SFB TRR 185: Open System Control of Atomic and Photonic Matter
As part of its efforts to strengthen top-level research, the German Research Foundation (DFG) funds a number of consortia known as Collaborative Research Centers (CRCs), some of which are implemented by several universities working together. Our collaborative research center "Open System Control of Atomic and Photonic Matter" (OSCAR) has now received funding for the third funding period.
A common presumption in physics is that quantum effects will only have a decisive impact on a system’s properties if it is as isolated as possible from its environment, and many quantum technologies hinge on precisely this isolation. The main approach adopted by CRC/TRR 185 turns this on its head: its researchers are looking at the coupling of quantum systems to reservoirs as a potentially useful tool rather than an unavoidable nuisance. This CRC aims to use external drive and tailored reservoirs to counteract the effects of generic, uncontrolled environments and create a toolbox for controlling single- and many-body quantum systems using open systems. This includes generating, controlling and stabilizing interesting and useful quantum states as well as stimulating and manipulating collective processes. “With our consortium, we're coming up with new ways of controlling quantum systems by coupling them to outside influences, which we call ‘environments,’” says Professor Corinna Kollath, the speaker in Bonn. “Going forward, our hope is that this will open up new applications and functionalities in quantum technology.”
Project C7N: Dynamical signatures of topological states in photon condensates
In the joint experimental and theoretical project, our group together with the theory group led by Prof. David Luitz (Bonn) will study the dynamics of bosons in 1D lattices with topological properties induced by a coupling to the environment. Our main goal is to find dynamical signatures of topological states, which we prepare by spatially-controlled gain and loss in the system, as well as of exceptional points of the corresponding non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. We will pursue this goal by studying the dynamics of coupled Bose-Einstein condensates of photons in 1D chains of dye-filled microcavities. The project addresses central questions of the CRC-TR 185 concerning the generation, protection and measurement of topological states by coupling to reservoirs.