Physics Seminar
Physics Seminar
Title: Laser Cooling to Quantum Degeneracy
Speaker: Jack Sullivan, PhD Student, University of Connecticut
Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025
Time: 1:00pm
Location: CSCDR – TXT 105
Abstract
In recent decades, the ability to cool and trap clouds of atoms transformed modern atomic physics, enabling unprecedented control over quantum systems. Fundamental techniques for confining and manipulating atoms include Doppler cooling, magneto-optical trapping, and all-optical cooling. Implementing these techniques relies on precision laser locking and fine control of magnetic field gradients. Ultracold atoms with temperatures in the millikelvin to microkelvin range have become essential starting points for experiments in quantum computation, ultracold atom and molecule studies, and the creation of degenerate quantum gases such as Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs). BECs play a crucial role in emerging quantum sensing technologies, as their collective quantum state makes them extremely sensitive to changes in external fields, forces, and rotations. Harnessing light-matter interactions at the quantum level has the potential to speed up the formation time of BECs, enabling faster and more precise measurements.
Biography
Jack Sullivan is a third-year physics PhD student at the University of Connecticut working under Dr. Simone Colombo. He earned his BS in Physics from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2023, where he conducted research with Dr. Robert Fisher. His current work focuses on ultracold atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics, particularly developing techniques for quantum sensing using ultracold atoms.
NOTE: All PHY graduate students are encouraged to attend.
All interested parties are invited to attend. Open to the public.
TXT 105
Renuka Rajapakse
rrajapakse@umassd.edu