ABSTRACT: One of the ultimate challenges in physics is the quantum control of many-body systems. In recent years, quantum information theory has provided us with a new perspective: A set of single body operations and any entangling two-body operation is all that is needed to control or simulate a given many-body system. Neutral atoms in optical traps and lattices are an excellent testing-ground for developing this control and present a promising paradigm for universal quantum computation.
Our studies of atomic collisions have enabled us to identify a new
knob for controlling the two-body interaction between trapped atoms:
Trap-induced resonances. I will show how these surprising new
resonances can be used to implement two-qubit operations. I apply this
to a realistic atomic species and describe our model of neutral atom
quantum computing in addressable optical lattice systems. I will also
discuss our generalized pseudopotential method that not only allows an
accurate description of interactions in the system in question, but is
widely applicable to atomic many-body systems.