New Prospectives in Quantum Control of Atomic and Molecular Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Quantum mechanics developed in the first half of the 20th century has modified our understanding of physics, but also of chemistry and biology. The second half of that century is characterized by strong progress in the manipulation of quantum objects at the microscopic level and also at their individual nanoscopic level. Today, quantum-based technologies target totally new applications in computer calculations, in data storage, and in the security of sensible data transfer. The development of a large quantum computer requires the assembly of a considerable number of qubits, unperturbed by decoherence processes, for information processing and storage. An important computation resource is quantum control targeting the preparation of the best Hamiltonian required for achieving a specific quantum objective. Optical quantum control provided by photonics represents a powerful approach. The great flexibility in manipulating quantum objects places atomic, molecular, and optical physics researchers in a very good position to develop and test new quantum control protocols. Protocols based on dynamic or AC Stark shifts, and super adiabatic ones combined with Landau–Zener–Stückelberg driving were recently developed.

Many applications can benefit from the ability to coherently control collisions and chemical reactions of ultracold atoms and molecules, including understanding quantum many-body phenomena, superconductivity and magnetism. For these purposes, atoms and molecules must be prepared in precisely defined quantum states, while the effective interaction between them can be tuned using optically or magnetically tunable Feshbach resonances, coupling the atoms to optical resonators, exciting them to Rydberg states, or via spatial confinement in optical nanofibers or cavities.

The strong coupling between a cavity mode and electronic/vibrational molecular transitions results in the formation of polaritons. Recent experimental realizations demonstrate the prospectives of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) to affect chemical reactivity by modifying reaction energy surfaces. Thus, harvesting the potential of QED for the manipulation of chemical dynamics and material properties opens up novel applications in physical chemistry, material science, and molecular devices.

While different approaches may be applied to realize the above targets, photonics represent an excellent one, owing to the flexible tuning of the intensity, frequency, switching time and so on, for all the required lasers, corresponding to the so-called coherent quantum control.

This Special Issue, “New Prospectives in Quantum Control of Atomic and Molecular Systems”, will welcome basic, methodological and applied cutting-edge research contributions, such as regular and review papers, dealing with different issues on the quantum control of atoms and molecules, and including the following:

• Protocols based on the Autler–Townes effect, and electromagnetically induced transparency and super-adiabatic protocols;
• Coherent control of collisions and chemical reactions for ultracold atoms and molecules;
• Quantum control of atoms confined in nanofibers;
• New quantum control protocols in cold atoms and molecules, as well as in Rydberg states;
• Cavity-controlled chemistry in molecular systems;
• Natural or artificial atoms and molecules.

Dr. Teodora Kirova
Prof. Ennio Arimondo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Photonics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• quantum control
• Autler–Townes (AT) effect
• Landau–Zener–Stückelberg driving
• electromagnetically induced transparency
• Rydberg atoms
• cold atoms and molecules
• chemical reactions
• cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED)
• optical nanofibers
• natural or artificial atoms and molecules