National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×

Controlling the Quantum World

The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons

Committee on AMO 2010

Board on Physics and Astronomy

Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS

Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS

500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This project was supported by the Department of Energy under Award No. DE-FG02–04ER15610 and by the National Science Foundation under Award No. PHY-0443243. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.

Cover: A purple laser beam slows erbium atoms (the purple beam traveling right to left) emerging from an oven at 1300°C, in preparation for trapping and cooling. SOURCE: National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Controlling the quantum world : the science of atoms, molecules, and photons/Committee on AMO 2010, Board on Physics and Astronomy, Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences,

p.cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978–0–309–10270–4 (pbk.)

1. Quantum theory. 2. Atoms. 3. Molecules. 4. Photons. I. National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences 2010.

QC174.12.C67 2006

539—dc22

2007012182

Additional copies of this report are available from

The National Academies Press,

500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624–6242 or (202) 334–3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet <http://www.nap.edu>; and the Board on Physics and Astronomy, National Research Council, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001; Internet <http://www.national-academies.org/bpa>.

Copyright 2007 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine


The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J.Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.


The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A.Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.


The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V.Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.


The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J.Cicerone and Dr. Wm. A.Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.


www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×

COMMITTEE ON AMO 2010

PHILIP H.BUCKSBAUM,

University of Michigan,

Co-chair

ROBERT EISENSTEIN, Co-chair

GORDON A.BAYM,

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

C.LEWIS COCKE,

Kansas State University

ERIC A.CORNELL,

University of Colorado/JILA

E.NORVAL FORTSON,

University of Washington

KEITH HODGSON,

Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory

ANTHONY M.JOHNSON,

University of Maryland at Baltimore County

STEVEN KAHN,

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

MARK A.KASEVICH,

Stanford University

WOLFGANG KETTERLE,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

KATE KIRBY,

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

PIERRE MEYSTRE,

University of Arizona

CHRISTOPHER MONROE,

University of Michigan

MARGARET M.MURNANE,

University of Colorado/JILA

WILLIAM D.PHILLIPS,

National Institute of Standards and Technology

STEPHEN T.PRATT,

Argonne National Laboratory

K.BIRGITTA WHALEY,

University of California at Berkeley

Consultants to the Committee

NEIL CALDER,

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

NEAL F.LANE,

Rice University

Staff

DONALD C.SHAPERO, Director

MICHAEL H.MOLONEY, Study Director

BRIAN D.DEWHURST, Senior Program Associate

PAMELA A.LEWIS, Program Associate

PHILLIP D.LONG, Senior Program Assistant

VAN AN, Financial Associate

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×

BOARD ON PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

ANNEILA L.SARGENT,

California Institute of Technology,

Chair

MARC A.KASTNER,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

Vice-chair

JOANNA AIZENBERG,

Lucent Technologies

JONATHAN A.BAGGER,

Johns Hopkins University

JAMES E.BRAU,

University of Oregon

RONALD C.DAVIDSON,

Princeton University

RAYMOND J.FONCK,

University of Wisconsin at Madison

ANDREA M.GHEZ,

University of California at Los Angeles

PETER F.GREEN,

University of Michigan

WICK C.HAXTON,

University of Washington

FRANCES HELLMAN,

University of California at Berkeley

JOSEPH HEZIR,

EOP Group, Inc.

ERICH P.IPPEN,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

ALLAN H.MacDONALD,

University of Texas at Austin

CHRISTOPHER F.McKEE,

University of California at Berkeley

HOMER A.NEAL,

University of Michigan

JOSE N.ONUCHIC,

University of California at San Diego

WILLIAM D.PHILLIPS,

National Institute of Standards and Technology

THOMAS N.THEIS,

IBM T.J.Watson Research Center

C.MEGAN URRY,

Yale University

Staff

DONALD C.SHAPERO, Director

TIMOTHY I.MEYER, Senior Program Officer

MICHAEL H.MOLONEY, Senior Program Officer

ROBERT L.RIEMER, Senior Program Officer

NATALIA J.MELCER, Program Officer

BRIAN D.DEWHURST, Senior Program Associate

DAVID B.LANG, Research Associate

CARYN J.KNUTSEN, Senior Program Assistant

PAMELA A.LEWIS, Program Associate

VAN AN, Financial Associate

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×

Preface

This report is an accounting of the AMO 2010 study undertaken by the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies to assess opportunities in atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) science and technology over roughly the next decade. The charge for this study was devised by a Board on Physics and Astronomy standing committee, the Committee on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences, in consultation with the study’s sponsors, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. The Committee on AMO 2010, which carried out the study, was asked to assess the state of the field of AMO science, emphasizing recent accomplishments and identifying new and compelling scientific questions. The report is a part of the ongoing Physics 2010 decadal survey that is being undertaken by the National Academy’s Board on Physics and Astronomy.

