News: 2022

Prof. Cheng Chin’s lab has been able to create a new kind of quantum object at will in the laboratory: “domain walls.” At extremely low temperatures, groups of atoms can segregate into domains, and a “wall” forms at the junction where they met.

A team led by Prof. David Awschalom of physics has achieved two major breakthroughs to overcome common “coherence” challenges for quantum systems: They were able to read out their qubit on demand, and then keep the quantum state intact for over five seconds—a new record for this class of devices. Additionally, the researchers’ qubits are made from an easy-to-use material called silicon carbide, which is widely found in lightbulbs, electric vehicles, and high-voltage electronics.

A new technique in the field of 2D materials led by Dept. of Chemistry and PME Prof. Jiwoong Park cuts fragile sheets of nanomaterials and uses a robotic hand to stack them in layers that can demonstrate targeted interactions. The automation can be customized and optimized.

An open data platform journalists check, ordering an accurate 3D printed model of your tumor, or cardiac pacing solutions based on light in semiconductors. Market innovations born in PSD labs get tackled by cross campus expertise.

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to mitigate the noise problem on quantum computers, to use doppler calculations to make a new map of twelve streams of stars orbiting our galactic halo, and to improve control over vacancies in silicon carbide used for quantum devices.

Scientists from the UChicago and Purdue University, including Professor of Chemistry David Mazziotti, collaborated on a new technique to construct a unique “fingerprint” of the noise on a quantum computer as it is seen by a program run on the computer. This approach, they say, shows promise for mitigating the noise problem—as well as suggesting ways that users could actually turn noise to their advantage.

Two PSD faculty members are among the nine UChicago faculty named 2021 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Prof. Ed Blucher is a particle physicist and Prof. and Liew Family Chair of Computer Science Mike Franklin is an authority on computation and data science.

Soft matter physics research in granular matter clusters that assemble and diassemble will be present by sixth-year physics student, Melody Lim, and research scientist, Baudouin Saintvyes, both of Jaeger lab, at the APS 2022 Meeting taking place in downtown Chicago, March 14-18.

The Association for Computing Machinery, the world's largest and most prestigious society of computing professionals, elected UChicago CS Professor Ben Y. Zhao as a fellow in the organization’s 2021 class.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced on Jan. 20 that the hands of the Doomsday Clock—which resides on campus and was started by members of the Manhattan Project—remain at 100 seconds to midnight—the closest it has ever been to apocalypse. The Bulletin cited disinformation, global security threats including ‘nuclear saber rattling,’ lack of actionable climate policies, disruptive technology and insufficient worldwide COVID-19 response.

The work of computer scientists Bill Fefferman and Zachary Remscrim is discussed, as theories change regarding how hard it is to make intermediate measurements to quantify the complexity of quantum algorithms.

PSD's January spotlight is Judy Garza, Manager of the Department of Mathematics. Judy has been with the University of Chicago for 33 years. Read our interview with Judy.

Sophie Veys, a 4th-year computer science major working with Asst. Prof. Blase Ur’s SUPERgroup, received one of four Outstanding Undergraduate Research Awards from the Computing Research Association (CRA). Two additional undergraduates, Shriya Bansal and Shicheng Liu, received honorable mentions.

An award-winning collaboration between computer scientists and physicists at the University of Chicago broke through one of the key obstacles for large-scale quantum computing by figuring out how to move their control signals “inside the fridge.”

Prof. Emeritus Dietrich Müller, a renowned experimental physicist at the University of Chicago who spent half a century building instruments to study energetic particles from space called cosmic rays, died Dec. 22 at the age of 85.