Erwin Schrödinger Center for Quantum Science & Technology (ESQ)

The groundbreaking experimental progress in reaching the quantum degeneracy in ultracold bosonic and fermionic atomic gases has marked the beginning of an era of controllable clean experiments in quantum many- body physics. The manipulation of quantum atomic gases via lasers has proven to be a versatile tool as a quantum simulator for exploring novel few- and many-body quantum phenomena. Another new promising direction is to quantum control molecules using laser light and reach quantum degeneracy in molecular gases, opening the possibly for exploring quantum chemistry in ultracold temperatures. In this project, we will push the novel ideas of the "cavity-QED chemistry" to a new frontier. We will investigate the structure, and physical and chemical properties of generic polyatomic molecules strongly coupled to quantized radiation fields, and study the formation of the molecular polariton. This will allow us to  address some of the most fundamental questions in chemistry, such as the possibility of altering intermediate chemical pathways.
 

The ESQ Discovery Programme with its flexible funding scheme allows me to work in a high-risk project “Molecular Cavity QED: Toward Cavity-QED Chemistry”, with potential high gains and novel outcomes, which I have been interested in for some time. Without the ESQ Discovery Programme, it would be difficult to secure a funding for such an exploratory, challenging project through common funding programmes.