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In our work recently published in Physical Review Research we study Rabi oscillations in a vapor cell environment to understand their coherence in a regime where strong population dynamics are present. With these efforts we take an important step towards applying ideas in vector magnetic field measurements using Rabi oscillations to vapor cells.

When it comes to creating ever more intriguing quantum systems, a constant need is finding new ways to observe them in a wide range of physical scenarios. JILA Fellow Cindy Regal and JILA and NIST Fellow Ana Maria Rey have teamed up with Oriol Romero-Isart, a professor at the University of Innsbruck and IQOQI (Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information) to show that a trapped particle in the form of an atom readily reveals its full quantum state with quite simple ingredients, opening up opportunities for studies of the quantum state of ever larger particles.

JILA Fellow Cindy Regal and her team, along with researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), have for the first time demonstrated that they can trap single atoms using a novel miniaturized version of “optical tweezers” — a system that grabs atoms using a laser beam as chopsticks.

More than 400 years later, scientists are in the midst of an equally-important revolution. They’re diving into a previously-hidden realm—far wilder than anything van Leeuwenhoek, known as the “father of microbiology,” could have imagined. Some researchers, like physicists Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn, are exploring this world of even tinier things with microscopes that are many times more precise than the Dutch scientist’s. Others, like Jun Ye, are using lasers to cool clouds of atoms to just a millionth of a degree above absolute zero with the goal of collecting better measurements of natural phenomena.

The process of developing a quantum computer has seen significant progress in the past 20 years. Quantum computers are designed to solve complex problems using the intricacies of quantum mechanics. These computers can also communicate with each other by using entangled photons (photons that have connected quantum states). As a result of this entanglement, quantum communication can provide a more secure form of communication, and has been seen as a promising method for the future of a more private and faster internet.

Qubits are a basic building block for quantum computers, but they’re also notoriously fragile—tricky to observe without erasing their information in the process. Now, new research from ���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������ and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) may be a leap forward for handling qubits with a light touch. In the study, a team of physicists demonstrated that it could read out the signals from a type of qubit called a superconducting qubit using laser light—and without destroying the qubit at the same time.

JILA Fellow Cindy Regal has helped consult on a new mural placed in Washington Park in Denver, Colorado. The mural, titled Leading Light, loosely alludes to AMO physics, which Regal studies by using laser beams. With bright yellows and vivid pinks, the mural depicts four women interacting with different blue spheres, representing electrons. One woman wears sunglasses, modeled on thelaser goggles that JILAns wear for lab safety. The artist, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, found Regal's work captivating. “We share a vision to not only uplift women in STEM and to bring science and our society closer together, but also to foster dynamic and organic relationships with science in everyone, whether or not they choose to become scientists,” the artist said.

JILA was honored to celebrate the legacy of the endowment given by Tom Baur of Meadowlark Optics and SPIE on October 7th at a JILA Donor Event, which also celebrated the work of JILA Fellow Cindy Regal, the first Baur-SPIE Professor of Optical Physics and Photonics. Speakers at the event included JILA Fellows Cindy Regal, Ann-Marie Madigan, Eric Cornell, Margaret Murnane, and Jun Ye, as well as Tom Baur and SPIE CEO Kent Rochford discussing the endowment. Both the Baurs and Dr. Rochford, representing SPIE, were given customized laser mirror mounts as a thank you for their generosity. Generous endowments like these allow JILA to give back to our community of graduate students and post-docs.

Regal is the first recipient for JILA's new endowed chair in optics and photonics.

A new national quantum research center draws on JILA Fellows' and their expertise to make the United States an international leader in quantum technology.