Even those of us who aren’t physicists have an intuitive understanding of classical physics — we can predict what will happen when we throw a ball, use a salad spinner, or ease up on the gas pedal.
But atomic and subatomic particles don’t follow these ordinary rules of reality. “It turns out that at really small scales there are a different set of rules called quantum physics,” said Travis Nicholson. “These rules are bizarre and interesting.” (Think Schrodinger’s cat and Einstein’s “spooky action at a distance.”)
Nicholson is an assistant professor with joint appointments in Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering. The physicist in him likes doing experiments to advance our knowledge of quantum mechanics; the engineer in him likes figuring out how to harness that knowledge to build quantum computers that will be vastly more powerful than today’s computers.
That’s why he’s excited to be joining the Duke Quantum Center, headquartered in the Chesterfield building in downtown Durham. Nicholson said the center takes a “vertical” approach that explicitly connects all the different dots necessary to realize the promise of quantum computing, from basic science to building hardware to envisioning applications. “It’s a novel approach to a quantum center,” he said. “I’m excited to be getting involved in a new effort that I really believe in and think will be successful.”
On the basic quantum science side, Nicholson probes the atomic particles that will form the hardware for quantum computers. He’s bringing a new technique to the center, which offers a twist on what current Duke faculty members focus on.
“You need quantum particles to store the quantum information,” he said, “and I use neutral atoms.” Current faculty in the Duke Quantum Center use charged atoms (ions).
Christopher Monroe, director of the Duke Quantum Center, said, “It’s a new physics platform for our center. It’s important because it’s a little different, but has a lot of shared technology, like lasers that we use to poke at individual atoms.” Monroe is the Gilhuly Family Presidential Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics.
In 2022, at the National University of Singapore, Nicholson made waves by being the first to trap neutral indium atoms with lasers and cool them down to near absolute zero. “When they are so cold, they start to behave more in a quantum way,” he said, “and we can use these atoms for research.” At Duke, he will continue his work with indium, while also doing experiments with other types of neutral atoms, including rubidium, which has a more established track record.
Nicholson first became interested in super-cooled atoms in high school when he read some articles about it. “I didn’t appreciate the significance of the field with any real depth,” he said. “I just thought it sounded fun to cool atoms near absolute zero and trap them.”
Today, Nicholson still thinks it’s fun to trap and cool atoms and he fully appreciates the significance of the field. In fact, his research with neutral atoms is currently one of the most productive frontiers in quantum computing. “Neutral atoms have really emerged lately as a new quantum information platform,” he said, “and have become very rapidly one of the most powerful ones as well. The field is blowing up really fast.”
Nicholson is looking forward to continuing to push the field forward in his new lab at the Duke Quantum Center.
“People at Duke have been really welcoming,” said Nicholson, who moved from Singapore to Durham this summer with his family, including his two young children. “Moving from one country to another is challenging, but it could have been a lot more challenging if everybody wasn’t so helpful. It’s definitely been a positive experience.”
He is also looking forward to working with Duke undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs. “A big part of my job is to work with bright young minds and try to help them be creative, feel more confident and learn to be scientific or industry leaders themselves,” he said.
Department of Physics