Programma: PRIN
Responsabile scientifico per il dipartimento: Pierbiagio Pieri
Struttura principale: DIFA
Data inizio e data fine: dal 28/09/2023 al 28/09/2025
DiQuT: Nuove piattaforme sperimentali per fasi topologiche e superfluidi p-wave
DiQuT sviluppa una piattaforma innovativa basata su miscele Bose-Fermi di atomi magnetici per esplorare superfluidi p-wave e fasi topologiche interagenti, con applicazioni alla computazione quantistica e alle tecnologie quantistiche emergenti.
DiQuT: Novel Experimental Platforms for Topological Phases and p-wave Superfluids
DiQuT builds an innovative platform using Bose-Fermi mixtures of magnetic atoms to explore p-wave superfluids and interacting topological phases, paving the way for robust quantum computation and next-generation quantum technologies.
Abstract
Topology has emerged over the years as one of the most powerful theoretical tools to interpret physical phenomena. While itsapplications to physics have a long history, topological insulators and superconductors have been at the forefront of more recentresearch activity. The main reason is that topologically-protected edge states and zero-energy Majorana modes arising in topologicalinsulators and superconductors, respectively, appear as ideal candidates for the transfer and storage of energy or information on theone hand, and quantum computation robust against decoherence, on the other hand. Topological insulators have already beeninvestigated in a variety of experimental platforms, but the theoretical understanding of the effects interaction in these systems isstill at an early stage. For topological superconductors and superfluids, instead, it is even their physical realization to be essentiallystill lacking. This is because such states of matter require fermionic particles to pair up into non-zero angular momentum states,primarily in the p-wave channel. Unfortunately, materials that naturally exhibit such a pairing are scarce in nature.With DiQuT, we plan to construct a versatile novel experimental platform that will grant access to both topological p-wavesuperfluids and to unexplored interacting topological phases on lattice geometries, where the combination of non-local interactionsand topology could be analyzed in a controlled way. The novel platform will consist of a Bose-Fermi mixture of magnetic atoms. Thehighly non-local character of dipole-dipole interactions, the full tunability of additional short range Bose-Fermi and Bose-Boseinteractions, as well as the trapping geometry, will allow us to engineer topological fermionic pairing and to access stronglycorrelated topological regimes. One experimental and two theoretical units will join their diverse and complementary expertise inthis effort. The experimental activity will be mainly devoted to the construction of the novel apparatus, while theory will explore indetail the possibilities to produce and control topological phases, paving the way towards their experimental achievement andproviding novel predictions. The successful accomplishment of DiQuT will produce a long-lasting advance in our understanding oftopological phases, and in their application to novel quantum technologies, with both short- and long-term impacts. In addition,DiQuT will establish a strong synergy between three competitive research groups working at the frontiers of ultracold gases,superfluid and topological matter, reinforcing the national scientific community, and making the three units even more competitivefor the participation to the Research and Innovation programs of the European Commission.