A fundamental assumption of quantum information science is that there are degrees of freedom in quantum matter with long-lived coherence suitable for realizing controllable quantum bits--the fundamental information units of quantum information and computation. The existence of such degrees of freedom and the irreducibly quantum features of their states reveals fundamental features of the underlying physics. Thus, quantum information provides a framework for investigating the control and measurement of quantum matter and provides new insights into its states and phases.
Work at the CTQM involving quantum information includes the theory needed to control and characterize trapped ion and atom systems, the use of these systems for ``digital'' and ``analog'' simulations of models of quantum matter beyond the ability of classical simulations, the study of fundamentally quantum correlations and their role in phases of quantum matter, and investigations of the requirements for and properties of emergent and engineered quantum subsystems.
