Project acronym 1D-Engine
Project 1D-electrons coupled to dissipation: a novel approach for understanding and engineering superconducting materials and devices
Researcher (PI) Adrian KANTIAN
Host Institution (HI) UPPSALA UNIVERSITET
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2017-STG
Summary Correlated electrons are at the forefront of condensed matter theory. Interacting quasi-1D electrons have seen vast progress in analytical and numerical theory, and thus in fundamental understanding and quantitative prediction. Yet, in the 1D limit fluctuations preclude important technological use, particularly of superconductors. In contrast, high-Tc superconductors in 2D/3D are not precluded by fluctuations, but lack a fundamental theory, making prediction and engineering of their properties, a major goal in physics, very difficult. This project aims to combine the advantages of both areas by making major progress in the theory of quasi-1D electrons coupled to an electron bath, in part building on recent breakthroughs (with the PIs extensive involvement) in simulating 1D and 2D electrons with parallelized density matrix renormalization group (pDMRG) numerics. Such theory will fundamentally advance the study of open electron systems, and show how to use 1D materials as elements of new superconducting (SC) devices and materials: 1) It will enable a new state of matter, 1D electrons with true SC order. Fluctuations from the electronic liquid, such as graphene, could also enable nanoscale wires to appear SC at high temperatures. 2) A new approach for the deliberate engineering of a high-Tc superconductor. In 1D, how electrons pair by repulsive interactions is understood and can be predicted. Stabilization by reservoir - formed by a parallel array of many such 1D systems - offers a superconductor for which all factors setting Tc are known and can be optimized. 3) Many existing superconductors with repulsive electron pairing, all presently not understood, can be cast as 1D electrons coupled to a bath. Developing chain-DMFT theory based on pDMRG will allow these materials SC properties to be simulated and understood for the first time. 4) The insights gained will be translated to 2D superconductors to study how they could be enhanced by contact with electronic liquids.
Summary
Correlated electrons are at the forefront of condensed matter theory. Interacting quasi-1D electrons have seen vast progress in analytical and numerical theory, and thus in fundamental understanding and quantitative prediction. Yet, in the 1D limit fluctuations preclude important technological use, particularly of superconductors. In contrast, high-Tc superconductors in 2D/3D are not precluded by fluctuations, but lack a fundamental theory, making prediction and engineering of their properties, a major goal in physics, very difficult. This project aims to combine the advantages of both areas by making major progress in the theory of quasi-1D electrons coupled to an electron bath, in part building on recent breakthroughs (with the PIs extensive involvement) in simulating 1D and 2D electrons with parallelized density matrix renormalization group (pDMRG) numerics. Such theory will fundamentally advance the study of open electron systems, and show how to use 1D materials as elements of new superconducting (SC) devices and materials: 1) It will enable a new state of matter, 1D electrons with true SC order. Fluctuations from the electronic liquid, such as graphene, could also enable nanoscale wires to appear SC at high temperatures. 2) A new approach for the deliberate engineering of a high-Tc superconductor. In 1D, how electrons pair by repulsive interactions is understood and can be predicted. Stabilization by reservoir - formed by a parallel array of many such 1D systems - offers a superconductor for which all factors setting Tc are known and can be optimized. 3) Many existing superconductors with repulsive electron pairing, all presently not understood, can be cast as 1D electrons coupled to a bath. Developing chain-DMFT theory based on pDMRG will allow these materials SC properties to be simulated and understood for the first time. 4) The insights gained will be translated to 2D superconductors to study how they could be enhanced by contact with electronic liquids.
Max ERC Funding
1 491 013 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-10-01, End date: 2023-09-30
Project acronym ALPHA
Project Alpha Shape Theory Extended
Researcher (PI) Herbert Edelsbrunner
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYAUSTRIA
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE6, ERC-2017-ADG
Summary Alpha shapes were invented in the early 80s of last century, and their implementation in three dimensions in the early 90s was at the forefront of the exact arithmetic paradigm that enabled fast and correct geometric software. In the late 90s, alpha shapes motivated the development of the wrap algorithm for surface reconstruction, and of persistent homology, which was the starting point of rapidly expanding interest in topological algorithms aimed at data analysis questions.
