The Joint Condensed Matter Seminar (JCMS) series is organised by KTH Royal Insitute of Technology, Nordita, and Stockholm University.
On Monday, September 21st, 2026 from 10:15 to 11:15 we will host a seminar by Taylor James Baird from Stockholm University.
Simulating ultracold atomic experiments for quantum Hall state preparation
Ultracold atomic gases offer a uniquely controllable platform for quantum simulation, with tunable interactions, engineered traps, and time-dependent drives providing access to correlated regimes beyond the reach of mean-field theory. A particularly rich application is the use of rotation as a synthetic magnetic field: rotating a trapped Fermi gas mimics the Lorentz force on a charged particle, allowing neutral atoms to access Landau level physics and, with sufficient interaction strength, fractional quantum Hall-like correlated states.
In this talk I will discuss how we employed the newly developed AETHER framework (Adaptive Expansion of Time-evolving Hilbert space with Error Reconciliation), a multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree methodology designed to directly simulate such experimental protocols. As a benchmark, we use AETHER to reproduce the experimental protocol of Lunt et al. (PRL 133.25 (2024) 253401) for preparing a two-particle Laughlin state by leveraging a combination of short-range interactions and carefully calibrated laser pulse sequences. Our simulations reproduce the predicted relative-mode and center-of-mass resonances, and post-pulse diagnostics - lowest-Landau-level occupations, angular momentum, interaction-energy suppression, correlation hole, and overlap with the analytical Laughlin state (up to 98.9%) - confirm faithful preparation of the target state.
These results evidence the utility of AETHER as a tool for rationalizing and guiding ultracold fermionic experiments. I will also briefly outline ongoing work extending this approach to genuinely two-component correlated states, targeting the Halperin (1,1,1) state as a next milestone toward more exotic quantum Hall physics in ultracold quantum simulators.