Quantum information science (QIS) is the interdisciplinary field that investigates how to use systems obeying the laws of quantum mechanics to perform information-processing tasks. This project is focused on a set of questions that lie at the intersection of QIS and the science of making high-precision measurements. This intersection of QIS and measurement science is now called quantum metrology. The specific questions to be investigated include how best to deploy physical systems, such as atoms and photons and tiny engineered resonators, to make the best possible measurements of such physical quantities as electric and magnetic fields and gravitational fields and how to use the strange property of quantum entanglement associated with interacting systems to improve such measurements.
PhD students associated with this project will work within the framework of the Center for Quantum Information and Control at the University of New Mexico, which has a proven track record of training PhD students for careers in QIS. CQuIC students take a sequence of elective courses on QIS topics, are exposed to the interdisciplinary ideas of QIS through a high-level, weekly seminar series and through the weekly CQuIC group meeting, at which papers posted to the e-print server arXiv.org are reviewed and discussed and at which students and postdocs receive intensive training in the art of giving technical talks. CQuIC provides students the opportunity to participate in research collaborations with six external partnering institutions.
