Quantum Sensors for Fundamental Physics and Society
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Abstract
We propose to harness the immense potential of quantum sensors to conduct experiments in fundamental physics that could lead, for example, to the discovery of dark matter in the UK, and will lead to new applications that can be developed by UK industry for market. The programme we propose lies between STFC and EPSRC science and the strategic areas of Quantum Technology, Computing and Metrology. It will bring together a consortium of scientists from experimental and theoretical particle physics, astrophysics and instrumentation, quantum information scientists and AMO scientists drawn from the STFC and EPSRC communities, and the space community and with NPL and leading international laboratories such as Argonne, Fermilab and SLAC to create new scientific partnerships.
Planned Impact
After this project a consortium will exist which will be fecund soil in which new collaborations and partnerships will flourish realising the potential of quantum sensors to enable new enquiries in fundamental science, and to stimulate the creation of new devices and applications that will be brought to market by UK industry for the betterment of society both in the UK and globally.
Organisations
- University of Oxford (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Waterloo (Collaboration)
- University of British Columbia (Collaboration)
- Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (Collaboration)
- Stanford University (Collaboration)
- TU Wien (Collaboration)
- Fermilab - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF YORK (Collaboration)
- National Physical Laboratory (Project Partner)
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (Project Partner)
- University of Washington (Project Partner)
Publications
Abbott R
(2022)
All-sky, all-frequency directional search for persistent gravitational waves from Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's first three observing runs
in Physical Review D
Abbott R
(2022)
Search for continuous gravitational wave emission from the Milky Way center in O3 LIGO-Virgo data
in Physical Review D
Abbott R
(2022)
Constraints on dark photon dark matter using data from LIGO's and Virgo's third observing run
in Physical Review D
Abbott R
(2022)
Search for Subsolar-Mass Binaries in the First Half of Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's Third Observing Run.
in Physical review letters
Abbott R
(2022)
Narrowband Searches for Continuous and Long-duration Transient Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars in the LIGO-Virgo Third Observing Run
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abbott R
(2022)
Searches for Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars at Two Harmonics in the Second and Third LIGO-Virgo Observing Runs
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abe M
(2021)
Matter-wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor (MAGIS-100)
in Quantum Science and Technology
Alonso Ivan
(2022)
Cold Atoms in Space: Community Workshop Summary and Proposed Road-Map
in arXiv e-prints
Biermann S
(2020)
Unruh and analogue Unruh temperatures for circular motion in 3 + 1 and 2 + 1 dimensions
in Physical Review D
| Description | Articulation of the case for quatum sensing to advance particle physics, leading too creation of the UKRI SPS QTFP programme. |
| Exploitation Route | Via the 7 experiments funded by QTFP |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education |
| Description | Levitated Quantum Diamonds (LQD) |
| Amount | £283,220 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ST/W006561/1 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2022 |
| End | 08/2024 |
| Description | Quantum-enhanced interferometry for new physics |
| Amount | £375,987 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ST/T006404/1 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2020 |
| End | 04/2024 |
| Description | Detecting Unruh radiation in table-top experiments |
| Organisation | University of British Columbia |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are meeting weekly to discuss the ongoing effort to provide modelling for and design future experiments to mimic the Unruh effect in the Laboratory, the external international partners are Bill Unruh (UBC, Canada), who discovered this effect, Joerg Schmiedmayer (Vienna, Austria) and Robert Mann. Unruh is providing modelling expertise. Schmiedmayer is an ultra-cold atoms experimentalists and providing experimental expertise needed for the construction of particle detectors in accelerated motion. Mann is an expert in Relativistic Quantum Information. The national partner is Chris Fewster and expert in theoretical studies of quantum field theory in curved spacetimes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The two senior people of this collaboration from the University of Nottingham are Jorma Louko, and expert in the modelling of particle detectors in accelerated motion and Silke Weinfurtner, an expert in quantum simulators of gravitational effects. |
| Impact | We are meeting weekly online to discuss progress and to define the next steps. Currently, this collaboration resulted in two joint publications: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.085006 https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.213603 See public interest in our work: https://www.sci.news/physics/unruh-effect-09079.html https://science.orf.at/stories/3203450 We also hosted two mini or focus workshop at the University of Nottingham. The most recent one took place in 2022: https://www.gravitylaboratory.com/news/measuring-temperatures-and-harvesting-with-unruh-detectors-in-the-lab |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Detecting Unruh radiation in table-top experiments |
| Organisation | University of Waterloo |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are meeting weekly to discuss the ongoing effort to provide modelling for and design future experiments to mimic the Unruh effect in the Laboratory, the external international partners are Bill Unruh (UBC, Canada), who discovered this effect, Joerg Schmiedmayer (Vienna, Austria) and Robert Mann. Unruh is providing modelling expertise. Schmiedmayer is an ultra-cold atoms experimentalists and providing experimental expertise needed for the construction of particle detectors in accelerated motion. Mann is an expert in Relativistic Quantum Information. The national partner is Chris Fewster and expert in theoretical studies of quantum field theory in curved spacetimes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The two senior people of this collaboration from the University of Nottingham are Jorma Louko, and expert in the modelling of particle detectors in accelerated motion and Silke Weinfurtner, an expert in quantum simulators of gravitational effects. |
| Impact | We are meeting weekly online to discuss progress and to define the next steps. Currently, this collaboration resulted in two joint publications: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.085006 https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.213603 See public interest in our work: https://www.sci.news/physics/unruh-effect-09079.html https://science.orf.at/stories/3203450 We also hosted two mini or focus workshop at the University of Nottingham. The most recent one took place in 2022: https://www.gravitylaboratory.com/news/measuring-temperatures-and-harvesting-with-unruh-detectors-in-the-lab |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Detecting Unruh radiation in table-top experiments |
| Organisation | University of York |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are meeting weekly to discuss the ongoing effort to provide modelling for and design future experiments to mimic the Unruh effect in the Laboratory, the external international partners are Bill Unruh (UBC, Canada), who discovered this effect, Joerg Schmiedmayer (Vienna, Austria) and Robert Mann. Unruh is providing modelling expertise. Schmiedmayer is an ultra-cold atoms experimentalists and providing experimental expertise needed for the construction of particle detectors in accelerated motion. Mann is an expert in Relativistic Quantum Information. The national partner is Chris Fewster and expert in theoretical studies of quantum field theory in curved spacetimes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The two senior people of this collaboration from the University of Nottingham are Jorma Louko, and expert in the modelling of particle detectors in accelerated motion and Silke Weinfurtner, an expert in quantum simulators of gravitational effects. |
| Impact | We are meeting weekly online to discuss progress and to define the next steps. Currently, this collaboration resulted in two joint publications: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.085006 https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.213603 See public interest in our work: https://www.sci.news/physics/unruh-effect-09079.html https://science.orf.at/stories/3203450 We also hosted two mini or focus workshop at the University of Nottingham. The most recent one took place in 2022: https://www.gravitylaboratory.com/news/measuring-temperatures-and-harvesting-with-unruh-detectors-in-the-lab |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Detecting Unruh radiation in table-top experiments |
| Organisation | Vienna University of Technology |
| Country | Austria |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are meeting weekly to discuss the ongoing effort to provide modelling for and design future experiments to mimic the Unruh effect in the Laboratory, the external international partners are Bill Unruh (UBC, Canada), who discovered this effect, Joerg Schmiedmayer (Vienna, Austria) and Robert Mann. Unruh is providing modelling expertise. Schmiedmayer is an ultra-cold atoms experimentalists and providing experimental expertise needed for the construction of particle detectors in accelerated motion. Mann is an expert in Relativistic Quantum Information. The national partner is Chris Fewster and expert in theoretical studies of quantum field theory in curved spacetimes. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The two senior people of this collaboration from the University of Nottingham are Jorma Louko, and expert in the modelling of particle detectors in accelerated motion and Silke Weinfurtner, an expert in quantum simulators of gravitational effects. |
| Impact | We are meeting weekly online to discuss progress and to define the next steps. Currently, this collaboration resulted in two joint publications: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.085006 https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.213603 See public interest in our work: https://www.sci.news/physics/unruh-effect-09079.html https://science.orf.at/stories/3203450 We also hosted two mini or focus workshop at the University of Nottingham. The most recent one took place in 2022: https://www.gravitylaboratory.com/news/measuring-temperatures-and-harvesting-with-unruh-detectors-in-the-lab |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | MAGIS100 |
| Organisation | Fermilab - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | I am the lead UK beyond-the-Standard-Model theorist on the Matter wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor (MAGIS100) experiment at Fermilab. Funded by The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the DOE through the QuantiSED program. |
| Collaborator Contribution | They are building the experiment, and also contributing background theory of the detector and the possible sources. |
| Impact | Matter-wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor (MAGIS-100) MAGIS-100 Collaboration Published in: Quantum Sci.Technol. 6 (2021) 4, 044003 e-Print: 2104.02835 [physics.atom-ph] DOI: 10.1088/2058-9565/abf719 Report number: FERMILAB-PUB-21-031-AD-DI-FESS-QIS-T Experiments: MAGIS-100 |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | MAGIS100 |
| Organisation | Stanford University |
| Department | Department of Physics |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I am the lead UK beyond-the-Standard-Model theorist on the Matter wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor (MAGIS100) experiment at Fermilab. Funded by The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the DOE through the QuantiSED program. |
| Collaborator Contribution | They are building the experiment, and also contributing background theory of the detector and the possible sources. |
| Impact | Matter-wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor (MAGIS-100) MAGIS-100 Collaboration Published in: Quantum Sci.Technol. 6 (2021) 4, 044003 e-Print: 2104.02835 [physics.atom-ph] DOI: 10.1088/2058-9565/abf719 Report number: FERMILAB-PUB-21-031-AD-DI-FESS-QIS-T Experiments: MAGIS-100 |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics |
| Organisation | Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Theory collaboration. Advisory capacity. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Theory collaboration. Distinguished Visiting Research Chair. |
| Impact | 1) Cold Atoms in Space: Community Workshop Summary and Proposed Road-Map e-Print: 2201.07789 [astro-ph.IM] 2) AION: An Atom Interferometer Observatory and Network Published in: JCAP 05 (2020) 011 e-Print: 1911.11755 [astro-ph.CO] DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2020/05/011 3) Matter-wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor (MAGIS-100) MAGIS-100 Collaboration Published in: Quantum Sci.Technol. 6 (2021) 4, 044003 e-Print: 2104.02835 [physics.atom-ph] DOI: 10.1088/2058-9565/abf719 4) Axiverse Strings John March-Russell(Oxford U., Theor. Phys.), Hannah Tillim(Oxford U., Theor. Phys.) e-Print: 2109.14637 [hep-th] 5) Evaporating primordial black holes, the string axiverse, and hot dark radiation Marco Calzà(Coimbra U.), John March-Russell(Oxford U., Theor. Phys.), João G. Rosa(Coimbra U.) e-Print: 2110.13602 [astro-ph.CO] 6) Reproductive freeze-in of self-interacting dark matter John March-Russell(Oxford U., Theor. Phys.), Hannah Tillim(Oxford U., Theor. Phys.), Stephen M. West(Royal Holloway, U. of London) Published in: Phys.Rev.D 102 (2020) 8, 083018 e-Print: 2007.14688 [astro-ph.CO] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.102.083018 7) |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Stanford University |
| Organisation | Stanford University |
| Department | Department of Physics |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaborating theorist. Repeated Visiting Professorship. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaborating theorists. Repeated Visiting Professorship. |
| Impact | 1) String Axiverse Asimina Arvanitaki(UC, Berkeley and LBL, Berkeley), Savas Dimopoulos(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), Sergei Dubovsky(Stanford U., Phys. Dept. and Moscow, INR), Nemanja Kaloper(UC, Davis), John March-Russell(Oxford U., Theor. Phys.) Published in: Phys.Rev.D 81 (2010) 123530 e-Print: 0905.4720 [hep-th] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.81.123530 2) Neutrino masses from large extra dimensions Nima Arkani-Hamed(SLAC), Savas Dimopoulos(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), G.R. Dvali(New York U. and ICTP, Trieste), John March-Russell(CERN) Published in: Phys.Rev.D 65 (2001) 024032 e-Print: hep-ph/9811448 [hep-ph] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.65.024032 3) Black holes and submillimeter dimensions Philip C. Argyres(Cornell U., LNS), Savas Dimopoulos(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), John March-Russell(CERN) Published