Physics

Dr Chandrasekhar Ramanathan
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover

Abstract: 

It has been three decades since Feynman showed that a quantum computer is
required to efficiently simulate a quantum system.  While building a
quantum computer remains a grand challenge, our improved ability to
manipulate and control quantum systems has led to a resurgence of interest
in quantum simulations that could help tackle problems in diverse areas
such as condensed-matter physics, cosmology and quantum chemistry.    In
this talk I will discuss how to build quantum simulators using nuclear
magnetic resonance (or NMR) techniques.  While we can perform any
small-scale simulation using liquid state NMR, the highly-coupled spin
networks in solids allow us to perform a more limited set of large-scale
analog quantum simulations.  These solid state spin systems are excellent
platforms on which to study the coherent dynamics of large quantum
systems.   I will illustrate these ideas with experimental examples, and
discuss the key challenges to controlling the coherent dynamics of large
spin networks.