This research will explore the physics related to disorder in condensed matter systems by using ultracold atomic systems as models. Disorder is ubiquitous in real-world materials and often is critical in determining material performance and properties. Understanding the physics of disorder is therefore important to the development of new materials and understanding existing ones. Yet it is challenging because many of the tools of condensed matter physics rely on the periodicity of the underlying lattice structure, which is not the case for disorder. As a result, many systems that have well developed physical models and solutions become insoluble with disorder present. This work will explore a number of disordered physics issues using model ultracold atom systems using Bose-Einstein condensates. Researchers will investigate disordered two-dimensional systems, which are relevant to many solid-state systems including high Tc superconductors. Using incommensurate optical lattices, research will be carried out exploring the process of quantum annealing and adiabatic quantum computing. These topics rely on a system remaining in the lowest energy state even as the system is evolved, which can become hard to satisfy if there are closely spaced energy levels, almost always the case in the presence of disorder.
This work resides at the intersection of atomic physics, quantum information science, and condensed matter physics. Disorder appears in almost all practical materials, so any further understanding of the physics of disorder will potentially contribute to the development of new materials. The ability to know the system exactly and to have good control over system parameters may allow for more insight into disordered systems than is achievable in solid-state systems. Quantum annealing and adiabatic quantum computation are important in the overall development of our ideas about the power of quantum information processing and in general the added utility that a quantum system may have over a classical one. This work will train postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students to be the next generation of highly skilled workers in the new area of quantum information science and technology.
