May 24 – June 14
Quantum Simulation/Computation with Cold Atoms and Molecules

Location: Aspen Center for Physics

Organizers:

Lincoln Carr, Colorado School of Mines

Ignacio Cirac, Max-Planck

Erich Mueller*, Cornell University

David Weiss, Pennsylvania State University

Advances in the field of ultracold atomic and molecular gases give us the capability to engineer a wide range of quantum systems. The possibilities are almost limitless, with real-time control over features such as lattice structure, density, temperature, level of impurities and disorder, quantum statistics, spin, dimensionality, and interactions (changing the symmetry, strength, range and sign). This workshop will be organized around the two central themes of "quantum information processing with cold atoms and molecules" and "simulation of many-body quantum systems with cold atoms and molecules". We will bring together researchers from the fields of quantum information / quantum computing, computational many body physics, hard condensed matter, and atomic, molecular and optical physics to explore how cold atom and molecule experiments can be used to solve these closely connected "hard problems.". By bringing together researchers with such diverse backgrounds, and by juxtaposing these two themes, we hope to foster new collaborations which will allow us to come to grips with the technical problems posed by carrying out experiments in this area, and to pinpoint important issues in quantum information processing and many-body physics.