On the Frontiers of Quantum Research

A pioneering vision of 20^th-century physicist and Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner was that the distribution of the gaps between energy levels of complicated quantum systems depends only on the basic symmetry of the model. Professor László Erdős and his group, Mathematics of Disordered Quantum Systems and Matrices, seek to verify Wigner’s vision with full mathematical rigor.

Professor Mikhail Lemeshko and his group, Theoretical Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, study how many-particle quantum phenomena emerge in ensembles of atoms and molecules. Their theoretical efforts aim to explain experiments on cold molecules and ultra-cold quantum gases and predict novel, previously unobserved phenomena.

With his group, Mathematical Physics, Professor Robert Seiringer develops new mathematical tools for the rigorous analysis of many-particle systems in quantum mechanics, with a special focus on exotic phenomena in quantum gases, like Bose-Einstein condensation and superfluidity.

The group of Professor Maksym Serbyn, Quantum Dynamics and Condensed Matter Theory, explores various open questions about quantum non-equilibrium matter. In a recent publication in Physical Review Letters, the Serbyn group has pushed the theory of quantum scars, demonstrating that this bizarre quantum phenomenon is more common than anticipated. Their findings could have future applications in quantum computing.

Ultrafast light-matter interactions have been predominantly viewed from a “semiclassical” perspective, treating matter quantum-mechanically while imposing a classical description of the electromagnetic field. Assistant Professor Denitsa Baykusheva and her group, Ultrafast Quantum Spectroscopy, seek to bridge this gap and fully bring ultrafast spectroscopy to the quantum regime.

With his group, Quantum Sensing with Atoms and Light, Assistant Professor Onur Hosten aims to develop innovative techniques to control the quantum properties of atomic, optical, and mechanical systems. The group’s long-term goal is to explore challenging experimental questions, such as the nature of dark matter and the interplay between quantum mechanics and gravity.

Assistant Professor Julian Léonard and his group, Quantum Optics, seek to understand small particles and the forces that govern their behavior by studying quantum optical systems built of individually controlled atoms and photons. Their approach could help improve materials and develop applications in quantum computing and quantum information processing.

The group of Assistant Professor Zhanybek Alpichshev, Condensed Matter and Ultrafast Optics, uses ultra-fast optical methods to understand the physical mechanisms underlying some of the extremely complicated phenomena in many-body physics, such as the behavior of a large number of strongly correlated particles.

Modern quantum materials, such as unconventional superconductors, quantum spin liquids, and topological semimetals, host various emergent states of matter. With her group, Thermodynamics of Quantum Materials at the Microscale, Assistant Professor Kimberly Modic combines custom-built thermodynamic probes with state-of-the-art sample preparation to determine these states’ broken symmetries and topological structures.

The group of Assistant Professor Hryhoriy Polshyn, Emergent Electronic Phenomena in 2D Materials, experimentally explores novel electronic states and investigates their fundamental properties. The group’s research aims to better understand exotic electronic states and establish the physics background for conceptually new electronic devices and qubits.

With her group, Symmetry Probes of Quantum Matter, the incoming Assistant Professor Veronika Sunko, who will join ISTA in September 2025, will explore the causes and consequences of symmetry breaking in quantum materials and its relationship to topology. She aims to develop experimental methods sensitive to broken symmetries and use them to discover, characterize, and manipulate novel phenomena.

The group of Professor Johannes Fink, Quantum Integrated Devices, studies quantum physics in electrical, mechanical, and optical chip-based devices to advance quantum technology for simulation, communication, measurement techniques, and sensing. In a recent publication in Nature Physics, the Fink group achieved a fully optical readout of superconducting qubits, pushing the technology beyond its current limitations. This work lays the foundation for building a network of superconducting quantum computers connected via optical fibers at room temperature.

Professor Georgios Katsaros and his group, Nanoelectronics, investigate semiconductor nanodevices and study quantum effects when these devices are cooled to -273.14°C. They aim to create spin qubits in Germanium and to understand whether protected qubits can be realized in hybrid semiconductor-superconductor systems. In addition, they study new fundamental physics emerging in semiconductor nanodevices. In a recent publication in Nature Communications, the Katsaros group harnessed the response of hole spin qubits to magnetic and electric fields, thus answering fundamental questions about the physics that could help advance quantum processors.