Atomic Clocks and Quantum Physics

The relentless pursuit of spectroscopy resolution has been a key driving force for many scientific and technological breakthroughs over the past century, including the invention of laser and the creation of ultracold matter. The new capability in control of coherent light has enabled us to create and probe novel quantum matter via manipulation of dilute atomic gases at ultralow temperatures, revolutionizing a new generation of atomic clocks that have accuracy at the 18th digit. Such advanced clocks have allowed us to probe the microscopic world of quantum many-body physics, and will be used to test fundamental laws of nature, search for new physics and in applications to a range of technology development. 

Jun Ye is a fellow at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and is a fellow at NIST, the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America. His research focuses on the frontier of light-matter interactions and includes precision measurement, quantum physics and ultracold matter, optical frequency metrology and ultrafast science. He has co-authored more than 300 scientific papers and has delivered 500 invited talks. Awards and honors include the U.S. Presidential Rank (Distinguished) Award, three Gold Medals from the U.S. Commerce Department, a Frew Fellowship from the Australian Academy of Science, the I.I. Rabi Prize from the American Physical Society, the European Frequency and Time Forum Award, the Carl Zeiss Research Award, the William F. Meggers Award and the Adolph Lomb Medal from the Optical Society of America, the Arthur S. Flemming Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Samuel Wesley Stratton Award from NIST.