Robert Lewis-Swan
Assistant Professor
RESEARCH DESCRIPTION
My research is centered on the study of non-equilibrium many-body physics in atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) systems. A core focus is to understand how we can generate, characterize, manipulate and use quantum phenomena such as entanglement and coherence for basic quantum science applications and next generation technologies. Entanglement and coherence in quantum systems is typically generated by interactions between constituent particles or degrees of freedom. Harnessing and controlling interactions is thus important if we want to be able to design and control complex quantum many-body states to be used in quantum-enhanced devices and technologies. To this end, I am interested in a diverse range of AMO systems as they a natural playground to explore a range of diverse interactions in a controllable setting: from contact interactions in neutral atoms, to dipolar interactions in polar molecules, long-range interactions in Rydberg systems and atom-light interactions in high-finesse cavities. To study these complex experimental systems I use an interplay of analytical tools and numerical techniques. These scale between simple "toy models" which capture the essential physics while remaining within reach of exact solutions, all the way to complex numerical simulations of experiments which include relevant sources of technical noise and decoherence.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
"Exploring dynamical phase transitions with cold atoms in an optical cavity," Juan A Muniz, Diego Barberena, Robert J Lewis-Swan, Dylan J Young, Julia RK Cline, Ana Maria Rey, James K Thompson, Nature, 580(7805), 602-607, (2020) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2224-x
"Dynamics of quantum information," RJ Lewis-Swan, A Safavi-Naini, AM Kaufman, AM Rey, Nature Reviews Physics, 1(10), 627-634, (2019) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-019-0090-y
"Unifying scrambling, thermalization and entanglement through measurement of fidelity out-of-time-order correlators in the Dicke model," RJ Lewis-Swan, A Safavi-Naini, JJ Bollinger, AM Rey, Nature Communications, 10(1), 1581, (2019) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09436-y
"Cavity-mediated collective spin-exchange interactions in a strontium superradiant laser," Matthew A Norcia, Robert J Lewis-Swan, Julia RK Cline, Bihui Zhu, Ana M Rey, James K Thompson, Science, 361(6399), 259-262, (2018) DOI: 10.1126/science.aar3102
"Verification of a many-ion simulator of the Dicke model through slow quenches across a phase transition," Arghavan Safavi-Naini, RJ Lewis-Swan, Justin G Bohnet, M Gärttner, Kevin A Gilmore, Judith Elena Jordan, J Cohn, James K Freericks, Ana M Rey, John J Bollinger, Physical Review Letters, 121(4), 040503, (2017) DOI: doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.040503
"Verification of a many-ion simulator of the Dicke model through slow quenches across a phase transition," Arghavan Safavi-Naini, RJ Lewis-Swan, Justin G Bohnet, M Gärttner, Kevin A Gilmore, Judith Elena Jordan, J Cohn, James K Freericks, Ana M Rey, John J Bollinger, Physical Review Letters, 121(4), 040503, (2017) DOI: doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.040503
"Pumped-up SU(1,1) interferometry," Stuart S Szigeti, Robert J Lewis-Swan, Simon A Haine, Physical Review Letters, 118(15), 150401, (2017) DOI: doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.150401
