I am a fourth-year PhD student in physics, working on cavity quantum
electrodynamics using cold cesium atoms. We have investigated the collective
coupling of an ensemble of atoms to a low finesse optical resonator and used it
to demonstrate single-photon generation, the transfer of a collective excitation
between two samples via the cavity, and a single-photon polarization memory. We
are currently building a new system where we will have two single atoms strongly
coupled to a high finesse cavity, allowing us to explore the possibility of
quantum information processing using neutral atoms.