Research
Quantum sensing and quantum imaging
Quantum states of light, such as squeezed states or entangled states, can be used
to make measurements (metrology), produce images, and sense objects with a precision
that far exceeds what is possible classically, and also exceeds what was once thought
to be possible quantum mechanically. The primary idea is to exploit quantum effects
to beat the shot-noise limit in metrology and the Rayleigh diffraction limit in imaging
and sensing.
Sample publications: arXiv:0904.0163, arXiv:quant-ph/9912052, https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0202133, https://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevA.102.022614, https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.09615
Quantum information theory
What are the ultimate limits that nature imposes on the rate at which we can communicate
reliably? How can we use quantum processors to achieve these limits? The broad field
of quantum information theory addresses these questions and extends Shannon's classical
information theory. Surprises such as quantum teleportation and super-dense coding
have extended our understanding of the interplay between classical bits, quantum bits,
and entanglement, leading to a variety of quantum channel capacities for information
transmission.
Sample publications: arXiv:1206.4886, arXiv:1102.2624
Optical quantum computing
Linear optics with photon counting is a prominent candidate for practical quantum
computing. The protocol by Knill, Laflamme, and Milburn [Nature 409, 46 (2001)] explicitly demonstrates that efficient scalable quantum computing with single photons,
linear optical elements, and projective measurements is possible. Subsequently, several
improvements on this protocol have started to bridge the gap between theoretical scalability
and practical implementation.
Sample publications: https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0508113
Quantum error correction
Quantum processors are inevitably subjected to the deleterious effects of noise. The
only way that we will ever have reliable quantum computers or quantum communication
devices is if we are able to stabilize these systems against noise, using quantum
software routines known as quantum error-correcting codes. Remarkably, such codes
can be shown to work in principle and experimental efforts have demonstrated their
benefits as well. However, much work remains in the areas of fault-tolerant quantum
computation and quantum error correction for communication.
Sample publications: arXiv:1212.2537, arXiv:1010.1256
Foundations of quantum mechanics
What is the simplest formulation of the postulates of quantum mechanics? How does
the behavior of quantum mechanical systems change in the presence of exotic spacetime
geometries that allow for closed timelike curves? Establishing and simplifying the
foundations of quantum mechanics has been one of the oldest programs in physics since
the original establishment of the theory, and yet the tools and perspective of quantum
information have shed a new light on this subject.
Sample publications: arXiv:1306.1795, arXiv:0811.1209
Quantum computational complexity theory
What are the ultimate practical limits that nature imposes on computation? How do
different computational problems relate to each other and how does quantum mechanics
change our understanding of computation? The field of quantum computational complexity
theory addresses these questions and lies at the intersection of physics and computation.
For example, quantum complexity theory helps in characterizing the difficulty of computing
the ground state energy of physical Hamiltonians or how hard it is to decide if a
quantum state is entangled.
Sample publications: arXiv:1211.6120
Photonic band gap and meta materials
Theory and simulation of photonic materials, nanoscale photonic devices, plasmonics, computational electromagnetics. Recent work has focused on photonic crystals for thermal emissivity control and nanoscale plasmonic devices.
Sample publications: Improving solar cell efficiency using photonic band-gap materials
Quantum optics
Recent work has focused on the the production and detection of nonclassical squeezed or entangled light sources for applications to quantum metrology and imaging.
Sample publications: https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.10573
Atomic, molecular, and optical physics
Investigations into electromagnetically induced transparency, slow- and fast-light, and nonlinear optics.
Sample publications: https://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevA.98.033829
Relativistic quantum mechanics and field theory
Investigations into different aspects of quantum systems in special and general relativistic spacetimes. Recent work has focused on both, foundational aspects and applications, mainly in the context of black holes and cosmology, and quantum anomalies of the electromagnetic field.
Sample publications: arXiv:1503.03407 , arXiv:1412.3524, arXiv:1607.08879, arXiv:1810.08085