Simulating the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model in cavity QED platforms

I will review recent progress within the HologrAPh consortium toward realizing the Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev (SYK) model—one of the simplest models exhibiting a quantum gravitational holographic dual—in cavity QED platforms. After outlining why cavity QED platforms are well suited for quantum simulation of holographic systems, I will describe the setup currently under development: Lithium-6 atoms dispersively coupled to a single- or multi-mode optical cavity. The disordered interactions are implemented via a spatial light modulator, which engineers the couplings and provides experimental 'knobs' to tune the number of sites and the density of randomness in the effective SYK model. I will conclude commenting on dissipation in this architecture and by outlining near-term goals and challenges on the path to observing signatures of a gravitational bulk dual.