Project acronym ALMA
Project Attosecond Control of Light and Matter
Researcher (PI) Anne L'huillier
Host Institution (HI) LUNDS UNIVERSITET
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE2, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Attosecond light pulses are generated when an intense laser interacts with a gas target. These pulses are not only short, enabling the study of electronic processes at their natural time scale, but also coherent. The vision of this proposal is to extend temporal coherent control concepts to a completely new regime of time and energy, combining (i) ultrashort pulses (ii) broadband excitation (iii) high photon energy, allowing scientists to reach not only valence but also inner shells in atoms and molecules, and, when needed, (iv) high spatial resolution. We want to explore how elementary electronic processes in atoms, molecules and more complex systems can be controlled by using well designed sequences of attosecond pulses. The research project proposed is organized into four parts: 1. Attosecond control of light leading to controlled sequences of attosecond pulses We will develop techniques to generate sequences of attosecond pulses with a variable number of pulses and controlled carrier-envelope-phase variation between consecutive pulses. 2. Attosecond control of electronic processes in atoms and molecules We will investigate the dynamics and coherence of phenomena induced by attosecond excitation of electron wave packets in various systems and we will explore how they can be controlled by a controlled sequence of ultrashort pulses. 3. Intense attosecond sources to reach the nonlinear regime We will optimize attosecond light sources in a systematic way, including amplification of the radiation by injecting a free electron laser. This will open up the possibility to develop nonlinear measurement and control schemes. 4. Attosecond control in more complex systems, including high spatial resolution We will develop ultrafast microscopy techniques, in order to obtain meaningful temporal information in surface and solid state physics. Two directions will be explored, digital in line microscopic holography and photoemission electron microscopy.
Summary
Attosecond light pulses are generated when an intense laser interacts with a gas target. These pulses are not only short, enabling the study of electronic processes at their natural time scale, but also coherent. The vision of this proposal is to extend temporal coherent control concepts to a completely new regime of time and energy, combining (i) ultrashort pulses (ii) broadband excitation (iii) high photon energy, allowing scientists to reach not only valence but also inner shells in atoms and molecules, and, when needed, (iv) high spatial resolution. We want to explore how elementary electronic processes in atoms, molecules and more complex systems can be controlled by using well designed sequences of attosecond pulses. The research project proposed is organized into four parts: 1. Attosecond control of light leading to controlled sequences of attosecond pulses We will develop techniques to generate sequences of attosecond pulses with a variable number of pulses and controlled carrier-envelope-phase variation between consecutive pulses. 2. Attosecond control of electronic processes in atoms and molecules We will investigate the dynamics and coherence of phenomena induced by attosecond excitation of electron wave packets in various systems and we will explore how they can be controlled by a controlled sequence of ultrashort pulses. 3. Intense attosecond sources to reach the nonlinear regime We will optimize attosecond light sources in a systematic way, including amplification of the radiation by injecting a free electron laser. This will open up the possibility to develop nonlinear measurement and control schemes. 4. Attosecond control in more complex systems, including high spatial resolution We will develop ultrafast microscopy techniques, in order to obtain meaningful temporal information in surface and solid state physics. Two directions will be explored, digital in line microscopic holography and photoemission electron microscopy.
Max ERC Funding
2 250 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2008-12-01, End date: 2013-11-30
Project acronym ANSR
Project Ab initio approach to nuclear structure and reactions (++)
Researcher (PI) Christian Erik Forssén
Host Institution (HI) CHALMERS TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLA AB
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE2, ERC-2009-StG
Summary Today, much interest in several fields of physics is devoted to the study of small, open quantum systems, whose properties are profoundly affected by the environment; i.e., the continuum of decay channels. In nuclear physics, these problems were originally studied in the context of nuclear reactions but their importance has been reestablished with the advent of radioactive-beam physics and the resulting interest in exotic nuclei. In particular, strong theory initiatives in this area of research will be instrumental for the success of the experimental program at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Germany. In addition, many of the aspects of open quantum systems are also being explored in the rapidly evolving research on ultracold atomic gases, quantum dots, and other nanodevices. A first-principles description of open quantum systems presents a substantial theoretical and computational challenge. However, the current availability of enormous computing power has allowed theorists to make spectacular progress on problems that were previously thought intractable. The importance of computational methods to study quantum many-body systems is stressed in this proposal. Our approach is based on the ab initio no-core shell model (NCSM), which is a well-established theoretical framework aimed originally at an exact description of nuclear structure starting from realistic inter-nucleon forces. A successful completion of this project requires extensions of the NCSM mathematical framework and the development of highly advanced computer codes. The '++' in the project title indicates the interdisciplinary aspects of the present research proposal and the ambition to make a significant impact on connected fields of many-body physics.