We now see alpha shapes, wrap complexes, and persistent homology as three aspects of a larger theory, which we propose to fully develop. This viewpoint was a long time coming and finds its clear expression within a generalized
version of discrete Morse theory. This unified framework offers new opportunities, including
(I) the adaptive reconstruction of shapes driven by the cavity structure;
(II) the stochastic analysis of all aspects of the theory;
(III) the computation of persistence of dense data, both in scale and in depth;
(IV) the study of long-range order in periodic and near-periodic point configurations.
These capabilities will significantly deepen as well as widen the theory and enable new applications in the sciences. To gain focus, we concentrate on low-dimensional applications in structural molecular biology and particle systems.
Summary
Alpha shapes were invented in the early 80s of last century, and their implementation in three dimensions in the early 90s was at the forefront of the exact arithmetic paradigm that enabled fast and correct geometric software. In the late 90s, alpha shapes motivated the development of the wrap algorithm for surface reconstruction, and of persistent homology, which was the starting point of rapidly expanding interest in topological algorithms aimed at data analysis questions.
We now see alpha shapes, wrap complexes, and persistent homology as three aspects of a larger theory, which we propose to fully develop. This viewpoint was a long time coming and finds its clear expression within a generalized
version of discrete Morse theory. This unified framework offers new opportunities, including
(I) the adaptive reconstruction of shapes driven by the cavity structure;
(II) the stochastic analysis of all aspects of the theory;
(III) the computation of persistence of dense data, both in scale and in depth;
(IV) the study of long-range order in periodic and near-periodic point configurations.
These capabilities will significantly deepen as well as widen the theory and enable new applications in the sciences. To gain focus, we concentrate on low-dimensional applications in structural molecular biology and particle systems.
Max ERC Funding
1 678 432 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-07-01, End date: 2023-06-30
Project acronym ATMEN
Project Atomic precision materials engineering
Researcher (PI) Toma SUSI
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT WIEN
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE5, ERC-2017-STG
Summary Despite more than fifty years of scientific progress since Richard Feynman's 1959 vision for nanotechnology, there is only one way to manipulate individual atoms in materials: scanning tunneling microscopy. Since the late 1980s, its atomically sharp tip has been used to move atoms over clean metal surfaces held at cryogenic temperatures. Scanning transmission electron microscopy, on the other hand, has been able to resolve atoms only more recently by focusing the electron beam with sub-atomic precision. This is especially useful in the two-dimensional form of hexagonally bonded carbon called graphene, which has superb electronic and mechanical properties. Several ways to further engineer those have been proposed, including by doping the structure with substitutional heteroatoms such as boron, nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon. My recent discovery that the scattering of the energetic imaging electrons can cause a silicon impurity to move through the graphene lattice has revealed a potential for atomically precise manipulation using the Ångström-sized electron probe. To develop this into a practical technique, improvements in the description of beam-induced displacements, advances in heteroatom implantation, and a concerted effort towards the automation of manipulations are required. My project tackles these in a multidisciplinary effort combining innovative computational techniques with pioneering experiments in an instrument where a low-energy ion implantation chamber is directly connected to an advanced electron microscope. To demonstrate the power of the method, I will prototype an atomic memory with an unprecedented memory density, and create heteroatom quantum corrals optimized for their plasmonic properties. The capability for atom-scale engineering of covalent materials opens a new vista for nanotechnology, pushing back the boundaries of the possible and allowing a plethora of materials science questions to be studied at the ultimate level of control.
