Carrie Weidner - Teaching Lasers to Control Atoms

Teaching Lasers to Control Atoms

One of the many interesting areas of active physics research deals with the control of physical systems using learning algorithms—that is, computer systems that can learn how to solve complex problems in physics.  Another interesting area deals with atom interferometry, one of the many ways we can use atoms and lasers to make precise measurements.  In this talk, I will explain what I mean by both of these terms. Then, I’ll tell you about our research which combines these two exciting topics and teaches lasers to control really, really cold atoms and build an atom interferometer piece-by-piece. I’ll also talk about my (somewhat unconventional) path to graduate school and what it’s like to be a graduate student at CU.

Carrie Weidner