Invited Paper QS-TuM1
Quantum Technologies from Cold Atoms to Matter-waves

Tuesday, October 22, 2019, 8:00 am, Room B231-232

The remarkable success of atom coherent manipulation techniques has motivated competitive research and development in precision metrology as well as quantum simulation.

Our ability to cool down atoms to temperature near absolute zero lead to the production of new state of matter e.g. dilute atomic Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) and degenerate Fermi gases (DFG) where the single or collective quantum behaviour of the particles takes over their classical properties. At these temperatures, atoms can be described by matter waves which behaviour can help understanding quantum properties of conduction, or with which we can create matter-wave sensors that are sensitive to rotation, acceleration or gravitation.

Quantum transport (eg the conduction of electrons in an imperfect crystal) is today widely investigated by using atoms in controlled potentials that mimic the properties of a solid or a semiconductor. While the ideal case is when no defects exist in the periodic potentials used to reproduce the solid matrix, it is also possible to introduce controlled disordered that will lead to peculiar quantum conduction properties. Semi-classical theories, such as those based on the Boltzmann equation, often fail to fully describe the transport properties and the ultra-cold atoms provide a "quantum simulator" to investigate such properties. These properties extend from Anderson localization, percolation, disorder-driven quantum phase transitions and the corresponding Bose-glass or spin-glass phases.

Matter-wave inertial sensors – accelerometers, gyrometers, gravimeters – use our exquisite control of the matter-wave resulting form cooling atoms near absolute zero. They are today all at the forefront of their respective measurement classes. Atom inertial sensors provide nowadays about the best accelerometers and gravimeters and allow, for instance, to make the most precise monitoring of gravity or to device precise tests of general relativity. The outstanding developments of laser-cooling techniques and related technologies allowed the demonstration of matter-wave interferometers in micro-gravity. Using two atomic species (for instance ³⁹K and ⁸⁷Rb) allows to verify that two massive bodies will undergo the same gravitational acceleration regardless of their mass or composition, allowing a test of the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP). New concepts of matter-wave interferometry are also currently developed to study sub Hertz variations of the strain tensor of space-time and gravitation, providing a new window of observation for gravitational waves detectors.

I present here some recent advances in theses fields