Summary
Despite more than fifty years of scientific progress since Richard Feynman's 1959 vision for nanotechnology, there is only one way to manipulate individual atoms in materials: scanning tunneling microscopy. Since the late 1980s, its atomically sharp tip has been used to move atoms over clean metal surfaces held at cryogenic temperatures. Scanning transmission electron microscopy, on the other hand, has been able to resolve atoms only more recently by focusing the electron beam with sub-atomic precision. This is especially useful in the two-dimensional form of hexagonally bonded carbon called graphene, which has superb electronic and mechanical properties. Several ways to further engineer those have been proposed, including by doping the structure with substitutional heteroatoms such as boron, nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon. My recent discovery that the scattering of the energetic imaging electrons can cause a silicon impurity to move through the graphene lattice has revealed a potential for atomically precise manipulation using the Ångström-sized electron probe. To develop this into a practical technique, improvements in the description of beam-induced displacements, advances in heteroatom implantation, and a concerted effort towards the automation of manipulations are required. My project tackles these in a multidisciplinary effort combining innovative computational techniques with pioneering experiments in an instrument where a low-energy ion implantation chamber is directly connected to an advanced electron microscope. To demonstrate the power of the method, I will prototype an atomic memory with an unprecedented memory density, and create heteroatom quantum corrals optimized for their plasmonic properties. The capability for atom-scale engineering of covalent materials opens a new vista for nanotechnology, pushing back the boundaries of the possible and allowing a plethora of materials science questions to be studied at the ultimate level of control.
Max ERC Funding
1 497 202 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30
Project acronym Auger-Horizon
Project A large-scale radio detector for the Pierre Auger cosmic-ray Observatory – precision measurements of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays
Researcher (PI) Jörg HÖRANDEL
Host Institution (HI) STICHTING KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE9, ERC-2017-ADG
Summary Cosmic Rays (ionized atomic nuclei) are the only matter from beyond our solar system or even from extragalactic space, that we can directly investigate. Up to energies of 10^17 eV they most likely originate in our Galaxy. The highest-energy cosmic rays (>10^18 eV) cannot be magnetically bound any more to the Galaxy and are most likely of extragalactic origin.
The pure existence of these particles raises the question about their origin – how and where are they accelerated? How do they propagate through the universe and interact? How can we directly probe extragalactic matter and how can we locate its origin?
A key to understand the origin of cosmic rays is to measure the particle species (atomic mass). A precise mass measurement will allow discriminating astrophysical models and will clarify the reason for the observed suppression of the cosmic-ray flux at the highest energies, namely the maximum energy of the accelerators or the energy losses during propagation.
I address these questions by employing a new technique to precisely measure the cosmic-ray mass composition, which my group pioneered, the radio detection of air showers (induced by high-energy cosmic rays in the atmosphere) on very large scales, detecting horizontal air showers with zenith angles from 60° to 90°.
The new set-up will be the world-largest radio array, operated together with the well-established Auger surface and fluorescence detectors, forming a unique set-up to measure the properties of cosmic rays with unprecedented precision for energies above 10^17.5 eV. The radio technique is a cost-effective and robust method to measure the cosmic-ray energy and mass, complementary to established techniques. The energy scale of the radio measurements is established from first principles. The proposed detectors will also enhance the detection capabilities for high-energy neutrinos and the search for new physics through precision measurements of the electromagnetic and muonic shower components.
Summary
Cosmic Rays (ionized atomic nuclei) are the only matter from beyond our solar system or even from extragalactic space, that we can directly investigate. Up to energies of 10^17 eV they most likely originate in our Galaxy. The highest-energy cosmic rays (>10^18 eV) cannot be magnetically bound any more to the Galaxy and are most likely of extragalactic origin.
The pure existence of these particles raises the question about their origin – how and where are they accelerated? How do they propagate through the universe and interact? How can we directly probe extragalactic matter and how can we locate its origin?
A key to understand the origin of cosmic rays is to measure the particle species (atomic mass). A precise mass measurement will allow discriminating astrophysical models and will clarify the reason for the observed suppression of the cosmic-ray flux at the highest energies, namely the maximum energy of the accelerators or the energy losses during propagation.
