Quantum Vortex Simulator: from fundamental properties toward engineering mobility

Project Information

QUAVADIS

Grant agreement ID: 101076129

DOI

10.3030/101076129

EC signature date 30 November 2023

Start date 1 January 2024

End date 31 December 2028

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 500 000,00

EU contribution

€ 1 500 000,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - QUAVADIS (Quantum Vortex Simulator: from fundamental properties toward engineering mobility)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2026-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Vortices are ubiquitous phenomena, appearing in systems ranging from everyday fluids to astrophysical environments, and they play a central role in fluid dynamics. In quantum systems, vortices are equally fundamental, governing key transport properties of superfluids and superconductors. Since the discovery of helium superfluids and, later, atomic Bose–Einstein condensates, extensive research has revealed important features such as vortex lattice formation, nucleation dynamics, excitation modes, and dissipation mechanisms. Nevertheless, experimental studies have faced constraints, including limited control over geometry, interactions, and dynamical time scales, which have restricted access to many long-standing and complex problems in quantum vortex physics.

The main objective of this project is to investigate fundamental and practical aspects of quantum vortices using ultracold quantum gases as a highly controllable platform. By exploiting advanced quantum technologies and the favorable time and length scales of vortex dynamics in atomic superfluids, the project aims to experimentally address previously intractable problems in vortex physics. Enhanced optical access and the ability to arbitrarily tailor the superfluid density landscape will enable controlled vortex dynamics in designed geometries. This approach will allow systematic investigations in both two- and three-dimensional configurations with fully engineered trapping potentials.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the first two years of the project, the focus was on establishing a start-up experimental platform for lithium Fermi quantum gases. The main achievement was the successful construction and integration of a complete ultracold atom apparatus.

We realized the full laser cooling system, including the lithium oven, Zeeman slower, main vacuum system, and a six-beam D2 MOT. Subsequently, compressed MOT and D1 gray molasses cooling produced ~1.5 × 10⁹ atoms at 80–90 μK. Custom-built magnetic systems—including MOT coils, compensation coils, Zeeman slower coils, and water-cooled Feshbach coils—enabled precise magnetic control and tunable interactions. The integrated platform reached ultra-high vacuum pressures of 1.5 × 10⁻¹¹ Torr, enabling long atomic cloud lifetimes. A high-power infrared optical dipole trap was installed, and initial loading was carried out to transport the laser-cooled cloud to the glass cell via optical transport. In the glass cell, we performed evaporative cooling in the optical dipole trap and recently achieved a molecular Bose–Einstein condensate (mBEC), demonstrating full quantum degeneracy and confirming the performance of our new experimental setup.

We are currently optimizing the cooling scheme to maximize the atom number while simultaneously testing and implementing a digital micromirror device (DMD) to tailor the density and geometry of the cloud. Using quantum gas microscopy techniques, we expect to create deterministic, on-demand quantum vortices in our Fermi superfluid gases soon.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The activities carried out during the first two years do not in themselves constitute scientific breakthroughs. Rather, they represent the completion of the essential preparatory phase required to enable future breakthrough results. The establishment of a fully operational lithium quantum gas platform, together with the demonstration of quantum degeneracy, confirms that the laboratory has reached physics-ready performance. The project now provides the technical conditions necessary for frontier studies of quantum vortices in strongly interacting Fermi systems. We will soon investigate previously unexplored vortex dynamics in two- and three-dimensional geometries, including vortex lines and rings in atomic superfluids across the BEC–BCS crossover.