The growth of data from simulations and experiments is expanding beyond a level that is addressable by established scientific methods. The so-called “4 V challenge” of Big Data – Volume (the amount of data), Variety (the heterogeneity of form and meaning of data), Velocity (the rate at which data may change or new data arrive), and Veracity (uncertainty of quality) – is clearly becoming...
Planets are common astrophysical objects. Giant planets, which are massive planets made of mostly hydrogen and helium, are the first planets to form in planetary systems, and due to their large masses they affect the dynamical evolution of the system. In addition, giant planets reveal critical information on the planetary birth environment and the formation process.
Gas giants are thought to...
For decades miniaturization has been the driving force behind semiconductor technology and the enabler of today's information technology. The development of smaller devices resulting in faster chips and consequently cheaper microprocessors drove this first-of-a-kind revolution in IT.
Today, the fundamental question raised is: what is next? What will the next revolution be?
With the explosion...
Continuous progress in observation and theory allows to study sources of Cosmic Rays in our Galaxy in ever increasing numbers, variety and phenomenological complexity. We are presently witnessing a broadening of the research field from individual source studies to investigations of population aspects, as well as seeing Galactic source physics reaching out into the extragalactic domain. Some...
Quantum mechanics gives a bound on how precisely two non-commuting observables can be predicted, as expressed by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Nevertheless, Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen (EPR) realised that there are situations in which measurements on one system allow to predict measurement results on an other system with certainty, seemingly violating the uncertainty relation.
By...
The route of a physical system toward equilibrium and thermalization has been the subject of discussion since the time of Boltzmann. In this talk I review the recent progress in understanding many-body localization (MBL), a phase of matter in which quantum mechanics and disorder conspire to prohibit thermalization altogether. I discuss the current understanding of the novel...
Electronic spins yield excellent sensors which enable quantitative, nanoscale imaging even down to the level of single spins. I will describe the basic working principles and technological achievements of such quantum sensors and highlight some of their recent scientific applications to open questions in condensed matter physics.
Specifically, I will discuss how we employ single electronic...
Optical wavefront shaping with spatial light modulators (SLMs), such as deformable mirrors, digital micro-mirror devices or liquid crystal (LC) panels, has become a powerful tool in Biophotonics. “Holographic optical tweezers” are well-known and widespread, but an SLM can also be integrated into optical imaging systems, making the microscope programmable and adaptable with respect to the needs...
The Advanced Wakefield Experiment, AWAKE, is an accelerator R&D experiment at CERN using for the first time ever a high-energy proton bunch to drive plasma wakefields in plasma and accelerating electrons to the GeV energy scale and, in the future, takes advantage of the large energy store in the proton bunch to reach very high energy gain in a single plasma.
The principle of the AWAKE...
Polaritons are half-light half matter quasiparticles resulting from the strong coupling of photons confined in a microcavity with excitons confined in a semiconductor quantum well. Polariton condensates may be created both spontaneously through a “standard” phase transition towards a Bose-Einstein condensate, or be resonantly driven with a well-defined initial phase, speed and spatial...
Nanowires are filamentary crystals with a tailored diameter in the range of few tens of nanometers. Their particular morphology and size renders them particularly attractive for a manifold of applications and fundamental experiments. We present recent results in the area of compound semiconductor nanowires. We review the fundamental properties that render them attractive for solar cells and...
Artificial photosynthesis is a direct and promising option to store solar light as sustainable hydrogen fuel. However, the water oxidation half reaction remains a serious bottleneck for applications and a major challenge for catalyst design. To this end, we pursue a three-pillar approach. (1) Bio-inspired strategies: Our recent progress includes tailored cobalt cubane cut-outs of oxide...
