Christopher Monroe

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Christopher Monroe
Chris Monroe in Lab.jpg
Born (1965-10-19) October 19, 1965 (age 58)
Alma mater MIT
University of Colorado
Known for Quantum Information
Ion Trapping
Awards I. I. Rabi Prize [1]
International Quantum Communication Award [2]
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers [1]
Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science [3]
Scientific career
Fields Physics
Quantum Information Science
Atomic Physics
Institutions Duke University
University of Michigan
University of Maryland
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Doctoral advisor Carl Wieman

Christopher Roy Monroe (born October 19, 1965) is an American physicist and engineer in the areas of atomic, molecular, and optical physics and quantum information science, especially quantum computing. He directs one of the leading research and development efforts in ion trap quantum computing. Monroe is the Gilhuly Family Presidential Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics at Duke University [4] and is College Park Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland and Fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute and Joint Center for Quantum Computer Science. He is also co-founder of IonQ, Inc.

Contents

Career

After receiving his undergraduate degree from MIT in 1987, Monroe joined Carl Wieman's research group at the University of Colorado in the early days of laser cooling and trapping of atoms. With Wieman and postdoctoral researcher Eric Cornell, Monroe contributed to the path for cooling a gas of atoms to the Bose-Einstein condensation phase transition. [5] He obtained his PhD under Wieman in 1992 (Wieman and Cornell succeeded in the quest in 1995, and were awarded the Nobel Prize for this work in 2001).

From 1992 to 2000, Monroe worked in the Ion Storage Group of David Wineland at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, CO, where he was awarded a National Research Council postdoctoral fellowship from 1992-1994, and held a staff position in the same group from 1994-2000. With Wineland, Monroe led the research team that demonstrated the first quantum logic gate in 1995 and for the first time entangled multiple qubits, [6] [7] [8] and exploited the use of trapped atomic ions for applications in quantum control and the new field of quantum information science.

In 2000, Monroe initiated a research group at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he showed how qubit memories could be linked to single photons for quantum networking. [9] There he also demonstrated the first ion trap integrated on a semiconductor chip. [10] With Wineland, Monroe proposed a scalable quantum computer architecture based on shuttling atomic ions through complex ion trap chips. [11] In 2006, Monroe became director of the FOCUS Center at the University of Michigan, a NSF Physics Frontier Center in the area of ultrafast optical science.

In 2007, Monroe became the Bice Zorn Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland and a Fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute between the University of Maryland and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). There, Monroe's group produced quantum entanglement between two widely separated atoms, [12] and were the first to teleport quantum information between matter separated over distance. [13] They exploited this resource for a number of quantum communication protocols [14] and for a new hybrid memory/photon quantum computer architecture. [15] In recent years, his group pioneered the use of individual atoms as a quantum simulator, or a special purpose quantum computer that can probe complex many-body quantum phenomena such as frustration and magnetic ordering. [16] His laboratory controls and manipulates the largest collection of individual interacting qubits.

In 2015, Monroe co-founded the startup IonQ, Inc. with Jungsang Kim (Duke University), and until 2023 has served as chief scientist. From August 2018 to May 2019 he served as CEO. IonQ manufactures full stack quantum computers based on trapped atomic ion technology.

Monroe was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2016. [17] In 2017-2018 he played an instrumental role in working with the National Photonics Initiative and U.S. Congress to craft the 2018 National Quantum Initiative Act, [18] endowing U.S. scientific agencies to coordinate research in quantum information science and technology, while standing up focused research centers throughout the country.

In 2021, Monroe became the Gilhuly Family Presidential Distinguished Professor at Duke University, in the Departments of Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is the founding director of the Duke Quantum Center, an institute that designs, builds, and operates quantum computers.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quantum teleportation</span> Physical phenomenon

Quantum teleportation is a technique for transferring quantum information from a sender at one location to a receiver some distance away. While teleportation is commonly portrayed in science fiction as a means to transfer physical objects from one location to the next, quantum teleportation only transfers quantum information. The sender does not have to know the particular quantum state being transferred. Moreover, the location of the recipient can be unknown, but to complete the quantum teleportation, classical information needs to be sent from sender to receiver. Because classical information needs to be sent, quantum teleportation cannot occur faster than the speed of light.