I address these questions by employing a new technique to precisely measure the cosmic-ray mass composition, which my group pioneered, the radio detection of air showers (induced by high-energy cosmic rays in the atmosphere) on very large scales, detecting horizontal air showers with zenith angles from 60° to 90°.
The new set-up will be the world-largest radio array, operated together with the well-established Auger surface and fluorescence detectors, forming a unique set-up to measure the properties of cosmic rays with unprecedented precision for energies above 10^17.5 eV. The radio technique is a cost-effective and robust method to measure the cosmic-ray energy and mass, complementary to established techniques. The energy scale of the radio measurements is established from first principles. The proposed detectors will also enhance the detection capabilities for high-energy neutrinos and the search for new physics through precision measurements of the electromagnetic and muonic shower components.
Max ERC Funding
3 499 249 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-10-01, End date: 2023-09-30
Project acronym Browsec
Project Foundations and Tools for Client-Side Web Security
Researcher (PI) Matteo MAFFEI
Host Institution (HI) TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIEN
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE6, ERC-2017-COG
Summary The constantly increasing number of attacks on web applications shows how their rapid development has not been accompanied by adequate security foundations and demonstrates the lack of solid security enforcement tools. Indeed, web applications expose a gigantic attack surface, which hinders a rigorous understanding and enforcement of security properties. Hence, despite the worthwhile efforts to design secure web applications, users for a while will be confronted with vulnerable, or maliciously crafted, code. Unfortunately, end users have no way at present to reliably protect themselves from malicious applications.
BROWSEC will develop a holistic approach to client-side web security, laying its theoretical foundations and developing innovative security enforcement technologies. In particular, BROWSEC will deliver the first client-side tool to secure web applications that is practical, in that it is implemented as an extension and can thus be easily deployed at large, and also provably sound, i.e., backed up by machine-checked proofs that the tool provides end users with the required security guarantees. At the core of the proposal lies a novel monitoring technique, which treats the browser as a blackbox and intercepts its inputs and outputs in order to prevent dangerous information flows. With this lightweight monitoring approach, we aim at enforcing strong security properties without requiring any expensive and, given the dynamic nature of web applications, statically infeasible program analysis.
BROWSEC is thus a multidisciplinary research effort, promising practical impact and delivering breakthrough advancements in various disciplines, such as web security, JavaScript semantics, software engineering, and program verification.
Summary
The constantly increasing number of attacks on web applications shows how their rapid development has not been accompanied by adequate security foundations and demonstrates the lack of solid security enforcement tools. Indeed, web applications expose a gigantic attack surface, which hinders a rigorous understanding and enforcement of security properties. Hence, despite the worthwhile efforts to design secure web applications, users for a while will be confronted with vulnerable, or maliciously crafted, code. Unfortunately, end users have no way at present to reliably protect themselves from malicious applications.
BROWSEC will develop a holistic approach to client-side web security, laying its theoretical foundations and developing innovative security enforcement technologies. In particular, BROWSEC will deliver the first client-side tool to secure web applications that is practical, in that it is implemented as an extension and can thus be easily deployed at large, and also provably sound, i.e., backed up by machine-checked proofs that the tool provides end users with the required security guarantees. At the core of the proposal lies a novel monitoring technique, which treats the browser as a blackbox and intercepts its inputs and outputs in order to prevent dangerous information flows. With this lightweight monitoring approach, we aim at enforcing strong security properties without requiring any expensive and, given the dynamic nature of web applications, statically infeasible program analysis.
BROWSEC is thus a multidisciplinary research effort, promising practical impact and delivering breakthrough advancements in various disciplines, such as web security, JavaScript semantics, software engineering, and program verification.
Max ERC Funding
1 990 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-06-01, End date: 2023-05-31
Project acronym CABUM
Project An investigation of the mechanisms at the interaction between cavitation bubbles and contaminants
Researcher (PI) Matevz DULAR
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE8, ERC-2017-COG
Summary A sudden decrease in pressure triggers the formation of vapour and gas bubbles inside a liquid medium (also called cavitation). This leads to many (key) engineering problems: material loss, noise and vibration of hydraulic machinery. On the other hand, cavitation is a potentially a useful phenomenon: the extreme conditions are increasingly used for a wide variety of applications such as surface cleaning, enhanced chemistry, and waste water treatment (bacteria eradication and virus inactivation).
