Ultracold Atoms in Optical Lattices

Quantum computers, though not yet available on the market, will revolutionize the future of information processing. Quantum computers for special purposes like quantum simulators are already within reach. The physics of ultracold atoms, ions and molecules offer unprecedented possibilities of control of quantum many body systems and novel possibilities of applications to quantum information processing and quantum metrology. Particularly fascinating is the possibility
of using ultracold atoms in lattices to simulate condensed matter or even high energy physics. This book provides a complete and comprehensive overview of ultracold lattice gases
as quantum simulators. It opens up an interdisciplinary field involving atomic, molecular and optical physics, quantum optics, quantum information, condensed matter and high energy physics. The book includes some introductory chapters on basic concepts and methods, and then focuses on the physics of spinor, dipolar, disordered, and frustrated lattice gases. It reviews in detail the physics of artificial lattice gauge fields with ultracold gases. The last part of the book covers simulators of
quantum computers. After a brief course in quantum information theory, the implementations of quantum computation with ultracold gases are discussed, as well as our current understanding of condensed
matter from a quantum information perspective.

Author Biography

Maciej Lewenstein has been an ICREA professor at the Institut de Ciències Fotòniques in Castelldefels since 2005 where he leads the quantum optics theory group. In 2007 he won the Humbolt research award, Germany. In 2008 he obtained the Advance Research Grant from the European Community and in 2010 he won the first Harmburger Prize for his contributions in theoretical physics. His interests range from traditional quantum optics through to physics of
cold gases and quantum information to physics of ultra intense laser fields. Anna Sanpera has been an ICREA professor in the newly formed group of Quantum Information and Quantum Phenomena at the Universitat Autònoma
of Barcelona, Spain, since 2005. She is currently working on quantum information theory, physics ultra-cold gases and the interface between quantum theory and condensed matter. She is also interested in the connection between quantum mechanics and biology. Verònica Ahufinger obtained an ICREA researcher position in 2005 and moved to the Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona. Since 2010 she has been a professor at the Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona. She is interested in the
interplay between the physics of ultracold atoms, quantum optics and condensed matter.