Prof. Jean-Philippe Brantut has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant
J.-Ph. Brantut
Professor Jean-Philippe Brantut, Tenure Track Assistant Professor from the Institute of Physics (IPHYS), has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant in the area of Physical Sciences and Engineering for his project “Devices, engines and circuits: quantum engineering with cold atoms” (DECCA).
Over the last decade, cold atomic gases have become one of the best-controlled quantum systems. This novel, synthetic material is hundred billion times thinner than a solid and about a billion times colder than room temperature. By combining magnets and laser beams, it is possible to shape it at the scale of individual atoms in order to mimic a wide range of systems: atoms can be made to behave like electrons in a solid crystal, or like the coherent waves emitted by lasers. Importantly, it can be used to simulate some of the physics of systems with strong interactions between particles or far from thermal equilibrium, which is very hard to calculate with classical computers. This approach is known as Quantum Simulation.
This project pioneers a new approach to quantum simulations, jumping from cold atoms as a material into the realm of devices: systems carved out of cold gases, separated by interfaces, connected to each other by engineered contacts and allowing for a controlled driving. This new type of quantum simulator will be used to investigate the full operation of complex devices with quantum properties, from the precise measurements of the transport properties of matter, to the exploration of novel types of states that appear at interfaces between different quantum systems.
The ERC funding will allow for the development of a new quantum simulation machine at EPFL, with novel manipulation and detection techniques required to operate cold atoms devices.