''Educational and fulfilling'' visit in Colorado creates new connections for HQAN graduate students

Last month, six graduate student members of NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute (QLCI) HQAN (shared between UIUC, the University of Wisconsin Madison, and the University of Chicago) took part in an exchange visit to fellow QLCI Q-SEnSE.

Q-SEnSE, whose acronym stands for “Quantum Systems through Entangled Science and Engineering” benefits from its location in Boulder, Colorado. The city is home to the University of Colorado Boulder (CU), the Boulder Laboratories of the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST), and JILA, an institute with a broad reach across the physical sciences, including the Quantum Information Science & Technology (QIST) division.

“I had a very educational and fulfilling visit to Q-SEnSE,” says UChicago student Evan Yamaguchi. “Visiting and discussing research topics across so many quantum-related areas was both helpful to my own research and inspiring as a young researcher.”

One opportunity to discuss research came through the more than one dozen lab tours across JILA on one day and CU and NIST on the second day of the visit. Many of the insights the students gained were connections with their own research as part of HQAN.

“I found the visit to Shuo Sun and Scott Papp's labs to be particularly interesting,” says UIUC student Priyash Barya. “Both are working on using nanophotonics to tackle key problems in quantum information and sensing, which is closely related to my research.”

The special time the tour set aside for discussion with Q-SEnSE members – both faculty and senior researchers, as well as students – proved to be particularly fruitful in motivating improvements to the HQAN students’ own experiments.

I especially enjoyed seeing Adam Kaufman's Strontium experiment and speaking with him and his students,” says UChicago student Lauren Weiss. “I asked him about some problems we are having with thermal drifts, and he had a good idea about monitoring the light sheet trap which we plan to implement.”

In particular, the visit enabled its participants to get close to a variety of experimental platforms used in quantum computing over the course of the two days of the organized events.

“I gained exposure to the main tools approaching sensing and metrology endeavors, benefiting from the familiarity and frequency of atomic experiments involving ion traps, optical tweezers, and optical lattices,” says UIUC student Will Christopherson.

In addition, students were inspired by novel uses of quantum science different from their previous experience with the field. They also had the opportunity to engage with three theory-focused groups in addition to the experimental labs.

“It was very interesting to learn about the various ways in which frequency combs can be used particularly in Jun Ye’s lab where they are utilizing frequency combs in the detection of Covid-19,” says UIUC student Darman Khan.

This cross-QLCI exchange is emblematic of HQAN’s efforts to foster collaboration between the National Science Foundation's QLCI program and within the three Midwestern universities which make up HQAN.  In this context, it was fitting that the HQAN attendees were able to spend additional time together hiking the Anemone Loop Trail in the hills overlooking Boulder.

“I really enjoyed the social aspect of the event: getting to know and befriending PhD students from other universities and learning about their current research,” says UW Madison student Omar Nagib.

HQAN recognizes and appreciates all the planning efforts undertaken by Q-SEnSE staff which made this visit possible.  According to HQAN Program Administrator Patrick Snyder, the center is currently planning the second half of the exchange in which Q-SEnSE students will visit HQAN institutions.