Beecroft Building, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU
Dr Timon Hilker, Strathclyde University
Abstract
Unravelling the origin of unconventional superconductivity is one of the central motivations for quantum simulations with ultracold fermionic atoms in optical lattices. In addition, next-generation lattice systems are bringing the construction of a fermionic quantum computer within reach, promising applications to a much wider range of quantum problems.
In these experiments, we cool lithium-6 atoms to a few nanokelvin, load them into periodic potentials formed by light, and probe the strongly correlated quantum many-body states using single-atom-resolved images of hundreds of atoms.
In the first part of the talk, I will present studies of the hole-doped two-dimensional Hubbard model using the Munich lithium quantum gas microscope. Focusing on the competition between short-ranged antiferromagnetic order and dopant motion, believed to underlie superconductivity and related phases, we directly observe magnetic polarons, demonstrate magnetically mediated hole pairing and stripe formation, and present a large-scale study of magnetic scaling at the onset of the pseudogap phase [1,2,3].
In the second part, I will introduce double wells created by optical superlattices as elementary building blocks for quantum-computing hardware [4,5]. In these two-site systems, we achieve full control over the quantum state through gates acting on both the spin and spatial degrees of freedom. Controlled collisions realise a two-particle gate with 99.75%–fidelity [5], opening the door to locally programmable gate arrays and digital–analogue hybrid simulations. Finally, I will outline progress towards a fermionic quantum computer in my lab and its near-term applications.
[1] Hirthe, S. et al., Nature 613 463 (2023).
[2] Bourgund, D. et al., Nature 637 57 (2025).
[3] Chalopin, T. et al., PNAS. 123, e2525539123 (2026).
[4] Chalopin, T. et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 134 053402 (2025).
[5] Bojović, P. et al., Nature, in press (2026), arXiv:2506.14711.