Despite this significant progress a large gap persists between the understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to the effects of cavitation and its application. Although engineers are already commercializing devices that employ cavitation, we are still not able to answer the fundamental question: What precisely are the mechanisms how bubbles can clean, disinfect, kill bacteria and enhance chemical activity? The overall objective of the project is to understand and determine the fundamental physics of the interaction of cavitation bubbles with different contaminants. To address this issue, the CABUM project will investigate the physical background of cavitation from physical, biological and engineering perspective on three complexity scales: i) on single bubble level, ii) on organised and iii) on random bubble clusters, producing a progressive multidisciplinary synergetic effect.
The proposed synergetic approach builds on the PI's preliminary research and employs novel experimental and numerical methodologies, some of which have been developed by the PI and his research group, to explore the physics of cavitation behaviour in interaction with bacteria and viruses.
Understanding the fundamental physical background of cavitation in interaction with contaminants will have a ground-breaking implications in various scientific fields (engineering, chemistry and biology) and will, in the future, enable the exploitation of cavitation in water and soil treatment processes.
Summary
A sudden decrease in pressure triggers the formation of vapour and gas bubbles inside a liquid medium (also called cavitation). This leads to many (key) engineering problems: material loss, noise and vibration of hydraulic machinery. On the other hand, cavitation is a potentially a useful phenomenon: the extreme conditions are increasingly used for a wide variety of applications such as surface cleaning, enhanced chemistry, and waste water treatment (bacteria eradication and virus inactivation).
Despite this significant progress a large gap persists between the understanding of the mechanisms that contribute to the effects of cavitation and its application. Although engineers are already commercializing devices that employ cavitation, we are still not able to answer the fundamental question: What precisely are the mechanisms how bubbles can clean, disinfect, kill bacteria and enhance chemical activity? The overall objective of the project is to understand and determine the fundamental physics of the interaction of cavitation bubbles with different contaminants. To address this issue, the CABUM project will investigate the physical background of cavitation from physical, biological and engineering perspective on three complexity scales: i) on single bubble level, ii) on organised and iii) on random bubble clusters, producing a progressive multidisciplinary synergetic effect.
The proposed synergetic approach builds on the PI's preliminary research and employs novel experimental and numerical methodologies, some of which have been developed by the PI and his research group, to explore the physics of cavitation behaviour in interaction with bacteria and viruses.
Understanding the fundamental physical background of cavitation in interaction with contaminants will have a ground-breaking implications in various scientific fields (engineering, chemistry and biology) and will, in the future, enable the exploitation of cavitation in water and soil treatment processes.
Max ERC Funding
1 904 565 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-07-01, End date: 2023-06-30
Project acronym COLMIN
Project A Google Earth Approach to Understanding Collagen Mineralization
Researcher (PI) Nico SOMMERDIJK
Host Institution (HI) TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT EINDHOVEN
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE4, ERC-2017-ADG
Summary Collagen mineralization in bone is one of the most crucial processes in our body as it supplies the skeleton on which we depend for support and protection. Bone’s impressive mechanical properties arise from the hierarchical organization of the organic collagen matrix that is mineralized with ultrathin, aligned inorganic crystals of carbonated hydroxyapatite.
Despite its importance to the human body, relatively little is understood about collagen mineralization and how the proteins govern mineral growth with such precision. This is because the matrix development is a complex process with different stages that occur over multiple length scales and depends on many different components.
I propose to obtain the first comprehensive picture of the collagen mineralization mechanism by unraveling its dynamics and structural details. It is not only of great fundamental importance, it also opens the way to the development of better biomaterials, as well as to strategies for the treatment of mineralization-related diseases.
