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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 39: Quantum Information: Atoms and Ions III

Q 39.9: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 10. März 2010, 18:45–19:00, E 214

Quantum simulation of the Dirac equation — Rene Gerritsma¹, Gerhard Kirchmair¹, Florian Zähringer¹, Enrique Solano², Rainer Blatt¹, and •Christian Roos¹ — ¹Institut für Quantenoptik und Quanteninformation, Otto-Hittmair-Platz 1, 6020 Innsbruck, Österreich — ²Departamento de Quimica Fisica, Universidad del Pais Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, 48080 Bilbao, Spain

The Dirac equation is a cornerstone in the history of physics, merging successfully quantum mechanics with special relativity, providing a natural description of the electron spin and predicting the existence of anti-matter. However, the Dirac equation also predicts some peculiar effects such as Klein’s paradox and Zitterbewegung, an unexpected quivering motion of a free relativistic quantum particle first examined by Schrödinger. In this talk, we report on a proof-of-principle quantum simulation of the one-dimensional Dirac equation using a single trapped ion, which is set to behave as a free relativistic quantum particle [1]. We measure as a function of time the particle position and study Zitterbewegung for different initial superpositions of positive and negative energy spinor states, as well as the cross-over from relativistic to nonrelativistic dynamics.

R. Gerritsma et al, arXiv:0909.0674, accepted for publication in Nature.