BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:Icfo X-PUBLISHED-TTL:P1W BEGIN:VEVENT UID:69d06d4769d4e DTSTART:20221021T100000Z SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE LOCATION:ICFO Auditorium SUMMARY:ICFO | JAVIER ARGÜELLO LUENGO CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:Atomic and optical physics are two fields closely connected by a shared range of  \;energy scales\, and the interactions between them . Atoms represent the most fundamental components of matter\, and interact ions with electromagnetic fields are responsable for many properties used to characterize a material\, like the emission and absorption of radiation by these systems. Over the last decades\, this has allowed us to use ligh t as a tool to access and manipulate the internal states of atomic systems . Such a quantum control has transformed atoms into one of the preferred p latforms to explore fundamental science\, including Applications in quantu m information\, quantum metrology or\, more recently\, the realization of synthetic materials where light can induce interactions that would be diff icult to find intrinsically in real materials.\nIn the first part of this Thesis\, we show how single atoms coupled to a cavity field can offer uniq ue opportunities as quantum optomechanical devices because of their small mass and strong interaction with light. In particular\, we focus on the \" single-photon strong coupling\" regime\, where motional displacements on t he order of the zero-point uncertainty are sufficient to shift the cavity resonance frequency by more than its linewidth. By coupling atomic motion to the narrow cavity-dressed atomic resonance\, we theoretically observe t hat the scattering properties of single photons can become highly entangle d with the atomic wavefunction\, even if the cavity linewidth is large. Th is leads to a per-photon motional heating that is significantly larger tha n the single-photon recoil energy\, as well as mechanically-induced oscill ations that could be observed in the correlations of state-of-the-art cavi ty systems.\nIn the second part of the Thesis\, we investigate how synthet ic materials built using light can be harnessed as quantum simulators\, de feating the limitations that classical computers face in the exploration o f quantum phenomena. We particularly focus on ultracold atomic mixtures tr apped in optical lattices\, where atom-mediated long-range interactions ca n provide an enabling tool in the simulation of relevant problems in conde nsed matter or quantum chemistry.\nFirst\, we show that fermionic atoms in an ultracold gas can act as a mediator\, giving rise to effective long-ra nge RKKY interactions among other neutral atoms trapped in an optical latt ice. We further propose several experimental knobs to tune these interacti ons\, which are characterized by the density and dimensionality of the gas and are accessible in current experimental platforms. We also show that t hese knobs open up the exploration of new frustrated regimes where symmetr y-protected topological phases and chiral spin liquids emerge.\nSecond\, w e introduce a set of experimental schemes where long-range interactions ar e mediated by an additional bosò\;nic species trapped in a commensur ate optical lattice\, both in 2D and 3D. In particular\, we show that the interplay with cavity QED can lead to effective Coulomb-like repulsion\, w hich opens the door to the analog simulation of quantum chemistry problems using ultracold fermionic atoms as simulated electrons. Apart from explai ning the emergent mechanism\, we provide operational conditions for the si mulator\, benchmark it with simple atoms and molecules\, and analyze how t he continuous limit is approached for increasing optical lattice sizes. Fi nally\, we compare our results with those of the continuum limit\, where c onventional quantum chemistry methods can be evaluated and tested. In summ ary\, our results show connections between different areas of theoretical and experimental physics where light-matter interaction can play a dominan t role\, and suggest how this can be harnessed to further advance our unde rstanding of strongly correlated quantum matter.\n \;\nThesis Director s: Prof Dr. Darrick Chang &\; Dr. Alejandro Gonzá\;lez Tudela DTSTAMP:20260404T014543Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR