ABSTRACT

When many particles share a common environment, dissipation and fluctuations become resources for emergent and complex behavior. In this talk, I will discuss how macroscopic quantum coherence arises due to correlated decay in open quantum systems. I will begin by introducing our recent discovery of universal scaling laws for correlated decay that apply broadly to a large class of Markovian quantum systems. These scaling laws open new directions for fault-tolerant quantum computing, precision metrology, and the understanding of out-of-equilibrium phase transitions. I will then focus on a specific physical system and mechanism of decay: Dicke superradiance in extended atomic arrays. Our theoretical predictions for transient superradiance have recently been experimentally validated in 2D arrays and waveguide QED setups. Finally, I will present experimentally relevant examples where many-body decay offers new ways to control and manipulate open quantum systems.

BIO

Ana Asenjo-Garcia is an Associate Professor of Physics at Columbia University, which she joined in 2019. Her research focuses on theoretical quantum optics and its intersection with many-body physics and quantum information science. She received her Ph.D. in Physics from Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2014, conducting her research at ICFO under the supervision of Javier García de Abajo. Before moving to New York, she was a Global Marie Curie Fellow, working in the group of Darrick Chang at ICFO and (also as an IQIM Fellow) in the group of Jeff Kimble at Caltech. Her work has been recognized with awards such as the Packard Fellowship, the Sloan Fellowship, the NSF CAREER Award, the AFOSR Young Investigator Prize, and the IUPAP Early Career Scientist Prize in AMO Physics.