Project description DEENESFRITPL An unprecedented approach to manipulating light interactions Funded by the European Research Council, the SEAQUEL project aims to construct a new platform for quantum engineering of light that is capable of creating tuneable, deterministic photon-photon interactions. SEAQUEL’s innovative approach combines atomic physics and nanophotonics, where a cold gas of interacting atoms acts as a Bragg mirror saturated by a single photon. This flexible, efficient system that can be dynamically controlled will be used to test the limits of quantum logic, measure physical quantities inaccessible to standard detectors and engineer entangled light beams. The proposed research could offer unprecedented insight into how photons within a cavity form a strongly correlated quantum fluid, enabling real-time simulations of complex topological effects arising in condensed-matter systems. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective This project aims at building a new versatile platform for quantum engineering of light, with the unique ability to create deterministic coherent photon-photon interactions tunable in range, strength and dimensionality. It will explore a new avenue towards this goal, combining cutting-edge advances of atomic physics with ideas inspired by nanophotonics: a cold micro-structured gas of interacting atoms will act as a Bragg mirror saturable by a single photon, strongly coupling a controlled number of spatial modes in an optical resonator. This flexible, efficient, dynamically-controlled system will be used to test the limits of fundamental no-go theorems in quantum logic, measure physical quantities inaccessible to standard detectors, and deterministically engineer massively entangled light beams for Heisenberg-limited sensing. Ultimately, it will give access to a yet unexplored regime where intracavity photons form a strongly correlated quantum fluid, with spatial and temporal dynamics ideally suited to perform real-time, single-particle-resolved simulations of non-trivial topological effects appearing in condensed-matter systems. Fields of science natural sciencesphysical sciencesquantum physicsnatural sciencesphysical sciencesatomic physicsengineering and technologynanotechnologynanophotonicsnatural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physicsphotons Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-StG-2015 - ERC Starting Grant Call for proposal ERC-2015-STG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-STG - Starting Grant Host institution CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS Net EU contribution € 1 500 000,00 Address RUE MICHEL ANGE 3 75794 Paris France See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris Activity type Research Organisations Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 500 000,00 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS France Net EU contribution € 1 500 000,00 Address RUE MICHEL ANGE 3 75794 Paris See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris Activity type Research Organisations Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 500 000,00
