Superconducting circuits for quantum simulation and quantum information sciences

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Bio: Ruichao (Alex) Ma received his B.Sc in Physics from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2009. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University in 2014, studying strongly-correlated phases of ultracold atoms in optical lattices, in the group of Markus Greiner. He was a Postdoc at the Harvard/MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms from 2014-2015 and at the James Frank Institute, University of Chicago from 2015-2019. At Chicago, he worked on creating synthetic quantum materials in superconducting circuits/qubits, in the groups of David Schuster and Jonathan Simon. Alex joined Purdue University as Assistant Professor in Department of Physics and Astronomy in August 2019. His experimental group focuses on quantum many-body physics and quantum information science using superconducting circuits, with research interests that remain at the intersection between condensed matter, AMO, and quantum information sciences.

Abstract: My research group focuses on the study of synthetic quantum materials in superconducting circuits. Superconducting circuits/qubits have recently emerged as a leading platform for quantum computation, satisfying the challenges of controllability, long coherence and strong interactions. We apply the same toolbox to the exploration of strongly correlated quantum materials made of microwave photons, and investigate the emerging quantum phases and quantum dynamics in both coherent and driven-dissipative settings.
As examples, I will introduce my recent work where we experimentally demonstrated a new approach for preparing photonic many-body states in superconducting circuits using engineered dissipation. In a separate experiment, we realize a topological lattice for microwave photons using arrays of superconducting resonators and observe the dynamics of protected edge states. I will discuss other QIS topics we will explore, e.g. developing superconducting circuits/qubits-based sensors for probing materials defects and excitations.
I will also mention some technical/engineering challenges in superconducting circuits, and hope to spark discussions with other teams at Birck with the relevant expertise (e.g. in material synthesis or microwave engineering).