowitz, NIST/JILA (Thu, 03/31)

*ITAMP Topical Lunch Discussion* *Speaker:* Shimon Kolkowitz (NIST / JILA / University of Colorado, Boulder) *Title:* Prospects for quantum simulation and gravitational wave detection with optical lattice clocks *Abstract: *Optical atomic clocks are now the most stable and accurate timekeepers in the world, operating with fractional accuracies and stabilities at the 10-18 level. Neutral atom optical lattice clocks offer the intriguing prospect of harnessing this precision for the investigation of quantum many-body physics. Here we present experimental progress towards the generation and study of spin-orbit coupling in a strontium optical lattice clock. We utilize an unbalanced 1D horizontal lattice to realize tunable tunneling while maintaining strong radial confinement, and take advantage of the sensitivity afforded by the clock transition to probe the influence of many-body interactions on the engineered Hamiltonian. We present the first experimental signatures of spin-orbit coupling in our lattice clock. We will also present a proposal for a novel gravitational wave detector composed of space-borne optical lattice clocks. *Date:* Thursday, March 31st *Time:* 12:00-1:30 pm Pizza will be served. *Location:* B-106 @ Center for Astrophysics (60 Garden Street) Directions: after entering the lobby of the CfA, turn right to enter the hallway of the B building. In the hallway, turn right again, and B-106 is there. -- Dr. Igor Pikovski Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (ITAMP) Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics 60 Garden St, MS-14; Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Tel.: +1 (617) 496-7613 e-mail: igor.pikovski(a)cfa.harvard.edu www.cfa.harvard.edu/~igor.pikovski/