Contracting Office Address

Other Defense Agencies, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Contracts Management Office, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA, 22203-1714, UNITED STATES
Description

Description

Special Focus Area:

OPTICAL LATTICE EMULATOR (OLE) BAA 06-19, Addendum 7; DUE: JAN 12, 2007. TECHNICAL POC: Dr. John R. Lowell, DARPA/DSO, Phone: (571) 218-4685, Email: BAA06-19@darpa.mil; URL: www.darpa.mil/dso. Website Submission: http://www.sainc.com/dso0619/.

DESCRIPTION

(Note: This BAA Addendum 7 is submitted as a Special Focus Area as described in the original BAA06-19)

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking innovative proposals for the development of a tool with an unprecedented capability to emulate computationally intractable, strongly-correlated, many-body condensed matter materials or models for materials for which we have no verifiable theoretical solution or experimental realization. Such a tool should enable profound changes in our fundamental understanding of advanced materials such as high-temperature superconductors. In addition, the tool developed under this program will permit the design and investigation of novel material systems.

Proposals are requested for research programs that demonstrate the ability to produce phase diagrams for strongly-correlated, many-body condensed matter systems via an "optical lattice emulator" or OLE. The OLE would utilize ultra-cold gaseous atoms, ions, or molecules confined by an optical lattice to produce quantum mechanical models of condensed matter materials. It is expected that each research effort will consist of an interdisciplinary team capable of developing all of the following capabilities: 1) Techniques for producing ultra-cold degenerate gases; 2) Techniques for producing and manipulating optical lattices; 3) Techniques for engineering specific Hamiltonians relevant to strongly-correlated condensed matter systems; 4) Techniques for characterizing cold atoms, ions, or molecules in optical lattices; and 5) Theoretical and computational techniques that support the development of methods for measurement of system properties, verification of experimental parameters, and validation of the fidelity of the entire optical lattice-based emulator.

BACKGROUND

Recent breakthroughs in atomic physics have demonstrated several of the capabilities needed to produce physical "emulator" systems that map quantum mechanically onto condensed-matter systems and materials or models of them. These early conceptual breakthroughs included: the formation of a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) [Science 269, 198 (1995) and Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 3969 (1995)], experimental demonstration of cold atoms in an optical lattice [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 630 (1997)], and the formation of a Degenerate Fermi Gas (DFG) [Science 285, 1703 (1999)]. These demonstrations lead one to imagine forming artificial materials composed of ultra-cold atoms held in locations specified by the optical lattice sites. Well-established atom-atom interactions that may be controlled by a number of methods govern the properties of this artificial material; the ability to control interactions this allows one to formulate a system governed by a particular, desired Hamiltonian, allow the system to evolve, and measure its material and thermodynamic properties. In effect, one may use the atoms placed in the optical lattice to emulate a completely different material, albeit one that shares an underlying Hamiltonian of the same form.

More recent experiments have demonstrated further refinement of the experimental techniques needed to probe such a system but technical advances are needed in a number of areas to propel these initial demonstrations to the point of being an effective tool for computational material science, namely the Optical Lattice Emulator (OLE). These areas include (but are not limited to): efficient and rapid (approximately 5 sec) formation of large (greater than a million atom) quantum gases for loading into optical lattices; control of atom loading to include number of atoms per lattice site, multi-species loading, doping and defect implantation; manipulation and control of optical lattice crystal structures to include inducement of stresses and dislocations; measurement of "material" or "thermodynamic" properties (of the emulated system) such as high-order spatial and temporal correlation functions, particle ordering, structure factors, band gaps, etc.; and theoretical efforts to guide, verify, and consolidate measurements and their interpretation into clearly interpretable OLE output.

PROGRAM GOALS AND MILESTONES

The goal of this Program is to develop a tool based on ultra-cold atoms in optical lattices that will enable emulation of computationally intractable, strongly-correlated, many-body condensed matter systems or materials for which we have no verifiable theoretical solution.

The OLE Program will be separated into two phases. The Phase I goal is to validate the underlying techniques by ultimately producing a phase diagram depicting distinct thermodynamic and/or quantum-mechanical phases for a benchmark Hamiltonian as a function of at least two relevant variables.

Phase I will be a research effort of not more than 24 months. Phase I program milestones are:

1. Design, build and utilize an Optical Lattice Emulator to produce a phase diagram depicting the boundaries between at least two distinct thermodynamic and/or quantum-mechanical phases for a benchmark Hamiltonian (such as the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian, 2D Ising, or other computationally realizable Hamiltonians) as a function of at least two variables. The above experimental characterization ("emulation") should be completed in less than 12 hours, and must be repeatable.
 
2. Verify OLE output by theoretical or computational means for the physically realized Hamiltonian. The comparison between OLE output and the theoretical or computational verification should be done for an identical number of plotted points in the phase space diagram, and should show identical behavior in each phase identified. Finally, the location of the phase transition(s) produced by the OLE output should be verified to be accurate to better than 90%.

Phase II is expected to be a research effort between 24 and 36 months. The Phase II goal is to extend the OLE tool to the verification of Hamiltonian models that have novel phases such as high-temperature superconductivity, quantum magnetism, or supersolids; these models should be able to guide follow-on material development programs.

