New frontiers in quantum simulation with dipolar gases

Ana Maria Rey University of Colorado Boulder and JILA

Recent experimental developments on cooling, trapping, and manipulating ultra-cold dipolar gases are opening a door for the controllable study of their complex many-body quantum dynamics. In particular, by encoding a spin degree of freedom in rotational levels in polar molecules it is now possible to use these systems to emulate a variety of rich spin models exhibiting long range and anisotropic interactions. In this talk, I will discuss theoretical and experimental progress towards engineering quantum spin models in large molecule arrays trapped in 3D optical lattices relevant for quantum simulations and sensing.