The committee that carried out this study and wrote this report is composed of leaders from many different subfields within the AMO physics community, as well as prominent scientists from outside the field. The committee also received valuable advice from consultants Neal Lane, Rice University, and Neil Calder, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. In addition, the committee received valuable input from the following colleagues: Laura P.Bautz, Nora Berrah, Joshua Bienfang, John Bollinger, Gavin Brennen, Denise Caldwell, John Gary, Michael Casassa, Henry Chapman, Michael Chapman, Charles Clark, Paul Corkum, Philippe Crane, Roman Czujko, Joseph Dehmer, Brian DeMarco, David DeMille, Todd Ditmire, John Doyle, Henry Everitt, Aimee Gibbons, Janos Hajdu, Hashima Hassan, Robert R. Jones, Chan Joshi, William Kruer, Wim Leemans, Anthony Leggett, Steve Leone,

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×

Heather Lewandowski, Jay Lowell, Lute Maleki, Anne Matsuura, Harold Metcalf, Roberta Morris, Gerard Mourou, William Ott, Peter Reynolds, Eric Rohlfing, Steve Rolston, Michael Salamon, Howard Schlossberg, Barry Schneider, David Schultz, Thomas Stoehlker, David Villeneuve, Carl Williams, and Jun Ye.

Significant effort has been made to solicit community input for this study. This was done via town meetings held at the Annual Meeting of the Division of AMO Physics of the American Physical Society (APS) in Lincoln, Nebraska, in May 2005 and the International Quantum Electronics Conference (jointly sponsored by the APS Division of Laser Science, the Optical Society of America, and the Lasers and Electro-optics Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) in May 2005 in Baltimore, Maryland. The committee also solicited input from the community through a public Web site. The comments supplied by the AMO community through this site and at the town meetings were extremely valuable primary input to the committee.

The federal agencies that fund AMO research in the United States were also solicited for input, through their direct testimony at open meetings and their written responses to requests for information on funding patterns and other statistical data. These data are summarized in Chapter 8 and in the appendixes to the report. Finally, the committee is grateful to the staff at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Office of Management and Budget, as well as staff from committees of the Congress concerned with funding legislation, who provided important background on connections between AMO science and national science policy.

In November 2005, the NRC released a short interim report from the AMO 2010 Committee, which was intended as a preview of this final document. It summarized the key opportunities in forefront AMO science and in closely related critical technologies, and it discussed some of the broad-scale conclusions of the final report. It also identified how AMO science supports national R&D priorities. The present report reinforces the preliminary conclusions of the interim report and adds a wealth of detail as well as recommendations.

This report reflects the committee’s enthusiasm, inspired by the tremendous excitement within the AMO science community about future R&D opportunities. It would not have been written without the extensive and unselfish work of the entire committee, its many consultants, and the NRC staff. We thank them all for their efforts. We particularly wish to thank Michael Moloney for his expertise and dedication and Don Shapero for his experience and wisdom in assisting us to produce this report.

Philip Bucksbaum

Robert Eisenstein

Co-chair

Co-chair

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×

Acknowledgment of Reviewers

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

Keith Burnett, University of Oxford,

Alexander Dalgarno, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,

David P.DeMille, Yale University,

Chris H.Greene, University of Colorado,

William Happer, Princeton University,

Wendell T.Hill III, University of Maryland,

Tin-Lun Ho, Ohio State University,

Gerard J.Milburn, University of Queensland,

Richart E.Slusher, Lucent Technologies, and

David J.Wineland, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recom-

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×

mendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Daniel Kleppner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×
   

 Direct Detection of Gravitational Waves,

 

44

   

 Matter-Wave Interferometry (de Broglie Wave Interference),

 

46

   

 Fine Structure Constant,

 

47

   

 AMO Physics in the Study of the Distant Universe,

 

47

   

 AMO Theory and Computation Connections to Astrophysics and Elementary Particle Physics,

 

52

3

 

TOWARD ABSOLUTE ZERO

 

53

   

 The Promise of Ultracold Science,

 

53

   

 Condensed Matter Physics in Dilute Atomic Systems,

 

56

   

 Tuning the Interactions Between Atoms,

 

57

   

 Optical Lattices,

 

58

   

 Vortices,

 

61

   

 Molecules and Chemistry,

 

61

   

 Atom Optics,

 

64

   

 Nonlinear Atom Optics,

 

66

   

 Integrated Atom Optics,

 

68

   

 Quantum Atom Optics,

 

68

   

 Reaching Out: Plasmas, Nuclear Physics, and More,

 

69

   

 Cold Plasmas,

 

69

   

 The Synergy Between Experiment and Theory,

 

72

4

 

EXTREME LIGHT

 

73

   

 Extreme X-Ray Laser Light,

 

73

   

 Tabletop Sources of X Rays,

 

75

   

 Extreme X-Ray Light Sources and the World’s First X-Ray Laser Facility,

 

80

   

 AMO Contributions to Single-Molecule Imaging,

 

82

   

 TESLA Test Facility Early Results,

 

84

   

 Inner Shell Atomic Multiple Ionization,

 

84

   

 X-Ray Nonlinear Optics,

 

86

   

 Summary of Extreme X-Ray Light Sources,

 

87

   

 Ultraintense Lasers: Using Extreme Light Sources to Harness Extreme States of Matter,

 

