Description:

The most common kinds of interactions in physics obey a basic kind of reciprocity: when two systems or particles interact, each one influences the other, and there is a flow of information in both directions.  In this talk, I’ll discuss general methods for engineering interactions that break this symmetry, in a fully consistent quantum setting.  These engineered “one-way” quantum interactions open up a host of unusual possibilities, from new methods for manipulating and processing quantum information, to new kinds of topological and many-body physics.  I’ll introduce some of the basic theoretical ideas that underlie these unusual interactions, and connections to recent interest in “non-Hermitian” quantum systems.  I’ll also discuss recent experimental implementations in quantum optomechanical systems and superconducting quantum circuits.  

Seminar Speaker: Aash Clerk, University of Chicago

 Host: Koch

Keywords: Physics, Astronomy, Seminar, Colloquium