Objective
"Bose-Einstein condensation, the macroscopic ground state occupation of a system of bosonic particles below a critical temperature, has in the last two decades been observed in cold atomic gases and in solid-state physics quasiparticles. The perhaps most widely known example of a bosonic gas, photons in blackbody radiation, however exhibits no Bose-Einstein condensation, because the particle number is not conserved and at low temperatures the photons disappear in the system’s walls instead of massively occupying the cavity ground mode. This is not the case in a small optical cavity, with a low-frequency cutoff imprinting a spectrum of photon energies restricted to well above the thermal energy. Using a microscopic cavity filled with dye solution at room temperature, my group has recently observed the first Bose-Einstein condensate of photons.
Building upon this work, the grant applicant here proposes to study the physics of interacting photon Bose-Einstein condensates in variable potentials. We will study the flow of the light condensate around external perturbations, and exploit signatures for superfluidity of the two-dimensional photon gas. Moreover, the condensate will be loaded into variable potentials induced by optical index changes, forming a periodic array of nanocavities. We plan to investigate the Mott insulating regime, and study thermal equilibrium population of more complex entangled manybody states for the photon gas. Other than in an ultracold atomic gas system, loading and cooling can proceed throughout the lattice manipulation time in our system. We expect to be able to directly condense into a macroscopic occupation of highly entangled quantum states. This is an issue not achievable in present atomic physics Bose-Einstein condensation experiments. In the course of the project, quantum manybody states, when constituting the system ground state, will be macroscopically populated in a thermal equilibrium process."
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences physical sciences atomic physics
- natural sciences physical sciences condensed matter physics solid-state physics
- natural sciences physical sciences condensed matter physics bose-einstein condensates
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics photons
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2012-ADG_20120216
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
53113 BONN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.