Objective
A variety of classical optical systems exhibiting rich and complex matter-like behavior have been explored in recent years. Unfortunately in the optical regime, photons – the fundamental constituents of light – do not interact strongly with one another, and therefore cannot be used for studying many-body effects. It is only in the extreme regime of quantum nonlinear optics where effective interactions between photons are made strong. In an atomic gas, strong long-range interactions can be achieved by coupling photons to interacting atoms. First experiments have indicated the formation of a two-photon bound state via this mechanism. The main goal of the proposed research is to develop an optical system based on atomic interactions that realizes quantum many-body physics with optical photons subject to a rich variety of model problems.
The proposed method relies on reconfigurable, optically-induced, three-dimensional, structures, which are fully compatible with the underlying atomic process. These structures enable the spatial compression of photons for enhancing the interactions, wave guiding for one-dimensional confinement in long media, and a rich variety of two-dimensional potentials with tunable interactions, from nearly-free photons to various tight-binding models with a controllable level of disorder. Optically-induced structures also offer advantages to optical quantum information, enabling better gate fidelities due to stronger nonlinearities and multimode coupling for processes such as photon routing.
Our method has the potential to realize quantum gases and fluids of interacting photons. We can manipulate the effective mass and the band structure, control the potential landscape, and tune the scattering length in the system from attractive to repulsive. In particular, we intend to study few-photon bound states, quantum solitons, Luttinger liquids of photons, and Wigner crystallization in one and two dimensions.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering computer hardware quantum computers
- natural sciences physical sciences condensed matter physics quantum gases
- natural sciences physical sciences optics nonlinear optics
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics photons
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
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.
-
H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
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.
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.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
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.
(opens in new window) ERC-2015-STG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
7610001 Rehovot
Israel
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.