ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

"Quantum coherent phenomena, especially marcoscopic quantum coherence, are among the most striking predictions of quantum mechanics. They have lead to remarkable applications such as lasers and modern optical technologies, and in the future, breakthroughs such as quantum information processing are envisioned. Macroscopic quantum coherence is manifested in Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), superfluidity, and superconductivity, which have been observed in a variety of systems and continue to be at the front line of scientific research. Here my objective is to extend the realm of Bose-Einstein condensation into new conceptual and practical directions. I focus on the role of a hybrid character of the object that condenses and on the role of non-equilibrium in the BEC phenomenon. The work is mostly theoretical but has also an experimental part. I study two new types of hybrids, fundamentally different from each other. First, I consider pairing and superfluidity in a mixed geometry. Experimental realization of mixed geometries is becoming feasible in ultracold gases. Second, I explore the possibility of finding novel hybrids of light and matter excitations that may display condensation. By combining insight from these two cases, my goal is to understand how the hybrid and non-equilibrium nature can be exploited to design desirable properties, such as high critical temperatures. In particular, in case of the new light-matter hybrids, the goal is to provide realistic scenarios for, and also experimentally demonstrate, a room temperature BEC."

1 559 608 €

Start date: 2013-12-01, End date: 2018-11-30

Neutrinoless double beta decay is a hypothetical, very slow radioactive process whose observation would establish unambiguously that massive neutrinos are Majorana particles --- that is to say, identical to their antiparticles ---, which implies that a new physics scale beyond the Standard Model must exist. Furthermore, it would prove that total lepton number is not a conserved quantity, suggesting that this new physics could also be the origin of the observed asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the Universe. In recent years, many innovative ideas have been put forward to improve the sensitivity of \bbonu\ experiments. In general, these propositions have sought to increase the number of experimental signatures available to reject backgrounds while attempting to use isotopes and detector techniques which can be more easily scaled to large masses. The objective of this project is to realize the NEXT experiment, an innovativedetector based on a high-pressure xenon gas (HPXe) TPC that will run at the Laboratorio Subterr\'aneo de Canfranc (LSC), in Spain. Our primary goal is to complete the construction and commissioning of a 150 kg HPXe TPC (NEXT-100) by 2014, and start a physics run in 2015 that can improve the present bound set by the EXO experiment and perhaps discover the Majorana nature of neutrinos. In addition, we will carry out an R\&D program focused in demonstrating the scalability of the technology to the ton scale.

2 791 771 €

Start date: 2014-02-01, End date: 2019-01-31

"With QITBOX we aim to develop a novel device-independent framework for quantum information processing. In this framework, devices are seen as black boxes that only receive inputs and produce outputs. Our main objective is to understand what can and cannot be done for information processing using only the observed correlations among the devices. We will structure our effort along three main research lines: (i) Characterization of quantum correlations: the general objective will be to characterize those correlations that are possible among quantum devices; (ii) Protocols based on correlations: the general objective will be to understand how quantum correlations can be exploited in order to construct relevant information protocols and (iii) Applications to physical setups: here the previous results to concrete physical setups will be applied, such as the quantum-optical realizations of the protocols or the study of the non-local properties of many-body systems. The expected results of QITBOX are: (i) Novel methods for the characterization of quantum correlations, (ii) Improved or novel device-independent protocols, (iii) Proposals for feasible experimental implementations of these protocols and (iv) Novel methods for the study of many-body systems based on correlations. QITBOX is a highly-interdisciplinary project with implications in Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering. The execution of the planned research work will provide a unifying framework for a Quantum Information Theory with black BOXes (hence the acronym). Such a framework will bring quantum information processing to an unprecedented level of abstraction, in which information protocols and primitives are defined without any reference to the internal physical working of the devices. This, in turn, will lead to much more robust practical implementations of quantum information protocols, closing the mismatch between theoretical requirements and experimental realisations."

1 487 505 €

Start date: 2014-01-01, End date: 2019-12-31

Mass spectrometry is one of the most important, essential and basic techniques in modern science. This is because the mass of a fundamental particle is a fundamental property of the particle itself, or, in a composite quantum mechanical system such as an atom, the mass is the sum of the masses of all its building blocks minus the binding energy between those constituents. The binding energy reflects all physical forces acting in such a quantum system. The most-advanced instrument for high-accuracy mass determinations is the Penning trap using the fundamental techniques of cooling and storing. The most highly developed Penning trap presently at hand needs still a drastic improvement and ground-breaking ideas in order to achieve the two scientific goals of the present grant application: (i), determination of the Q-value of the decay 187Re to 187Os with an accuracy of delta_m/m = 10^(-11) as required for the MARE I campaign aiming at a determination of the mass of the electron antineutrino via a very careful determination and analysis of the beta spectrum; (ii), measurement of the masses of superheavy nuclei (Z less or equal to 118) produced by hot fusion process enabling a clear assignment of the proton number to the different isotopes (and by this also the naming of the elements discovered by hot fusion) and making possible tests of state-of-the-art nuclear theories. A novel method, called quantum sensor, is proposed to measure the mass of a single ion with ultimate accuracy and unprecedented sensitivity while it is stored and cooled in a trap. The new device consists of a single calcium ion as sensor, which is laser-cooled to mK temperatures and stored in a trap connected to the trap for the ion under study by a common endcap. The motion of the ion under investigation is coupled to the sensor ion by the image current induced in the common endcap and observed through its fluorescence light. In this way the detection of phonons is upgraded to a detection of photons.

1 499 280 €

Start date: 2011-11-01, End date: 2017-07-31