87

   

 NIF and Other Large Facilities,

 

89

   

 High Energy Density Science: Laboratory for Extreme Conditions in the Matter-Filled Universe,

 

90

   

 Accelerating Particles with Light,

 

93

   

 High Energy Density Science and XFELs,

 

95

Page xiii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×
   

 The Fastest Pulse: Complementarity Between Extreme Light and Extreme Particle Beam Collisions,

 

95

5

 

EXPLORING AND CONTROLLING THE INNER WORKINGS OF A MOLECULE

 

98

   

 Which Timescales Are Important?,

 

98

   

 Molecular Movies,

 

100

   

 Theoretical Computation of Ultrafast Molecular Physics,

 

103

   

 Quantum Control,

 

103

   

 Controlling Chemical Reactions: A Short History,

 

104

   

 Quantum Interference: A Route to Quantum Control,

 

104

   

 How Do We Shape an Ultrafast Laser Pulse?,

 

105

   

 Aligning Molecules,

 

107

   

 Looking to the Future: Can We See an Electron’s Motion?,

 

109

   

 Slowing Down the Electrons: Rydberg Electrons,

 

109

   

 Speeding Up the Pulse: Attosecond Science,

 

109

   

 Making Attosecond Pulses,

 

110

   

 Using Attosecond Pulses,

 

110

   

 Hard Photons and Fast Electrons,

 

111

   

 In Real Life, Timescales Overlap,

 

111

   

 Controlling the Ultimate in Timescales,

 

114

   

 Probing Time-Dependent Molecular Structure with Electrons,

 

115

   

 An In Situ Approach to Ultrafast Electron Scattering,

 

117

   

 The Future,

 

118

6

 

PHOTONICS AND THE NANOWORLD

 

120

   

 Opportunities in Size-Dependent Design,

 

121

   

 Visualizing the Nanoworld,

 

123

   

 Reducing the Wavelength,

 

123

   

 Scanning Probe Microscopes,

 

124

   

 Using New Materials to Build a Better Microscope,

 

126

   

 Constructing the Nanoworld,

 

127

   

 From the Top Down,

 

127

   

 From the Bottom Up,

 

130

   

 Extending the Promise of the Nanoworld,

 

131

   

 Controlling Light with Photonic Crystals,

 

131

   

 Atomtronics,

 

133

   

 Nanotubes in Televisions,

 

134

   

 Nanotechnology in Medicine,

 

134

   

 Nano-sized Sensors and Lighting,

 

136

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
×

7

 

QUANTUM INFORMATION WITH LIGHT AND ATOMS

 

137

   

 The Quantum Information Revolution,

 

137

   

 What Is Information?,

 

139

   

 Why Quantum Information?,

 

139

   

 Quantum Information at the Frontiers of Science,

 

142

   

 Quantum Information Technology,

 

145

   

 Quantum Communication,

 

148

   

 Quantum Cryptography: A Real-World Application,

 

148

   

 Quantum Teleportation Demystified,

 

150

   

 Vision for Large-Scale Quantum Hardware,

 

152

   

 Trapped Atomic Ions,

 

153

   

 Optical Lattices,

 

154

   

 Solid-State Quantum Bits,

 

155

   

 Photonic Qubits,

 

155

   

 Qubit Converters Between Atoms and Photons,

 

157

   

 What Would We Want to Compute with a Quantum Processor?,

 

161

   

 Using a Quantum Processor to Predict the Behavior of Complex Quantum Systems,

 

167

   

 Looking Forward,

 

169

8

 

REALIZING THE FUTURE

 

170

   

 The Current Status of AMO Physics Program Support,

 

171

   

 Maintaining U.S. Leadership in a Critical Area of Science and Technology,

 

175

   

 Planning for Future U.S. Leadership in AMO Science,

 

179

   

 Intellectual Outlines of Research Currently Supported,

 

180

   

 Information About Funding,

 

182

   

 Information About People,

 

184

   

 Information About New Modalities,

 

185

   

 Foreign Competition,

 

187

   

 Logistical Issues in the United States,

 

188

   

 Program Conclusions on Support for AMO Science,

 

190

 

 

APPENDIXES

 

 

   

 A  AMO 2010 Queries to Federal Funding Agencies

 

195

   

 B  Funding

 

197

   

 C  Foreign Activity in AMO Science

 

204

   

 D  Intellectual Outlines of Current Research

 

209

   

 E  People

 

217

   

 F  New Research Modalities

 

222

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11705.
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As part of the Physics 2010 decadal survey project, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation requested that the National Research Council assess the opportunities, over roughly the next decade, in atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) science and technology. In particular, the National Research Council was asked to cover the state of AMO science, emphasizing recent accomplishments and identifying new and compelling scientific questions. Controlling the Quantum World, discusses both the roles and challenges for AMO science in instrumentation; scientific research near absolute zero; development of extremely intense x-ray and laser sources; exploration and control of molecular processes; photonics at the nanoscale level; and development of quantum information technology. This book also offers an assessment of and recommendations about critical issues concerning maintaining U.S. leadership in AMO science and technology.

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