This is a timeline of quantum computing.

In logic circuits, the Toffoli gate, invented by Tommaso Toffoli, is a universal reversible logic gate, which means that any classical reversible circuit can be constructed from Toffoli gates. It is also known as the "controlled-controlled-not" gate, which describes its action. It has 3-bit inputs and outputs; if the first two bits are both set to 1, it inverts the third bit, otherwise all bits stay the same.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quantum Zeno effect</span> Quantum measurement phenomenon

The quantum Zeno effect is a feature of quantum-mechanical systems allowing a particle's time evolution to be slowed down by measuring it frequently enough with respect to some chosen measurement setting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charge qubit</span> Superconducting qubit implementation

In quantum computing, a charge qubit is a qubit whose basis states are charge states. In superconducting quantum computing, a charge qubit is formed by a tiny superconducting island coupled by a Josephson junction to a superconducting reservoir. The state of the qubit is determined by the number of Cooper pairs that have tunneled across the junction. In contrast with the charge state of an atomic or molecular ion, the charge states of such an "island" involve a macroscopic number of conduction electrons of the island. The quantum superposition of charge states can be achieved by tuning the gate voltage U that controls the chemical potential of the island. The charge qubit is typically read-out by electrostatically coupling the island to an extremely sensitive electrometer such as the radio-frequency single-electron transistor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rydberg atom</span> Excited atomic quantum state with high principal quantum number (n)

A Rydberg atom is an excited atom with one or more electrons that have a very high principal quantum number, n. The higher the value of n, the farther the electron is from the nucleus, on average. Rydberg atoms have a number of peculiar properties including an exaggerated response to electric and magnetic fields, long decay periods and electron wavefunctions that approximate, under some conditions, classical orbits of electrons about the nuclei. The core electrons shield the outer electron from the electric field of the nucleus such that, from a distance, the electric potential looks identical to that experienced by the electron in a hydrogen atom.

Atomic coherence is the induced coherence between levels of a multi-level atomic system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ion trap</span> Device for trapping charged particles

An ion trap is a combination of electric and/or magnetic fields used to capture charged particles — known as ions — often in a system isolated from an external environment. Atomic and molecular ion traps have a number of applications in physics and chemistry such as precision mass spectrometry, improved atomic frequency standards, and quantum computing. In comparison to neutral atom traps, ion traps have deeper trapping potentials that do not depend on the internal electronic structure of a trapped ion. This makes ion traps more suitable for the study of light interactions with single atomic systems. The two most popular types of ion traps are the Penning trap, which forms a potential via a combination of static electric and magnetic fields, and the Paul trap which forms a potential via a combination of static and oscillating electric fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trapped-ion quantum computer</span> Proposed quantum computer implementation

A trapped-ion quantum computer is one proposed approach to a large-scale quantum computer. Ions, or charged atomic particles, can be confined and suspended in free space using electromagnetic fields. Qubits are stored in stable electronic states of each ion, and quantum information can be transferred through the collective quantized motion of the ions in a shared trap. Lasers are applied to induce coupling between the qubit states or coupling between the internal qubit states and the external motional states.

Quantum networks form an important element of quantum computing and quantum communication systems. Quantum networks facilitate the transmission of information in the form of quantum bits, also called qubits, between physically separated quantum processors. A quantum processor is a machine able to perform quantum circuits on a certain number of qubits. Quantum networks work in a similar way to classical networks. The main difference is that quantum networking, like quantum computing, is better at solving certain problems, such as modeling quantum systems.

Quantum cloning is a process that takes an arbitrary, unknown quantum state and makes an exact copy without altering the original state in any way. Quantum cloning is forbidden by the laws of quantum mechanics as shown by the no cloning theorem, which states that there is no operation for cloning any arbitrary state perfectly. In Dirac notation, the process of quantum cloning is described by:

David Edward Pritchard is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), working on atomic physics and educational research.