in: Phys.Lett.B 441 (1998) 96-104 e-Print: hep-th/9808138 [hep-th] DOI: 10.1016/S0370-2693(98)01184-8 4) Stabilization of submillimeter dimensions: The New guise of the hierarchy problem Nima Arkani-Hamed(SLAC), Savas Dimopoulos(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), John March-Russell(CERN) Published in: Phys.Rev.D 63 (2001) 064020 e-Print: hep-th/9809124 [hep-th] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.63.064020 5) Rapid asymmetric inflation and early cosmology in theories with submillimeter dimensions Nima Arkani-Hamed(SLAC), Savas Dimopoulos(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), Nemanja Kaloper(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), John March-Russell(CERN) Published in: Nucl.Phys.B 567 (2000) 189-228 e-Print: hep-ph/9903224 [hep-ph] DOI: 10.1016/S0550-3213(99)00667-7 6) Maximally Natural Supersymmetry Savas Dimopoulos(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), Kiel Howe(Stanford U., Phys. Dept. and Unlisted), John March-Russell(Oxford U., Theor. Phys. and Stanford U., Phys. Dept.) Published in: Phys.Rev.Lett. 113 (2014) 111802 e-Print: 1404.7554 [hep-ph] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.111802 7) String Photini at the LHC Asimina Arvanitaki(UC, Berkeley and LBL, Berkeley), Nathaniel Craig(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), Savas Dimopoulos(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), Sergei Dubovsky(Stanford U., Phys. Dept. and Moscow, INR), John March-Russell(Oxford U., Theor. Phys.) Published in: Phys.Rev.D 81 (2010) 075018 e-Print: 0909.5440 [hep-ph] DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.81.075018 8) Logarithmic unification from symmetries enhanced in the submillimeter infrared Nima Arkani-Hamed(UC, Berkeley and LBL, Berkeley), Savas Dimopoulos(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), John March-Russell(CERN) Published in The many faces of the superworld: Yuri Golfand memorial volume, 627-648 e-Print: hep-th/9908146 [hep-th] DOI: 10.1142/9789812793850_0032 9) Matter-wave Atomic Gradiometer Interferometric Sensor (MAGIS-100) MAGIS-100 Collaboration Published in: Quantum Sci.Technol. 6 (2021) 4, 044003 e-Print: 2104.02835 [physics.atom-ph] DOI: 10.1088/2058-9565/abf719 10) Early inflation and cosmology in theories with submillimeter dimensions Nima Arkani-Hamed(SLAC), Savas Dimopoulos(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), Nemanja Kaloper(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), John March-Russell(CERN) Proceedings: 2nd International Workshop, COSMO'98, Asilomar, USA, Nov 15-20, 1998, 237-243 Published in: AIP Conf.Proc. 478 (1999) 1, 237-243 Contribution to: COSMO 1998, 237-243 e-Print: hep-ph/9903239 [hep-ph] DOI: 10.1063/1.59397 11) Auto-Concealment of Supersymmetry in Extra Dimensions Savas Dimopoulos(Stanford U., ITP and Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), Kiel Howe(Stanford U., ITP and SLAC and Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), John March-Russell(Oxford U., Theor. Phys. and Stanford U., ITP and Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), James Scoville(Oxford U., Theor. Phys. and AFIT, Ohio) Published in: JHEP 06 (2015) 041 e-Print: 1412.0805 [hep-ph] DOI: 10.1007/JHEP06(2015)041 12) Axion Mediation Masha Baryakhtar(Stanford U., ITP), Edward Hardy(Oxford U., Theor. Phys.), John March-Russell(Oxford U., Theor. Phys. and Stanford U., ITP) Published in: JHEP 07 (2013) 096 e-Print: 1301.0829 [hep-ph] DOI: 10.1007/JHEP07(2013)096 13) The Goldstini Variations Nathaniel Craig(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), John March-Russell(Oxford U., Theor. Phys.), Matthew McCullough(Oxford U., Theor. Phys.) Published in: JHEP 10 (2010) 095 e-Print: 1007.1239 [hep-ph] DOI: 10.1007/JHEP10(2010)095 14) Axion-Assisted Electroweak Baryogenesis Nathaniel Craig(Stanford U., Phys. Dept.), John March-Russell(Oxford U., Theor. Phys.) e-Print: 1007.0019 [hep-ph] Report number: SU-ITP-10-18, OUTP-10-10P |
| Description | Featuring of Black Hole Laboratory in Netflix Documentary on 'Black Holes: The Edge of all we Know'. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | My team and I were filmed for Peter Galison's documentary on Black hole - the edge of all we know. The documentary was quite successful, won several prizes and is now available on Netflix (https://www.blackholefilm.com/). The documentary was in the top 10 movies on Netflix USA when it was initially released. There is some beautiful footage of our experiments starting around 46:00 min. Some of the feedback on our setup is very positive: https://www.americanscientist.org/blog/science-culture/seeing-the-unseeable |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.blackholefilm.com/ |
| Description | Forward Thinking programme for Year 9 school students |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | I was a speaker at the event Forward Thinking programme for Year 9 school students (50 participants). I gave a talk about space imaging and the students designed their own space telescope as a part of a group exercise and got positive feedback about the session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/teachers/years-7-11/forward-thinking.aspx#:~:text=The%20programme%20is%... |