I will achieve this ambitious goal by designing a dedicated tissue engineering platform that models real bone as closely as possible, and will allow application of multiple advanced analysis techniques. These I will employ in a “Google Earth” approach, studying the process from the micrometer to the nanometer scale, combining live cell imaging and “beyond state-of-the-art” electron microscopy with chemical and biochemical analysis to reveal the details of collagen mineralization with the highest spatial, temporal and molecular resolution thus far. Exploiting my extensive expertise in the field of biomineralization and advanced electron microscopy, COLMIN will provide a major step in understanding collagen formation and mineralization, and provide insights that will help to fight bone-related diseases. The advanced multidisciplinary methodology developed here will set a new standard for the advanced analysis of bone formation and other biological processes.
Summary
Collagen mineralization in bone is one of the most crucial processes in our body as it supplies the skeleton on which we depend for support and protection. Bone’s impressive mechanical properties arise from the hierarchical organization of the organic collagen matrix that is mineralized with ultrathin, aligned inorganic crystals of carbonated hydroxyapatite.
Despite its importance to the human body, relatively little is understood about collagen mineralization and how the proteins govern mineral growth with such precision. This is because the matrix development is a complex process with different stages that occur over multiple length scales and depends on many different components.
I propose to obtain the first comprehensive picture of the collagen mineralization mechanism by unraveling its dynamics and structural details. It is not only of great fundamental importance, it also opens the way to the development of better biomaterials, as well as to strategies for the treatment of mineralization-related diseases.
I will achieve this ambitious goal by designing a dedicated tissue engineering platform that models real bone as closely as possible, and will allow application of multiple advanced analysis techniques. These I will employ in a “Google Earth” approach, studying the process from the micrometer to the nanometer scale, combining live cell imaging and “beyond state-of-the-art” electron microscopy with chemical and biochemical analysis to reveal the details of collagen mineralization with the highest spatial, temporal and molecular resolution thus far. Exploiting my extensive expertise in the field of biomineralization and advanced electron microscopy, COLMIN will provide a major step in understanding collagen formation and mineralization, and provide insights that will help to fight bone-related diseases. The advanced multidisciplinary methodology developed here will set a new standard for the advanced analysis of bone formation and other biological processes.
Max ERC Funding
3 498 006 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31
Project acronym CoMoQuant
Project Correlated Molecular Quantum Gases in Optical Lattices
Researcher (PI) Hanns-Christoph NAEGERL
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAET INNSBRUCK
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE2, ERC-2017-ADG
Summary In a quantum engineering approach we aim to create strongly correlated molecular quantum gases for polar molecules confined in an optical lattice to two-dimensional geometry with full quantum control of all de-grees of freedom with single molecule control and detection. The goal is to synthesize a high-fidelity molec-ular quantum simulator with thousands of particles and to carry out experiments on phases and dynamics of strongly-correlated quantum matter in view of strong long-range dipolar interactions. Our choice of mole-cule is the KCs dimer, which can either be a boson or a fermion, allowing us to prepare and probe bosonic as well as fermionic dipolar quantum matter in two dimensions. Techniques such as quantum-gas microscopy, perfectly suited for two-dimensional systems, will be applied to the molecular samples for local control and local readout.
The low-entropy molecular samples are created out of quantum degenerate atomic samples by well-established coherent atom paring and coherent optical ground-state transfer techniques. Crucial to this pro-posal is the full control over the molecular sample. To achieve near-unity lattice filling fraction for the mo-lecular samples, we create two-dimensional samples of K-Cs atom pairs as precursors to molecule formation by merging parallel planar systems of K and Cs, which are either in a band-insulating state (for the fermions) or in Mott-insulating state (for the bosons), along the out-of-plane direction.
The polar molecular samples are used to perform quantum simulations on ground-state properties and dy-namical properties of quantum many-body spin systems. We aim to create novel forms of superfluidity, to investigate into novel quantum many-body phases in the lattice that arise from the long-range molecular dipole-dipole interaction, and to probe quantum magnetism and its dynamics such as spin transport with single-spin control and readout. In addition, disorder can be engineered to mimic real physical situations.