Summary
Today, much interest in several fields of physics is devoted to the study of small, open quantum systems, whose properties are profoundly affected by the environment; i.e., the continuum of decay channels. In nuclear physics, these problems were originally studied in the context of nuclear reactions but their importance has been reestablished with the advent of radioactive-beam physics and the resulting interest in exotic nuclei. In particular, strong theory initiatives in this area of research will be instrumental for the success of the experimental program at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Germany. In addition, many of the aspects of open quantum systems are also being explored in the rapidly evolving research on ultracold atomic gases, quantum dots, and other nanodevices. A first-principles description of open quantum systems presents a substantial theoretical and computational challenge. However, the current availability of enormous computing power has allowed theorists to make spectacular progress on problems that were previously thought intractable. The importance of computational methods to study quantum many-body systems is stressed in this proposal. Our approach is based on the ab initio no-core shell model (NCSM), which is a well-established theoretical framework aimed originally at an exact description of nuclear structure starting from realistic inter-nucleon forces. A successful completion of this project requires extensions of the NCSM mathematical framework and the development of highly advanced computer codes. The '++' in the project title indicates the interdisciplinary aspects of the present research proposal and the ambition to make a significant impact on connected fields of many-body physics.
Max ERC Funding
1 304 800 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-12-01, End date: 2014-11-30
Project acronym QUALIAGE
Project Spatial protein quality control and its links to aging, proteotoxicity, and polarity
Researcher (PI) Lars Bertil Thomas Nyström
Host Institution (HI) GOETEBORGS UNIVERSITET
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS3, ERC-2010-AdG_20100317
Summary Propagation of a species requires periodic cell renewal to avoid clonal senescence. My
laboratory has described a new mechanism for such cell renewal in yeast, in which damaged
protein aggregates are transported out of the daughter buds along actin cables to preserve
youthfulness. Such spatial protein quality control (SQC) is a Sir2p-dependent process and by establishing the global genetic interaction network of SIR2, we identified the
polarisome as the machinery required for mitotic segregation and translocation of protein
aggregates. In addition, we found that the fusion of smaller aggregates into large inclusion
bodies, a process that has been suggested to reduce the toxicity of such aggregates, requires
actin cables and their nucleation at the septin ring. Sir2p controls damage segregation by
affecting deacetylation and the activity of the chaperonin CCT, enhancing actin folding and
polymerization. Considering that CCT has been implicated in mitigating
aggregation/toxicity of polyglutamine proteins, e.g. huntingtin, and that actin cables is
affecting formation, fusion, and resolution of aggregates, we hypothesize that CCT
deacetylation may underlie Sirt1¿s (mammalian orthologues of Sir2p) documented beneficial
effects in several neurodegenerative disorders caused by proteotoxic aggregates. This project
is aimed at approaching this hypothesis and to elucidate, on a genome-wide scale, how the
cell tether, sort, fuse, and detoxify aggregates with the help of CCT, actin cables, and the
polarity machinery. This will be accomplished by combining the power of synthetic genetic
array analysis, high-content imaging, genome wide proximity ligand assays, and microfluidics.
Using such approaches, the project seeks to decipher the machineries of the spatial quality
control network as a means to identify new therapeutic targets that may retard or postpone
the development of age-related maladies, including neurodegenerative disorders.
Summary
Propagation of a species requires periodic cell renewal to avoid clonal senescence. My
laboratory has described a new mechanism for such cell renewal in yeast, in which damaged
protein aggregates are transported out of the daughter buds along actin cables to preserve
youthfulness. Such spatial protein quality control (SQC) is a Sir2p-dependent process and by establishing the global genetic interaction network of SIR2, we identified the
polarisome as the machinery required for mitotic segregation and translocation of protein
aggregates. In addition, we found that the fusion of smaller aggregates into large inclusion
bodies, a process that has been suggested to reduce the toxicity of such aggregates, requires
actin cables and their nucleation at the septin ring. Sir2p controls damage segregation by
affecting deacetylation and the activity of the chaperonin CCT, enhancing actin folding and
polymerization. Considering that CCT has been implicated in mitigating
aggregation/toxicity of polyglutamine proteins, e.g. huntingtin, and that actin cables is
affecting formation, fusion, and resolution of aggregates, we hypothesize that CCT
deacetylation may underlie Sirt1¿s (mammalian orthologues of Sir2p) documented beneficial
effects in several neurodegenerative disorders caused by proteotoxic aggregates. This project
is aimed at approaching this hypothesis and to elucidate, on a genome-wide scale, how the
cell tether, sort, fuse, and detoxify aggregates with the help of CCT, actin cables, and the
polarity machinery. This will be accomplished by combining the power of synthetic genetic
array analysis, high-content imaging, genome wide proximity ligand assays, and microfluidics.
Using such approaches, the project seeks to decipher the machineries of the spatial quality
control network as a means to identify new therapeutic targets that may retard or postpone
the development of age-related maladies, including neurodegenerative disorders.
Max ERC Funding
2 371 262 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-06-01, End date: 2016-05-31
