Annual School 1: Fundamental quantum and nano-optics

 

Tutorial Lectures

Organised at the University of Sussex, the first annual school will present through tutorial lectures the fundamental principles underlying the research tasks of the network, thereby providing common theoretical methods and advanced knowledge of atomic physics, quantum optics, nano-optics and photonics for the subsequent training of all ESRs. Basic elements of coherent excitation and quantum information processing, which are at the heart of most of the projects, will be discussed, as well as elements of atomic physics, fundamentals of quantized atom-field interaction, modern technologies of atom and ion trapping, and basic concepts of nano-optics and plasmonics, usually not taught in regular courses.

The tutorial will include:

• Principles of quantum control and perspectives;
• Optimal control theory;
• Laser cooling and trapping techniques;
• Fundamentals of Bose Einstein condensation and its implementation;
• Fundamentals of quantized atom-field interaction;
• Quantum engineering:
• Principles and technological implementations of quantum information processing;
• Open quantum systems;
• Circuit and cavity quantum electrodynamics;
• Elements of nano-optics and plasmonics.

The provisional list of external speakers includes B. Shore, S.G. Schirmer, F. Wilhelm, D. Guéry-Odelin, C. Fabre, I.A. Walmsley, A. Beige, G. Rempe, and J.-M. Gérard.

 

Seminar on transferable skills

Attached to the first annual school, a one-day seminar devoted to the transferable skills will be organized. Professional coaches will give training sessions on communication, presentations, organization, and management. The training will focus on intellectual property issues, and how to construct a personal portfolio to support a physics career development in public and private sectors. Information about the various requirements for achieving the PhD will be exchanged and problems regarding the integration of the ESRs will be identified. Presentations on General aspects of good laboratory practice, lab safety and code of conduct will be given. Furthermore there will be lectures on transferable skills concerning the structure and funding of European programmes under Horizon 2020. We will in particular invite a representative of the European Commission to describe the framework programme for research & innovation, and about the strategic priority of Open Science, by promoting diversity in science across the European Union, opening it to the general public and providing the new opportunities for researchers to disseminate, share, explore and collaborate with other researchers. Half a day of the school will be devoted to the outreach activities to the general public at the Sussex University.

 

 

Annual School 2: Light-matter interfaces and control: specific techniques

 

Organized at the University of Sofia, the second school will find the ESRs already well prepared for more specific discussions. The focus will be on established light-matter interfaces and coherent control strategies, which are usually not taught in standard physics courses. Training in this field will allow the ESRs to put their own research projects into perspective and make maximum use of expert knowledge from a broader community. Tutorials by the invited speakers, including representatives from applied research laboratories and industry, will be supplemented with lectures on theoretical and experimental techniques. The material will be organized in three different segments:

• topical presentations by specialists, mainly from outside the network,
• special problems from “the daily life” in a research group taught by senior researchers,
• introduction to some basic rules of presenting seminars, writing papers and preparing proposals.

This school will also emphasise presentation and dissemination techniques, including outreach in physics. Basics of project management are introduced, and proposal and CV/portfolio writing skills are improved further. Anticipated titles and speakers are:

• Modern ion trap technologies;
• Ultrafast strong field quantum control;
• EIT-based non-linear optics: slow and fast light;
• Space-time control in ultrafast nano-optics;
• Advances techniques in quantum information processing;
• Trapping and interfacing atoms using nanofibers;
• Superconducting resonators;
• Quantum optics with ultracold quantum gases;
• Molecular plasmonics and nanophotochemistry;
• Nanobiophotonics and nanomaterials for photonics, photochemistry and photophysics

The provisional list of external speakers includes M. Drewsen, T. Baumert, M. Fleischhauer, T. Brixner, D. Meschede, A. Rauschenbeutel, F. Hekking, H. Ritsch, J. O’Brien, J. Pendry, and V. Sandoghdar.
These will be supplemented by transferable skill lectures on How to write a scientific paper, How to present a seminar, and How to write a proposal (Speaker: K. Bergmann) and on other soft skills (project management, CV/portfolio writing skills) by a professional coach.

 

 

Annual School 3: Advanced applications: small-scale quantum processors and simulators

 

Organized at the Technical University of Darmstadt, the third annual school will be devoted to more complex recent topics, relevant for the research work during the last year of the network operation will be discussed by the SCs and the invited speakers from outside the network. The emphasis will also be on exchanging lessons learnt from recent experiments. Interdisciplinary topics will be given a priority. As part of the transferable skills training, the minischool will be complemented by an Industry Seminar. This includes teamwork for developing business plans as well as case studies presented by industry participants, but also presentations about the career options at public, non-academic service that requires knowledge and experience about R&D work. The training covers also job interviews and addressing business-oriented audiences. With the ESRs being close to the end of their PhD training, this topic will be immediately relevant for their future career. The topics covered will be:

• quantum secure communications;
• quantum metrology;
• quantum sensors;
• quantum simulators;
• quantum computation;
• photonic and atom-chip approaches to quantum computing;
• integrated plasmonics and photonic crystals applied to quantum information processing

the provisional list of external speakers includes S. Haroche, A. Aspect, J. Schmiedmayer, J. Reichel, R. Blatt, M. Mitchell, F. Schmidt-Kaler, T. Schätz, E. Hinds, and L. Novotny). We will also ask and select speakers from a bigger pool of small and large-scale companies outside LIMQUET (e.g. Laser Optics, ID-Quantique, Oxford Instruments, Fastlite, Femtolasers Produktions, Bosch, Continental, Thales, Schott, Luphos, all holding close contacts to the LIMQUET beneficiaries) to contribute to the industry seminars.