Synthetic Lattice Systems in Circuit QED

The field of superconducting circuits has emerged as a rich platform for both quantum computation and quantum simulation. Due to the native strong qubit-photon interactions, these systems can be used to study dynamical phase transitions, many-body phenomena, and spin models in driven-dissipative systems. Temporal control can be used to implement synthetic dimensions and lattices of coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonators realize artificial photonic materials in the tight-binding limit. I will present data from two new experiments, one featuring qubits in an unconventional at-band lattice, and a second showing that static dissipation can be used to stabilize quasienergy
states of a time-periodic Floquet Hamiltonian.

Peering inside lensed galaxies with JWST

In hundreds of known cases, "gravitational lenses” deflect, distort, and magnify images of galaxies behind them. Lensing can magnify galaxies by factors of 10–100, transforming them from barely detectable smudges to bright objects that can be studied in detail. Studies of lensed galaxies push each major observatory past its normal limits of sensitivity and spatial resolution. I will summarize results from several programs conducting diagnostic spectroscopy of lensed galaxies at redshifts of z=1--5, starting with Hubble and Magellan and now using JWST. The larger goals are to determine the physical conditions of galaxies across most of cosmic time, and to understand how the processes of star formation has evolved over the last 10 billion years. JWST spectra are revealing the physical conditions inside typical star-forming galaxies (density, temperature, metallicity, abundance pattern, extinction), as well as revealing which diagnostics of star formation are trustworthy for use in deep field surveys. 

New physics in heavy quark decays? Challenges to Lepton Flavor Universality from LHCb and prospects with an upgraded detector

Since the establishment of the Standard Model (SM) many decades ago, the three types of charged leptons (electron, muon, and tau) have been seen as doppelgängers of each other in everything but their readings on the scale. That is, the SM interactions of the three lepton families with other particles differ only because of their different masses. This resulting (accidental) symmetry is known as Lepton Flavor Universality (LFU). Since 2012, however, a series of measurements of decays involving b → cτν transitions have repeatedly hinted at the possibility that lepton universality may be, in fact, violated. In this talk I will go over the current status of LFU measurements as well as their future prospects with an upgraded LHCb detector in which the UMD LHCb group played a pivotal role.  

Quantum Sensing of Quantum Matter

Important scientific discoveries often happen when scientists have new tools that let them look at complex physical problems in different ways. Recently, there have been exciting breakthroughs in the study of quantum materials. This has led scientists to create new methods for examining their basic qualities. In this talk, Yacoby will discuss some of the recent projects he's worked on to develop new local quantum sensing techniques. He will also talk about how these techniques can help us better understand quantum materials.  

Amir Yacoby is a Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University. He received his bachelor’s degree in the field of Aerospace engineering and then transitioned into Physics. Following a Master’s degree in theoretical Physics, Yacoby received his PhD in experimental condensed matter physics in 1994 from the Weizmann Institute of Science. 

Professor Yacoby is a member of the National Academy of Science, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow of the American Physical Society, member of the American Academy for Advancement of Science and an external member of the Max Planck Society. 

Professor Yacoby works to develop new experimental techniques to explore quantum matter and uses these techniques to obtain new insights into their underlying quantum mechanical properties.

Assessing and Advancing the Potential of Quantum Computing: A NASA Case Study

Quantum computing is one of the most enticing emerging computational paradigms. It has the potential to revolutionize diverse areas within the future of computation. While quantum computing hardware has advanced rapidly, from tiny laboratory experiments to quantum chips that can outperform even the largest supercomputers on specialized computational tasks, current processors are still too small and non-robust to be directly useful for any real-world applications today. Nevertheless, we are entering an era of unprecedented capabilities for the exploration of quantum algorithms and protocols beyond what is possible today. There is also the opportunity to map out large-scale architectures and estimate resources for early fault-tolerant quantum computing, tailored to specific applications, through codesign of algorithms, quantum error correction, and hardware. In this talk, I’ll discuss NASA’s work in assessing and advancing the potential of quantum computing, illustrating advances in algorithms, both near- and longer-term, in designing novel quantum error correction methods, in resource estimation, and in co-design. I’ll also highlight physics-inspired classical algorithms that can be used at the application scale today. The talk will conclude with a discussion of open research directions.

What JWST Reveals about the Hubble Tension 

The Hubble tension—the persistent discrepancy between local and early-Universe measurements of the Hubble constant—remains one of the most intriguing puzzles in cosmology. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) now offers a fresh perspective on this issue by allowing an independent look at the same type of stars, Cepheids, used in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) measurements that help define our best local estimate of cosmic expansion.  I’ll show how early JWST data, although still limited in size, serves as a powerful crosscheck of the HST-based distance ladder. When comparing results across multiple techniques and research groups, we find strong consistency with the HST measurements, lending confidence to their accuracy. These comparisons suggest that the observed tension is unlikely to stem from systematic errors in HST's Cepheid distances.Though JWST’s smaller sample size limits its precision for now, it already provides valuable validation of the HST approach. As more data accumulates, JWST will play an increasingly important role in testing and refining our understanding of the expanding Universe—and perhaps help us get to the bottom of the Hubble tension.