Summary
In a quantum engineering approach we aim to create strongly correlated molecular quantum gases for polar molecules confined in an optical lattice to two-dimensional geometry with full quantum control of all de-grees of freedom with single molecule control and detection. The goal is to synthesize a high-fidelity molec-ular quantum simulator with thousands of particles and to carry out experiments on phases and dynamics of strongly-correlated quantum matter in view of strong long-range dipolar interactions. Our choice of mole-cule is the KCs dimer, which can either be a boson or a fermion, allowing us to prepare and probe bosonic as well as fermionic dipolar quantum matter in two dimensions. Techniques such as quantum-gas microscopy, perfectly suited for two-dimensional systems, will be applied to the molecular samples for local control and local readout.
The low-entropy molecular samples are created out of quantum degenerate atomic samples by well-established coherent atom paring and coherent optical ground-state transfer techniques. Crucial to this pro-posal is the full control over the molecular sample. To achieve near-unity lattice filling fraction for the mo-lecular samples, we create two-dimensional samples of K-Cs atom pairs as precursors to molecule formation by merging parallel planar systems of K and Cs, which are either in a band-insulating state (for the fermions) or in Mott-insulating state (for the bosons), along the out-of-plane direction.
The polar molecular samples are used to perform quantum simulations on ground-state properties and dy-namical properties of quantum many-body spin systems. We aim to create novel forms of superfluidity, to investigate into novel quantum many-body phases in the lattice that arise from the long-range molecular dipole-dipole interaction, and to probe quantum magnetism and its dynamics such as spin transport with single-spin control and readout. In addition, disorder can be engineered to mimic real physical situations.
Max ERC Funding
2 356 117 €
Duration
Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31
Project acronym CORNEA
Project Controlling evolutionary dynamics of networked autonomous agents
Researcher (PI) Ming CAO
Host Institution (HI) RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE7, ERC-2017-COG
Summary Large-scale technological, biological, economic, and social complex systems act as complex networks of interacting autonomous agents. Large numbers of interacting agents making self-interested decisions can result in highly complex, sometimes surprising, and often suboptimal, collective behaviors. Empowered by recent breakthroughs in data-driven cognitive learning technologies, networked agents collectively give rise to evolutionary dynamics that cannot be easily modeled, analysed and/or controlled using current systems and control theory. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop new theoretical foundations to tackle the emerging challenging control problems associated with evolutionary dynamics for networked autonomous agents.
The aim of this project is to develop a rigorous theory for the control of evolutionary dynamics so that interacting autonomous agents can be guided to solve group tasks through the pursuit of individual goals in an evolutionary dynamical process. The theory will then be tested, validated and improved against experimental results using robotic fish.
To achieve the aim, I will: (1) develop a general formulation for stochastic evolutionary dynamics with control inputs, enabling the study on controllability and stabilizability for evolutionary processes; (2) introduce stochastic control Lyapunov functions to design control laws; (3) construct new classes of conditional strategies that may propagate controlled actions effectively from focal agents in multiple time scales; and (4) validate experimentally on tasks with unknown difficulties that require a group of robotic fish to evolve and adapt.
The project will result in a major advance from the conventional usage of evolutionary game theory with the systematic design to actively control evolutionary outcomes. The combination of theory with experimentation and the multi-disciplinary nature of the approach will lead to new applications of autonomous robotic systems.
Summary
Large-scale technological, biological, economic, and social complex systems act as complex networks of interacting autonomous agents. Large numbers of interacting agents making self-interested decisions can result in highly complex, sometimes surprising, and often suboptimal, collective behaviors. Empowered by recent breakthroughs in data-driven cognitive learning technologies, networked agents collectively give rise to evolutionary dynamics that cannot be easily modeled, analysed and/or controlled using current systems and control theory. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop new theoretical foundations to tackle the emerging challenging control problems associated with evolutionary dynamics for networked autonomous agents.
