Quantum Monte Carlo for Ultracold Dipolar Molecules

forthcoming

Q-UDiM aims to advance the understanding of ultracold dipolar molecules by overcoming key challenges in their manipulation and exploring their potential to form novel phases of matter. Ultracold dipolar molecules, with their rich quantum structure and strong, long-range interactions, offer exciting new possibilities in quantum sensing, metrology and computing, beyond what has been achieved with ultracold atoms. However, these same features make them difficult to cool and control. Q-UDiM will address these challenges by exploring theoretically innovative techniques to minimize molecular losses while maximizing interaction strength. This involves studying new quantum optics setups, utilizing advanced microwave shielding techniques, and implementing temporal control methods. At the same time, the project will focus on creating efficient computational models, particularly a tailored Path Integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) method, to simulate the behavior of strongly interacting dipolar molecules. This will allow the exploration of the phase diagram in regimes of strong confinement and interactions strength, investigating many-body phenomena and the emergence of novel phases of matter, such as self-assembled crystals and the defect-induced supersolid. The environment at TU Wien provides a perfect combination of deep theoretical knowledge in quantum optics and many-body physics, from the host group of Thomas Pohl, and experimental expertise in ultracold molecules at the Atominstitut. It also provides the necessary computational resources through the Vienna Scientific Cluster, with accompanying technical competences.