Looking at and beyond the Standard Model with a general-purpose detector today, tomorrow (and possibly the day after tomorrow)

The Standard Model of particle physics is the foundational theory that explains how elementary particles interact through the electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces. It has withstood over four decades of precise experimental tests, yet it is known to be incomplete. It does not incorporate gravity, nor does it account for dark energy or dark matter, both of which are unambiguously supported by astronomical and cosmological observations. In this talk, I will present the complementary approaches I use to test the Standard Model using data from the CMS detector at the LHC. My work began over 15 years ago, and I will discuss our preparations to continue it for at least another 15 years, along with a brief outlook on what the next 50 years might hold for the field.

A trapped-ion qubit with a coherence time exceeding ten hours

Quantum systems promise to revolutionize technology in the realms of computing and sensing. Yet they are limited by decoherence mechanisms. In theory, trapped atomic ions should be perfect quantum memories, supporting million-year coherence times based on spontaneous emission. Yet experimental demonstrations have fallen many orders of magnitude short. This gap raises the question of whether we face fundamental physical limitations or addressable technical challenges.

We combine clock-state qubits with decoherence-free subspace (DFS) encoding to achieve coherence times exceeding ten hours. Using 171Yb+ ion pairs sympathetically cooled by 138Ba+, we demonstrate this without magnetic shielding or enhanced microwave stabilization. DFS encoding cancels common-mode magnetic fluctuations across micrometer separations while clock states provide environmental insensitivity. Our exponential fits yield a coherence time of 37,750 ± 10,890 seconds.

These results experimentally verify that trapped-ion qubits are limited by technical factors rather than fundamental decoherence, establishing a pathway toward ultimate quantum memories for scalable information processing. I will also discuss our related work on scaling up qubit numbers using two-dimensional ion crystals.

New frontiers for many-body physics

The study of many-body physics is a defining success of quantum mechanics in the last century. From solids to superconductors to exotic topological phases, we have learned how complex collective behavior emerges from simple microscopic laws. Yet nearly all of this progress has focused on equilibrium systems defined on regular, Euclidean lattices.

A new generation of synthetic quantum devices now motivates us to move beyond these constraints. These programmable systems, where geometry and dynamics can both be engineered, offer highly controlled experimental access to nonequilibrium active quantum matter. Indeed, even the execution of a quantum algorithm is an inherently nonequilibrium process. Moreover, programmable interactions in these devices can realize non-Euclidean geometries, such as those underlying novel families of quantum error-correcting codes defined on expander graphs.

The next frontier lies in understanding how complex organization can arise and persist in these settings, where neither equilibrium nor geometry is prescribed, linking the physics of many-body organization to broader principles of information, computation, and even life. I will describe highlights of an active research program to advance many-body theory into these uncharted regimes, including examples such as time crystals, measurement-induced phase transitions, and topological quantum spin glasses. A unifying theme across these settings is that the thermodynamic and dynamical notions of order and robustness can diverge.

100 years of Quantum Mechanics: A solid state physicist reports from the half-time show

Celebrating a hundred years of quantum mechanics, the United Nations has declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. This is not only an occasion to step back and marvel at the progress, it also raises the question: OK, so what's next?

One part of looking back is to gain perspective: what actually were the steps that led Heisenberg to see this incredible breakthrough – but important to us today - are the best trappings of Quantum Mechanics now taken, making the future one of applied Quantum Mechanics and problem solving, or are we, as I believe, still in the fray of the Quantum Revolution? How's that? Well if we take our cue from the classical physics revolution, which from Galileo to Maxwell, required 250 years to reveal simple basic concepts such as energy and heat, it is equally plausible that key concepts in our understanding of the quantum still lie ahead. 

To use the sports analogy, despite the amazing score, we may only be at the half-time show.

 

Simple Models of Synchronization

At this very moment, your heart is beating thanks to thousands of pacemaker cells in your sinoatrial node, all firing in near-perfect unison. Similar acts of spontaneous synchronization appear throughout nature—in fireflies flashing in unison, neurons firing together, and even in networks of pendulum clocks or metronomes. Simplified mathematical models of these self-synchronizing systems have sparked new insights in nonlinear dynamics, often yielding surprising applications far beyond their biological roots. In this talk, Prof. Strogatz will explore two case studies: (1) Charlie Peskin’s influential model of cardiac pacemaker cells, which inspired advances in communications and electrical engineering; and (2) recent progress and open questions on how the structure of a Kuramoto oscillator network influences its ability to synchronize.