About

In recent years ultracold atomic gases have proven to be a powerful and versatile tool for studying a wide variety of physics.

Our group currently has two experiments, the Sodium atom circuits experiment and the ultracold Strontium experiment. Both experiments are located at the Joint Quantum Institute located on the UMD campus and use ultracold atomic gases to study many-body physics. The atom circuits experiment is currently focused on studying superfluidity and analogs of both superconducting electronics and cosmological physics, whereas the strontium experiment is focused on engineering and studying novel condensed matter systems.

Group Lead

Gretchen Campbell

Associate Vice President for Quantum Research and Education

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Research Publications

Efficient production of sodium Bose-Einstein condensates in a hybrid trap
, , Review of Scientific Instruments, 96, (2025)
The Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a binary quantum fluid
, , Science Advances, 11, (2025)
Grating magneto-optical traps with complicated level structures
, , New Journal of Physics, 25, 103046, (2023)

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Research

News

Campbell Elected Optica Fellow for Pioneering Work on Atomtronics
November 10, 2026
JQI Fellow Gretchen Campbell has been elected a fellow of Optica. The honor acknowledges her pioneering work on creating circuits of atoms that resemble the electronic circuits that harness electrons.
Conducting Quantum Experiments in the ‘Coolest’ Lab on Campus
February 16, 2026
Yanda Geng works with atoms that are cooled to 100 nanokelvin and has discovered interesting patterns that appear everywhere from cosmic scales to the quantum realm.
When Superfluids Collide, Physicists Find a Mix of Old and New
November 18, 2025
Superfluids are notable for their unique properties and behaviors arising from the quantum interactions of the particles that make them up. Despite their quantum quirks, superfluids sometimes still behave in mundane ways. A new experiment captured images of two superfluids coming together and revealed that despite their quantum nature, they can still behave in ways that resemble the ripples and mushroom clouds seen in normal fluids.