QSE Quantum Seminar: "Quantum computing with metastable atomic qubits"

Please join us for the QSE Center Quantum Seminar with Johannes Zeiher from the LMU Munich who will give a talk about "Quantum computing with metastable atomic qubits" on Friday May 8 from 12pm to 1:30pm.
Location: BS 150

Pizzas will be available at 12:00. All PhDs, postdocs, students, group leaders, and PIs are welcome to join us.

TITLE: "Quantum computing with metastable atomic qubits"

ABSTRACT: 
Atom arrays have shaped the research frontiers of quantum simulation, quantum metrology, and quantum computation in recent years. In this talk, I will present our approach to quantum computing utilizing metastable fine-structure qubits in bosonic strontium atoms. Combining long coherence times, high-fidelity gates, and coherent atom shuttling with THz-scale qubit splitting, we realize a powerful computational platform featuring a natural implementation of logical qubits. Leveraging velocity-selective addressing of individual atoms enables mid-circuit readout or resets, opening the path to cyclic error correction or measurement-based quantum computing. Furthermore, I will present our approach to scaling atom arrays based on directly loaded large-scale optical lattices. Utilizing a specialized, highly anisotropic lattice geometry, we directly load thousands of individually addressable strontium atoms from the magneto-optical trap and demonstrate continuous replenishment of atoms in the system. Our work establishes the fine-structure qubit in strontium as a promising qubit platform for neutral-atom quantum computers and showcases the scalability of atom arrays trapped in optical lattices. 

BIO: 
Johannes Zeiher studied physics at the LMU Munich and the University of Cambridge, where he obtained his masters degree in 2012. He did his PhD in the group of Immanuel Bloch at MPQ, focusing on quantum simulations with neutral atoms in optical lattices, in particular employing highly excited Rydberg states for realizing quantum spin models. For this work, he received the Otto Hahn Medal of the Max Planck Society. Following his postdoc as a Feodor Lynen Fellow at UC Berkeley with Dan Stamper-Kurn on single-atom cavity QED, in 2020 he joined the Quantum Many-Body Systems Division at MPQ as a research group leader. Since 2022, he leads the independent research group “Quantum Matter Interfaces” at MPQ, which is supported by the BMBF through the Quantum Future program for Junior Research Groups. Since 2025, Johannes is a Professor for Synthetic Quantum Matter at the LMU Munich. His research focuses on quantum computing, quantum gas microscopy of many- and few-body systems in optical lattices and novel light-matter interfaces.