SFB 925:  Light Induced Dynamics and Control of Correlated Quantum Systems

• Subject Area: Physics
• Term: from 2011 to 2023
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 170620586

A comprehensive understanding and accurate description of interacting quantum many-body systems remains one of the most fundamental and complex problems in physics. It is known that the correlations arising from interactions between particles very often dominate the system’s behaviour and lead to some of the most striking phenomena observed in nature, with high-temperature superconductivity and the fractional quantum Hall effect being two prominent examples. While ground state properties of a variety of correlated quantum many-body systems are fairly well understood nowadays, very little is known about the behaviour of quantum systems far from equilibrium and on how correlations influence the dynamics.In the previous funding periods the SFB 925 has made extensive progress in understanding and controlling non-equilibrium dynamics of many-body systems, using light as a central tool to manipulate and detect dynamical phenomena in a variety of experimental platforms governed by different time and energy scales. In a joint effort, the participating scientists investigate different systems, ranging from small systems like single atoms and molecules, in which correlations can be studied and controlled on a very fundamental level, to condensed matter systems characterized by complex many-body phases. As an important connecting element, ultracold quantum gases in optical lattices bridge from models to real materials. In the third funding period, we aim at designing and implementing light induced dynamical control of specific metastable states that provide interesting physical functionality. The collaborative research center drives the structural development of physics in Hamburg in the last years, which strengthens the areas of atomic, molecular, ultrafast and condensed-matter physics as well as quantum gases enormously. It combines expertise from all these fields at the University of Hamburg and its partners, the Helmholtz-centre DESY, the Max-Planck society and the European X-FEL GmbH, to form a strong and well-suited research collaboration in order to address the challenging questions of many-body quantum physics. The SFB combines this excellent research program with a training of young researchers at the highest level, with modern concepts of gender equality and family support and includes a specific public outreach program.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Completed projects

• A01 - Electronic correlation in atoms and molecules studied time-resolved with synchronized visible/IR and X-ray pulses (Project Heads Drescher, Markus ;  Frühling, Ulrike ;  Meyer, Michael )
• A02 - Coherent control of correlated electron systems with ionizing light fields (Project Heads Drescher, Markus ;  Laarmann, Tim )
• A03 - Electronic correlation in nonlinear processes (Project Heads Martins, Michael ;  Meyer, Michael )
• A04 - Nonlinear spectroscopy of ultrafast electronic correlations in molecular and crystalline spin systems (Project Heads Bressler, Christian ;  Huse, Nils ;  Thorwart, Michael )
• A05 - Dynamics in confined quantum systems (Project Heads Pfannkuche, Daniela ;  Santra, Robin ;  Vendrell, Oriol )
• A06 - Few-atom systems as simulators for attosecond physics (Project Head Weitenberg, Christof )
• A07 - Ultrafast molecular stabilization mediated by electronic correlations (Project Heads Calegari, Francesca ;  Rubio, Angel )
• B01 - Strongly correlated electron systems: control and coherent reconstruction (Project Heads Cavalleri, Andrea ;  Chapman, Ph.D., Henry N. )
• B02 - Ultrafast dynamics in strongly correlated systems (Project Heads Martins, Michael ;  Rossnagel, Kai ;  Wurth, Wilfried )
• B03 - Correlations and symmetries in spin systems (Project Heads Grübel, Gerhard ;  Gutt, Christian )
• B04 - Time-dependent metal-insulator transition with light-induced dynamics (Project Heads Eckstein, Martin ;  Lechermann, Frank ;  Lichtenstein, Alexander )
• B05 - Dynamics of strongly correlated degrees of freedom in model systems (Project Head Potthoff, Michael )
• B06 - Controlling the electronic structure of graphene with light (Project Head Gierz-Pehla, Isabella )
• B07 - Towards metastable non-equilibrium superconductivity (Project Heads Cavalleri, Andrea ;  Mathey, Ludwig )
• B08 - Femtosecond science on-chip: Controlling non-equilibrium quantum transport in graphene heterostructures (Project Heads Cavalleri, Andrea ;  Mathey, Ludwig ;  McIver, James )
• B09 - Controlled dynamics in crafted spin arrays coupled to itinerant electron baths (Project Heads Krause, Stefan ;  Wiebe, Jens ;  Wiesendanger, Roland )
• C01 - Interaction-induced topological order in orbital optical lattices (Project Heads Hemmerich, Andreas ;  Sengstock, Klaus ;  Simonet, Juliette ;  Windpassinger, Patrick )
• C02 - Gauge-field induced quantum phases in fermionic optical lattices (Project Head Hemmerich, Andreas )
• C03 - Interacting fermions in topological lattices (Project Heads Becker, Christoph ;  Sengstock, Klaus )
• C04 - Exploring non-equilibrium dynamics in strongly interacting Fermi gases (Project Head Moritz, Henning )
• C05 - Non-equilibrium dynamics, fluctuations and competing phases in an open driven atom-cavity system (Project Heads Hemmerich, Andreas ;  Thorwart, Michael )
• C06 - Ultracold quantum gases in optical lattices - Structure and excitations beyond the mean-field approximation (Project Heads Chudnovskiy, Alexander ;  Pfannkuche, Daniela )
• C07 - Correlated non-equilibrium quantum dynamics in driven bosonic systems (Project Head Schmelcher, Peter )
• C08 - Quantum activation and dynamical tunnelling of quantum gases in driven nonlinear resonators (Project Head Thorwart, Michael )
• C09 - Dynamical control of order and transport (Project Head Mathey, Ludwig )
• MGK - Integrated research training group (Project Heads Grübel, Gerhard ;  Huse, Nils ;  Laarmann, Tim ;  Moritz, Henning ;  Sengstock, Klaus )
• Z - Administrative project (Project Head Sengstock, Klaus )
• Ö - Public relations (Project Heads Sengstock, Klaus ;  Thorwart, Michael )
• Ö - Öffentlichkeitsarbeit (Project Head Sengstock, Klaus )

• Applicant Institution: Universität Hamburg
• Participating Institution: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY); Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL); Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY); European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (XFEL); Max-Planck-Institut für Struktur und Dynamik der Materie (MPSD)
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Klaus Sengstock