| Description | Physics talks within the Birmingham Summer School for Year 10 students |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | I was a speaker at the event Physics talks within the Birmingham Summer School for Year 10 students (50 participants). I have a talk about imaging and discussed limitations on the optical resolution of cameras and human eyes and got positive feedback from the organisers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/teachers/years-7-11/year-10-summer-school.aspx |
| Description | Quantum Sensors for Fundamental Physics Workshop 1 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Quantum Sensors for Fundamental Physics Workshop 1 had 4 goals. 1) To survey the extraordinary science opportunities and UK capabilities to exploit this science in a world-class programme 2) To demonstrate the immense interest in the UK in QSFP 3) To begin to form teams around key experiments that would be funded by QSFP 4) To work with STFC and EPSRC on the QSFP bid. On day 2 there was an overview of the Quantum Programme by Liam Blackwell (EPSRC) and the Strategic Priorities Fund by Jason Green (STFC), questions introduced for the bid and a Town Hall held with opportunity for the participants to help formulate answers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://indico.cern.ch/event/760005/ |
| Description | Quantum Sensors for Fundamental Physics Workshop 2 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Consortium meeting to hear presentations from each workpackage under the QSFP, give feedback, coordinate and merge across workpackages where required. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://indico.cern.ch/event/788042/ |
| Description | Quantum Technology - Next Phase Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The aim of the workshop was to obtain strategic insight from the Quantum Technology community on the next phase of the NQTP investments which will take effect between 2024-2029. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Templeton Foundation: Horizons of Quantum Complexity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Invitation to participate in a brainstorming symposium titled "Horizons of Quantum Complexity" on Tuesday, August 4 2020. The goal of the symposium was to bring together diverse perspectives on fundamental problems in quantum physics to cross-fertilize ideas and identify new research opportunities. During this 2.5 hour symposium session (online), each of the 12 attendees will presented brief remarks (~5 minutes) highlighting a critical open problem or casting a vision for future research. A moderator will facilitate discussions stimulated by these remarks. We will have both experimentalists and theorists participate representing various sub-fields of physics and mathematics, including quantum simulation, condensed-matter physics, quantum information, quantum gravity, analogue gravity, and chaos theory. The list of participants included Juan Maldacena (Princeton), John Preskill (Caltech), Jörg Schmiedmayer (Vienna), Mark Scrednicki (UCSB), Steve Shenker (Stanford), Markus Greiner (Harvard), Vlad Vuletic (MIT), Bill Phillips (NIST), Christopher Jarzynski (Maryland), Aharon Kapitulnik (Stanford). The idea for this symposium arose during our conversations with Dr. Matthew Walhout, Vice President of Natural Sciences at the John Templeton Foundation. Matt is a physicist himself and is exploring the possibility of creating a mid-size (~$10MIL) funding program that would address foundational questions in physics by bringing together the perspectives of different sub-disciplines. There was a symbolic $500 honorarium for participating in the Symposium. Funding possibilities aside, we are eager to bring foundational ideas and questions forward. Please consider bringing your own ideas to the symposium. Do you have opinions about what's next in your area of physics? Or ideas for connecting your area with another area? What are the important, open, and neglected questions that can and should be addressed in the next few years? This meeting lead to special call for funding on Small-Scale Experiments that Advance Fundamental Physics, see link below. This programme seems to be inspired by the UK special programme on Quantum Technology in Fundamental Physics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.templeton.org/news/john-templeton-foundation-announces-joint-funding-initiative-in-funda... |
| Description | UK's strengths and weaknesses in quantum technologies research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was an invitation to participate in one of the key activities of BEIS's programme of work to shape the upcoming National Quantum Strategy. The NQTP partners have identified you as a key participant in a workshop to explore the UK's strengths and weaknesses in quantum technologies research and articulate the upcoming research challenges that the National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP) should seek to address. This workshop was an opportunity to share my views and recommendations on how this vibrant area will evolve and how the government can best support it. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |