Ultrastrong light-matter interactions in superconducting circuits

Pol Forn-Díaz (Institute for High Energy Physics, IFAE)

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ABSTRACT: 

In this talk, I will give an overview of the physics of the ultrastrong coupling regime between light and matter, and in particular I will describe the achievements made in this field using superconducting quantum circuits. I will also present the latest breakthroughs in the field and the aims of the EU project SiUCs coordinated by IFAE that aims to use ultrastrong couplings for quantum technologies.

RECOMMENDED PAPERS: 

Rev. Mod. Phys. 91, 025005 (2019) (recommended sections I-II-III), Nat. Phys.13, 44. (2017).

BIO:
Dr. Pol Forn-Díaz leads the Quantum Computing Technology group at the Institute for High Energy Physics in Barcelona since 2019. The group focuses on using superconducting qubits applied to quantum annealing, quantum optics in the ultrastrong coupling regime, and their interaction with high energy physics. Dr. Forn-Díaz obtained his PhD from TU Delft (2005-2010), under the supervision of Prof. Hans Mooij, one of the inventors of the superconducting flux qubit. After a postdoc in cold atoms at Caltech in the Kimble lab, he went on to a second postdoc at IQC Waterloo (2013) co-supervised by Prof. C. M. Wilson and Prof. A. Lupascu working on microwave quantum optics and superconducting qubits. In 2017, Dr. Forn-Díaz returned to Barcelona to set up a new quantum computing program together with experts in quantum algorithms such as Prof. J. I. Latorre (University of Barcelona) and Dr. A. Garcia-Saez (Barcelona Supercomputing Center). The three of them co-founded the startup Qilimanjaro Quantum Tech, which develops coherent quantum annealers for realistic short-term applications. Dr. Forn-Díaz is the coordinator of the FET-Open consortium AVaQus to develop coherent quantum annealers, and the Quantera consortium SiUCs to develop quantum technologies in the ultrastrong coupling regime.