Professor ZHANG, Zhendong

Current Research

• Experimental atomic, molecular and optical physics:This research lab focuses on the preparation, manipulation and detection of ultracold neutral atoms, molecules and ions using laser light, external electric and magnetic fields and high finesse multimode optical cavities. Such quantum experiments inside ultra-high vacuum chambers provide a pristine and versatile platform for the exploration of quantum phases of matter and their dynamics at mesoscopic scale with the precision of atomic physics. The preparation of atoms and molecules close to absolute zero temperature also offers unique opportunities for discovering laws governing ultracold chemistry, where quantum superposition and entanglement dominates the reaction process. Recent research includes the realization of the transition from an atomic to a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), observation of the associated quantum many-body chemical reaction process and novel quantum dynamics in periodically driven atomic BECs.

Research Interest

• Ultracold atomic

• molecular

• cavity QED experiments

Representative Publications

• “Many-body chemical reactions in a quantum degenerate gas”, Z. Zhang, S. Nagata, K.X. Yao, C. Chin, Nature Physics, 19, 1466-1470 (2023).

• “Domain-wall dynamics in Bose-Einstein condensates with synthetic gauge fields”, K.X. Yao, Z. Zhang, C. Chin, Nature, 602, 68-72 (2022).

• “Transition from an atomic to a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate”, Z. Zhang, L. Chen, K.X. Yao, C. Chin, Nature, 592, 708-711(2021).

• “Pattern formation in a driven Bose-Einstein condensate”, Z. Zhang, K.X. Yao, L. Feng, J. Hu, C. Chin, Nature Physics, 16, 652-656 (2020).

• “Quantum simulation of Unruh radiation”, J. Hu, L. Feng, Z. Zhang, C. Chin, Nature Physics, 15, 785-789 (2019).

Awards and Honours