Programmable fermionic quantum simulation using optical tweezer arrays

Optical tweezer arrays have recently found wide-ranging applications in quantum simulation, computation, and metrology due to their flexibility and programmability. We discuss advances using tweezer arrays to study itinerant fermionic systems such as the Hubbard model, realizing a software-programmable, “bottom-up” approach toward quantum simulation. By implementing a 1D Fermi-Hubbard chain at half filling with Li-6 atoms, we create a Mott insulator with strong antiferromagnetic correlations. Two-dimensional arrays of arbitrary geometries are realized with a novel stroboscopic technique that allows for independent tuning of each site. Furthermore, we take advantage of our spin- and density- resolved quantum gas microscope for readout, allowing state-of-the-art entropies to be achieved upon post-selection. Progress toward realizing low-temperature phases of matter in geometries such as triangular ladders will be discussed, opening the door to understanding exotic quantum spin liquid states. These quantum simulations will enhance our fundamental understanding of strongly correlated quantum systems.