ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

"With COULOMBUS I will explore the new electronic world I recently found in marine sediment; a living world featuring transmission of coulombs of electrons over long distances through a grid of unknown origin and composition. This is a great challenge to science, and I will specifically - Unravel function, expansion, resilience, and microbial engineering of the conductive grid - Identify microbial and geological processes related to long distance electron transfer today and in the past - Introduce the electron as a new element in biogeochemical and ecological models. - Map the range of sediment and soil habitats featuring biogeoelectric currents Incubations of marine sediment will serve as the “base camp” for the surveys. Here I consistently observe that current sources extending centimetres down deliver electrons for most of the oxygen consumption, and here my array of advanced microsensors and biogeochemical methods works well. My team will record electric currents and biogeochemical changes as we manipulate mechanical, chemical, and biological conditions, thereby getting to an understanding of the interplay between conductors, microorganisms, electron donors, electron acceptors, and minerals. Next we take the methods out in the sea to evaluate biogeoelectricity in situ using robots. Other aquatic environments will also be screened. The ultimate outdoor challenge will come as I lead the team into soils where surface potentials suggest biogeoelectric currents deep down. All observations, experiments, and models will be directed to answer the groundbreaking questions: What physics and microbial engineering can explain long distance electron conductance in nature? How do electric microbial communities evolve and how do they shape element cycling? What signatures of biogeoelectricity are left in the geological record of earth history? If I succeed I will have opened up many new exciting research routes for the followers."

2 155 300 €

Start date: 2012-03-01, End date: 2017-02-28

The goal of this project is to discover the first galaxies that formed after the Big Bang. The astrophysics of galaxy formation is deeply fascinating. From tiny density fluctuations of quantum mechanical nature believed to have formed during an inflationary period a tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang during structure slowly formed through gravitational collapse. This process is strongly dependent on the nature of the dominant, but unknown form of matter - the dark matter. In the project proposed here I will study the epoch of first galaxy formation and the subsequent few billion years of cosmic evolution using gamma-ray bursts and Lyman-α (Lyα) emitting galaxies as probes. I am the principal investigator on two observational projects utilizing these probes. In the first project, I will over three years starting October 2009 be using the new X-shooter spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope to build a sample of ~100 gamma-ray bursts with UV/optical/near-IR spectroscopic follow-up. The objective of this project is to measure primarily metallicities, molecular content, and dust content of the gamma-ray burst host galaxies. I am primarily interested in the redshift range from 9 to 2 corresponding to about 500 million years to 3 billions years after the Big Bang. In the 2nd project we will use the new European Southern Observatory survey telescope VISTA. I am co-PI of the Ultra-VISTA project that over the next 5 years starting December 2009 will create an ultradeep image (about 2000 hr of total integration time) of a piece of sky known as the COSMOS field. I am responsible for the part of the project that will use a narrow-band filter to search for Lyα emitting galaxies at a redshift of 8.8 (corresponding to about 500 million years after the Big Bang) - believed to correspond to the epoch of formation of some of the very first galaxies.

1 002 000 €

Start date: 2011-11-01, End date: 2016-10-31

In computed tomography we mimic the brain’s ability to synthesize an object’s 3D structure from many projections by solving thousands of equations. Many efficient methods have been developed to do that, and the results can be impressive when the object is illuminated from many angles and the noise is negligible. However, one decisive factor behind the human brain's unrivalled success with 3D reconstruction remains to be incorporated into computed tomography: The ability to use prior information – an organized accumulation of experience with other objects in the world. The goal of the project is to accomplish this. The time is ripe to use the power of state-of-the-art mathematics and scientific computing to develop the enabling mathematical technology for next-generation tomographic reconstruction algorithms that are flexible enough to incorporate a variety of available prior information, and thus achieve major improvements in the details and reliability of high-definition reconstructions – sharper images with reliable details. In contrast to existing approaches our goal is to make it possible to incorporate all available prior information in various forms, by replacing ad-hoc assumptions in the current tomography algorithms with prior-driven data representation models and reconstruction methods. We will look outside the world of classical tomography and incorporate elements and techniques from related areas, tuned to the particular problems that arise in tomography. While research in tomography is often performed either in the application areas or in specialized mathematical communities, we will create a unique research environment with tight collaborations between all the necessary activities as well as scientific and industrial users of tomography. For the first time we will be able to compute reliable high-definition 3D / 4D reconstructions based on the total amount of prior information, without the reconstructions being deteriorated by algorithmic limitations.

2 159 602 €

Start date: 2012-08-01, End date: 2017-07-31

Quantum interfaces capable of transferring quantum states and generating entanglement between fields and matter are set to play a growing role in the development of science and technology. Development of such interfaces has been a crucial component in quantum information processing and communication. In the past decade quantum interfaces between atoms and optical photons have been extensively explored by a number of leading groups. Quantum state transfer between light and atoms, such as quantum memory and quantum teleportation, entanglement of massive objects, as well as measurements and sensing beyond standard quantum limits have been demonstrated by the group of the PI. We propose to develop a robust, integrated and scalable atom-light interface and to incorporate it into a hybrid multi-facet quantum network with other relevant quantum systems, such as nano-mechanical oscillators and electronic circuits. Towards this ambitious goal we will develop room temperature atomic quantum memories in spin protecting micro-cells (mu-cells) and opto-mechanical and electromechanical strongly coupled systems. Interfacing atoms, electronic circuits and nano-mechanical oscillators we will perform ultrasensitive quantum limited field and force measurements and quantum teleportation of states across the range of these systems. In the fundamental sense, this research program will further broaden the horizons of quantum physics and quantum information processing by expanding it into new and unexplored macroscopic domains.

2 493 000 €

Start date: 2012-07-01, End date: 2017-06-30