To realize the program vision and meet the Phase I milestones, each research effort requires performers with expertise in all of the following areas:

1. Experimental production of ultra-cold degenerate quantum gases (BEC and DFG). In particular, expertise in the rapid production of the degenerate gases, precision experimental control, and novel measurement techniques will be necessary.

2. Experimental production, control, and characterization of optical lattices.

3. Theoretical atomic physics.

4. Theoretical condensed matter physics, especially computational efforts to predict phase properties of strongly-correlated many-body Hamiltonians.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

As described in BAA06-19, proposals shall consist of two volumes: Technical and Cost. Only full proposals are being accepted under this Addendum. Follow the general guidelines for BAA06-19 full proposal format and content provided at: http://www.darpa.mil/dso/solicitations/solicit.htm.

Each technical proposal must have a clearly defined research team and management approach. The research team must incorporate people with expertise in all research areas listed above, and the proposal must clearly define how the team will work together to achieve the program goals. One of the team members must be designated the Principal Investigator. The Principal Investigator will be responsible for coordinating the team and demonstrating the project milestones.

Proposals that address only a subset of the research areas listed above or do not contain a clear indication of the Principal Investigator and Management Approach will not be considered for funding.

The technical volume of the research proposal must consist of the following sections:
1) Technical Approach
a. Methods for producing optical lattices with geometry relevant to the chosen Hamiltonian.
b. Technique for producing degenerate quantum gases and loading them into the optical lattices with control appropriate for the chosen Hamiltonian.
c. Techniques for engineering the chosen Hamiltonian in the Optical Lattice Emulator, including control of interactions, atom distribution within the lattice, temperature, etc.
d. Techniques for measuring and characterizing the engineered Hamiltonian in the Optical Lattice Emulator.
e. A table showing the time required to produce the experimentally generated phase space diagram. This should address a time budget for all of the stages outlined above, clearly state any assumptions, and an estimate for the impact measurement signal to noise has on total emulation time. An example of such a calculation will be made available at the Proposer's Day Workshop discussed below.

2) Research Team: Clearly define the expertise of the individual team members and how their expertise relates to the research areas defined in the technical approach.

3) Management Approach: Define a single Principal Investigator who will coordinate the team and be responsible for demonstrating the Go/No-Go project milestones listed below.

4) Phase I milestones:
a. End of Phase I (Go/No-Go) milestones: The Go/No-Go milestones must include those outlined above for the Phase I program, and must be clearly and explicitly stated.
b. Interim Phase I progress assessments: A list of smaller project accomplishments that must occur to meet the Go/No-Go milestone should be listed. These should be time-ordered (to the extent possible), and a lead researcher must be identified as responsible for that accomplishment.

5) Phase II Phenomena Demonstrations: Discuss a plan for extending the Phase I OLE tool beyond the validation by benchmark Hamiltonian. In particular,
a. Outline the particular phase behavior(s) that will serve as the principle OLE tool demonstration(s), and how this (each) demonstration might be used to guide a follow-on experimental material development project.
b. Discuss the means for verifying measurements made in the OLE tool for each of the above phase behaviors.
c. Each OLE phase investigation should form its own task, and must be broken out separately in the Cost Volume. Note we are not asking for the proposal to actually explore material designs, but rather to provide a realizable approach for using their tool to do so.

A Proposer's Day Workshop will be held on December 5, 2006, in Arlington, Virginia. This workshop will serve as a forum to present the program vision and goals, go over representative calculations and desired performance characteristics, and present possible challenge problems for the OLE program. Further, this workshop will provide an opportunity for those interested in proposing to seek clarification on the proposal and partnerships critical to programmatic success. A full Special Announcement (SN07-04) detailing meeting purpose, location, registration, and other information can be found at http://www.darpa.mil/baa/#dso.
.
PROPOSAL DEADLINE

Proposals will be due January 30, 2007. Additionally, proposals shall be submitted to DARPA for consideration no later than 4:00pm, Arlington, VA LOCAL TIME on the DUE DATE. Proposals submitted by fax will not be accepted.

EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS

Evaluation of the proposals will be in accordance with BAA06-19. For general administrative questions, please refer to the original FEDBIZOPPS solicitation, BAA06-19, of February 8, 2006. http://www.darpa.mil/dso/solicitations/solicit.htm.

Address for Proposal Submission:
DARPA/DSO, ATTN: BAA06-19, Addendum 7
3701 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203-1714

Web address for Proposal Submission: http://www.sainc.com/dso0619/.

GENERAL INFORMATION

In all correspondence, reference BAA06-19, Addendum 7.

Technical Point of Contact

John R. (Jay) Lowell, DARPA/DSO; Phone: (571)218-4685; Email: jay.lowell@darpa.mil


Point of Contact

Brett Giroir, Deputy Director, DSO; Phone: (571) 218-4224, Fax: (571) 218-4553; Email: bgiroir@darpa.mil.

Point of Contact

Brett Giroir, Deputy Director, DSO, Phone (571) 218-4224, Fax (571) 218-4553, Email bgiroir@darpa.mil