Within quantum technology, a quantum sensor utilizes properties of quantum mechanics, such as quantum entanglement, quantum interference, and quantum state squeezing, which have optimized precision and beat current limits in sensor technology. The field of quantum sensing deals with the design and engineering of quantum sources and quantum measurements that are able to beat the performance of any classical strategy in a number of technological applications. This can be done with photonic systems or solid state systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David J. Wineland</span> American physicist

David Jeffery Wineland(born February 24, 1944) is an American Nobel-laureate physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). His work has included advances in optics, specifically laser-cooling trapped ions and using ions for quantum-computing operations. He was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Serge Haroche, for "ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quantum simulator</span> Simulators of quantum mechanical systems

Quantum simulators permit the study of a quantum system in a programmable fashion. In this instance, simulators are special purpose devices designed to provide insight about specific physics problems. Quantum simulators may be contrasted with generally programmable "digital" quantum computers, which would be capable of solving a wider class of quantum problems.

In quantum mechanics, the cat state, named after Schrödinger's cat, is a quantum state composed of two diametrically opposed conditions at the same time, such as the possibilities that a cat is alive and dead at the same time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerhard Rempe</span> German physicist and professor

Gerhard Rempe is a German physicist, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Honorary Professor at the Technical University of Munich. He has performed pioneering experiments in atomic and molecular physics, quantum optics and quantum information processing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penning–Malmberg trap</span> Electromagnetic device used to confine particles of a single sign of charge

The Penning–Malmberg trap, named after Frans Penning and John Malmberg, is an electromagnetic device used to confine large numbers of charged particles of a single sign of charge. Much interest in Penning–Malmberg (PM) traps arises from the fact that if the density of particles is large and the temperature is low, the gas will become a single-component plasma. While confinement of electrically neutral plasmas is generally difficult, single-species plasmas can be confined for long times in PM traps. They are the method of choice to study a variety of plasma phenomena. They are also widely used to confine antiparticles such as positrons and antiprotons for use in studies of the properties of antimatter and interactions of antiparticles with matter.

Quantum logic spectroscopy (QLS) is an ion control scheme that maps quantum information between two co-trapped ion species. Quantum logic operations allow desirable properties of each ion species to be utilized simultaneously. This enables work with ions and molecular ions that have complex internal energy level structures which preclude laser cooling and direct manipulation of state. QLS was first demonstrated by NIST in 2005. QLS was first applied to state detection in diatomic molecules in 2016 by Wolf et al, and later applied to state manipulation and detection of diatomic molecules by the Liebfried group at NIST in 2017

