Quantum simulation – Engineering & understanding quantum systems atom-by-atom

The computational resources required to describe the full state of a quantum many-body system scale exponentially with the number of constituents. This severely limits our ability to

explore and understand the fascinating phenomena of quantum systems using classical algorithms. Quantum simulation offers a potential route to overcome these limitations. The

idea is to build a well-controlled quantum system in the lab, which represents the problem of interest and whose properties can be studied by performing controlled measurements. In

this talk I will introduce quantum simulators based on neutral atoms that are confined in optical arrays using laser beams. State-of-the-art experiments now generate arrays of

several thousand particles, while maintaining control on the level of single atoms. I will show how these systems can be used to study the properties of topological phases of matter or

gauge theories and to address fundamental questions regarding the thermalization of isolated quantum systems.