How to replace quantum physics with quantum physics
Julian Leonard is awarded an ERC grant. He is developing quantum simulators that can be used to study intriguing effects from solid-state physics. The formulas of quantum physics can be used to explain a wide variety of objects: Atoms, for example, but also microchips or electrons in electromagnetic fields. Sometimes, interesting similarities emerge between seemingly very different quantum experiments: One can investigate a quantum object and learn something that also applies to another quantum object - although at first glance one might think that the two objects have nothing to do with each other. In this case, we speak of "quantum simulators": a physical situation is studied by creating another situation that is similar but easier to investigate. This is precisely the vision of Julian Leonard from the Institute of Atomic and Subatomic Physics at TU Wien (Vienna): He uses electromagnetic fields to manipulate atoms in order to derive insights into the behavior of electrons in solids. For his work, he has now been awarded an ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council - one of the most prestigious grants in the European research landscape, endowed with around 1.5 million euros.
