Making Quantum States of Light With Moving Mirrors
- Speaker
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Cindy Regal, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Physics, Baur-SPIE Professor at JILA, University of Colorado Boulder
Presidential Lectures are a series of free public colloquia spotlighting groundbreaking research across four themes: neuroscience and autism science, physics, biology, and mathematics and computer science. These curated, high-level scientific talks feature leading scientists and mathematicians and are designed to foster discussion and drive discovery within the New York City research community. We invite those interested in these topics to join us for this weekly lecture series.
Over the last few decades, experimental physicists have observed quantum effects in the vibrations of mechanical resonators in a surprising range of experiments and sizes of objects. Achieving the quantum regime with the tangible motion of solid objects has piqued physicists’ curiosity and enabled new approaches to difficult tasks in manipulating quantum information.
In this lecture, Cindy Regal will present experiments that measure the motion of drumlike mirrors and discuss how the experiments evolved from a rich history of read-out and control in quantum optics and precision measurement. She will highlight her team’s current efforts to use mechanical motion as a link between quantum states in disparate parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
About the Speaker
Regal is the Baur-SPIE associate professor of physics at the University of Colorado and a fellow of JILA, a joint institute between CU Boulder and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology. Her work in experimental quantum science has developed new platforms for the optical manipulation of both atoms and the vibrations of solids. She is a fellow of the American Physical Society and has received scientific awards, including a Presidential Early Career Award and a Packard Fellowship.