The aim of this project is to develop a rigorous theory for the control of evolutionary dynamics so that interacting autonomous agents can be guided to solve group tasks through the pursuit of individual goals in an evolutionary dynamical process. The theory will then be tested, validated and improved against experimental results using robotic fish.
To achieve the aim, I will: (1) develop a general formulation for stochastic evolutionary dynamics with control inputs, enabling the study on controllability and stabilizability for evolutionary processes; (2) introduce stochastic control Lyapunov functions to design control laws; (3) construct new classes of conditional strategies that may propagate controlled actions effectively from focal agents in multiple time scales; and (4) validate experimentally on tasks with unknown difficulties that require a group of robotic fish to evolve and adapt.
The project will result in a major advance from the conventional usage of evolutionary game theory with the systematic design to actively control evolutionary outcomes. The combination of theory with experimentation and the multi-disciplinary nature of the approach will lead to new applications of autonomous robotic systems.
Max ERC Funding
1 998 933 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-05-01, End date: 2023-04-30
Project acronym CORNET
Project Provably Correct Networks
Researcher (PI) Costin RAICIU
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITATEA POLITEHNICA DIN BUCURESTI
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE6, ERC-2017-STG
Summary Networks are the backbone of our society, but configuring them is error-prone and tedious: misconfigured networks result in headline grabbing network outages that affect many users and hurt company revenues while security breaches that endanger millions of customers. There are currently no guarantees that deployed networks correctly implement their operator’s policy.
Existing research has focused on two directions: a) low level analysis and instrumentation of real networking code prevents memory bugs in individual network elements, but does not capture network-wide properties desired by operators such as reachability or loop freedom; b) high-level analysis of network-wide properties to verify operator policies on abstract network models; unfortunately, there are no guarantees that the models are an accurate representation of the real network code, and often low-level errors invalidate the conclusions of the high-level analysis.
We propose to achieve provably correct networks by simultaneously targeting both low-level security concerns and network-wide policy compliance checking. Our key proposal is to rely on exhaustive network symbolic execution for verification and to automatically generate provably correct implementations from network models. Generating efficient code that is equivalent to the model poses great challenges that we will address with three key contributions:
a) We will develop a novel theoretical equivalence framework based on symbolic execution semantics, as well as equivalence-preserving model transformations to automatically optimize network models for runtime efficiency.
b) We will develop compilers that take network models and generate functionally equivalent and efficient executable code for different targets (e.g. P4 and C).
c) We will design algorithms that generate and insert runtime guards that ensure correctness of the network with respect to the desired policy even when legacy boxes are deployed in the network.
Summary
Networks are the backbone of our society, but configuring them is error-prone and tedious: misconfigured networks result in headline grabbing network outages that affect many users and hurt company revenues while security breaches that endanger millions of customers. There are currently no guarantees that deployed networks correctly implement their operator’s policy.
Existing research has focused on two directions: a) low level analysis and instrumentation of real networking code prevents memory bugs in individual network elements, but does not capture network-wide properties desired by operators such as reachability or loop freedom; b) high-level analysis of network-wide properties to verify operator policies on abstract network models; unfortunately, there are no guarantees that the models are an accurate representation of the real network code, and often low-level errors invalidate the conclusions of the high-level analysis.
We propose to achieve provably correct networks by simultaneously targeting both low-level security concerns and network-wide policy compliance checking. Our key proposal is to rely on exhaustive network symbolic execution for verification and to automatically generate provably correct implementations from network models. Generating efficient code that is equivalent to the model poses great challenges that we will address with three key contributions:
a) We will develop a novel theoretical equivalence framework based on symbolic execution semantics, as well as equivalence-preserving model transformations to automatically optimize network models for runtime efficiency.
b) We will develop compilers that take network models and generate functionally equivalent and efficient executable code for different targets (e.g. P4 and C).
c) We will design algorithms that generate and insert runtime guards that ensure correctness of the network with respect to the desired policy even when legacy boxes are deployed in the network.
Max ERC Funding
1 325 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2018-01-01, End date: 2022-12-31