References

  1. 1 2 "2001 I. I. Rabi Prize Recipient".
  2. "Awards | QCMC 2012".
  3. "2015 Arthur L. Schawlow Prize Recipient".
  4. "new faculty". August 20, 2020.
  5. Monroe, C.; Swann, W.; Robinson, H.; Wieman, C. (September 24, 1990). "Very cold trapped atoms in a vapor cell". Physical Review Letters. 65 (13). American Physical Society (APS): 1571–1574. Bibcode:1990PhRvL..65.1571M. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.65.1571. ISSN   0031-9007. PMID   10042304.
  6. Monroe, C.; Meekhof, D. M.; King, B. E.; Itano, W. M.; Wineland, D. J. (December 18, 1995). "Demonstration of a Fundamental Quantum Logic Gate". Physical Review Letters. 75 (25). American Physical Society (APS): 4714–4717. Bibcode:1995PhRvL..75.4714M. doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.75.4714 . ISSN   0031-9007. PMID   10059979.
  7. Turchette, Q. A.; Wood, C. S.; King, B. E.; Myatt, C. J.; Leibfried, D.; Itano, W. M.; Monroe, C.; Wineland, D. J. (October 26, 1998). "Deterministic Entanglement of Two Trapped Ions". Physical Review Letters. 81 (17): 3631–3634. arXiv: quant-ph/9806012 . Bibcode:1998PhRvL..81.3631T. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.81.3631. ISSN   0031-9007. S2CID   49338133.
  8. Sackett, C. A.; Kielpinski, D.; King, B. E.; Langer, C.; Meyer, V.; et al. (2000). "Experimental entanglement of four particles". Nature. 404 (6775). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 256–259. Bibcode:2000Natur.404..256S. doi:10.1038/35005011. ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   10749201. S2CID   2137148.
  9. Blinov, B. B.; Moehring, D. L.; Duan, L.- M.; Monroe, C. (2004). "Observation of entanglement between a single trapped atom and a single photon". Nature. 428 (6979). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 153–157. Bibcode:2004Natur.428..153B. doi:10.1038/nature02377. hdl: 2027.42/62924 . ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   15014494. S2CID   4314514.
  10. Stick, D.; Hensinger, W. K.; Olmschenk, S.; Madsen, M. J.; Schwab, K.; Monroe, C. (2006). "Ion trap in a semiconductor chip". Nature Physics. 2 (1): 36–39. arXiv: quant-ph/0601052 . Bibcode:2006NatPh...2...36S. doi: 10.1038/nphys171 . ISSN   1745-2473.
  11. Kielpinski, D.; Monroe, C.; Wineland, D. J. (2002). "Architecture for a large-scale ion-trap quantum computer". Nature. 417 (6890). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 709–711. Bibcode:2002Natur.417..709K. doi:10.1038/nature00784. hdl: 2027.42/62880 . ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   12066177. S2CID   4347109.
  12. Moehring, D. L.; Maunz, P.; Olmschenk, S.; Younge, K. C.; Matsukevich, D. N.; Duan, L.-M.; Monroe, C. (2007). "Entanglement of single-atom quantum bits at a distance". Nature. 449 (7158). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 68–71. Bibcode:2007Natur.449...68M. doi:10.1038/nature06118. hdl: 2027.42/62780 . ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   17805290. S2CID   19624141.
  13. Olmschenk, S.; Matsukevich, D. N.; Maunz, P.; Hayes, D.; Duan, L.-M.; Monroe, C. (January 23, 2009). "Quantum Teleportation Between Distant Matter Qubits". Science. 323 (5913): 486–489. arXiv: 0907.5240 . Bibcode:2009Sci...323..486O. doi:10.1126/science.1167209. hdl: 2027.42/63641 . ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   19164744. S2CID   206516918.
  14. Pironio, S.; Acín, A.; Massar, S.; de la Giroday, A. Boyer; Matsukevich, D. N.; et al. (2010). "Random numbers certified by Bell's theorem". Nature. 464 (7291): 1021–1024. arXiv: 0911.3427 . Bibcode:2010Natur.464.1021P. doi:10.1038/nature09008. ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   20393558. S2CID   4300790.
  15. Monroe, C.; Raussendorf, R.; Ruthven, A.; Brown, K. R.; Maunz, P.; Duan, L.-M.; Kim, J. (February 13, 2014). "Large-scale modular quantum-computer architecture with atomic memory and photonic interconnects". Physical Review A. 89 (2): 022317. arXiv: 1208.0391 . Bibcode:2014PhRvA..89b2317M. doi:10.1103/physreva.89.022317. ISSN   1050-2947. S2CID   14073633.
  16. Monroe, C.; Campbell, W.C.; Duan, L. -M.; Gong, Z. -X.; Gorshkov, A. V.; et al. (April 7, 2021). "Programmable Quantum Simulations of Spin Systems with Trapped Ions". Rev. Mod. Phys. 93 (2): 025001. arXiv: 1912.07845 . Bibcode:2021RvMP...93b5001M. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.93.025001. S2CID   209386771.
  17. National Academy of Sciences Members and Foreign Associates Elected, News from the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, May 3, 2016, archived from the original on May 6, 2016, retrieved May 14, 2016.
  18. Raymer, Michael; Monroe, Chris (February 22, 2019). "The US National Quantum Initiative". Quantum Science and Technology. 4 (2): 020504. Bibcode:2019QS&T....4b0504R. doi: 10.1088/2058-9565/ab0441 .