Two cooperative research projects from Bochum's solid-state physics department have received funding from the Mercator Research Center Ruhr (MERCUR). The projects of Prof. Dr. Daniel Hägele and Prof. Dr. Michael Scherer deal with different aspects of quantum research.
The goal of Prof. Dr. Hägele 's research project "Towards universal modeling of quantum measurements" is "[e]nhanced understanding of the quantum measurement process" (MERCUR, 2022):
The data streams of continuous quantum measurements on nanosystems can show strongly different behaviors: almost white noise, random jumping between discrete values (quantum jumps) or even randomly distributed peaks (single photon detection). So far, various respectively adapted theories have been used to model and evaluate corresponding experiments. However, there are many classes of experiments that lie between the mentioned extremes and whose description and evaluation is not possible until today. With the quantum polyspectra recently introduced by Professor Daniel Hägele of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, which provide universal access to continuous quantum measurements, the research collaboration now aims to bring the method to maturity theoretically and instrumentally and to enable quantum measurements in a previously inaccessible parameter range.
Source: MERCUR, "1.1 Million Euros for Three New Cooperative Research Projects of the Ruhr University Alliance," 11/22/22, URL: https://mercur-research.de/aktuelles/detail/mercur-bewilligt-11-millionen-euro-fuer-drei-kooperationsprojekte-der-ua-ruhr, retrieved 11/24/22.
The research project "Quantum Fields and Quantum Materials" of Prof. Dr. Scherer deals with quantum field theories:
Quantum field theories form the mathematical framework in which both the standard model of elementary particles and a variety of phenomena of correlated degrees of freedom in condensed matter are described. In the project "Quantum Fields and Quantum Materials", scientists from the Technische Universität Dortmund and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum will deepen their understanding of some quantum field theories that are relevant in various fields of physics, especially with respect to critical behavior at quantum phase transitions, and test conjectures about possible dualities between the theories.
Source: MERCUR, "1.1 Million Euros for Three New Cooperative Research Projects of the Ruhr University Alliance," 11/22/22, URL: https://mercur-research.de/aktuelles/detail/mercur-bewilligt-11-millionen-euro-fuer-drei-kooperationsprojekte-der-ua-ruhr, retrieved 11/24/22.
For the cooperative projects of the UA Ruhr, Dr. Scherer and Dr. Hägele work together with scientists from the TU Dortmund and the University of Duisburg-Essen.
The faculty congratulates on the successful funding.