We are the quantum theory team led by Prof Erik Gauger at Heriot-Watt University.
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We study harnessing quantum mechanical properties of nanostructures and light. We are motivated by wishing to better understand the physical world, as well as enabling novel types of technologies:
Unlocking the ultimate limits of energy efficiency requires a physical understanding at level of single quanta of energy.
Information processing in the quantum world offers fascinating non-classical advantages.
Quantum systems are fragile, and this can exploited for probing the environment.
Interactions with single quantum systems represents an exciting frontier and new access to visualing samples.
Group leader, Professor of Theoretical Physics in the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciendes at Heriot-Watt, and Member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's Young Academy of Scotland.
Moritz is a senior Research Associate working on efficient and exact simulations of nanoscale quantum devices, as part of a joint project with collaborators at St Andrews.
Nick's main home is now the Quantum Photonics Labs but he also remains an active associate member of qtt, continuing his work on biological and bio-inspired quantum light-harvesting.
is interested in quantum-enhanced (optical) sensing, imaging and metrology.
explores protocols for quantum metrology, studying both optical setups and spin sensors.
works on designing and engineeing photonic samples. He is jointly supervised with Luca Sapienza and Rob Benett from Glasgow and his main home is the Integrated Quantum Photonics Group
currently works on dispersive, waveguide-assisted read out of double quantum dots. He is jointly supervised with Brendon Lovett and based at St Andrews.
Henry's main interest is the learning of non-Markovian open systems dynamics from experimental data.
researches experimentally measurable signatures of (collective) quantum effects in biological and bio-inspired nano-emitters.
explores approaches for understanding, controlling, and optimising solid-state quantum devices using machine learning. He is primarily based in Oxford in the Natalia Ares Group.
investigates quantum effects in the light matter interaction of strongly coupled systems with applicaitons for light-harvesting.
is working on understanding the properties of strongly coupled indistinguishable quantum emitters and absorbers.
uses Bayesian inference for Lindbladian learning from measured data. He is jointly supervised with Cristian Bonato from the Quantum Photonics Lab.
Automated Compression of Environment(s): We have developed a powerful general purpose tool for the numerically exact simulation of open quantum systems, including in the presence of multiple and non-Gaussian environments.
Demonstrating superabsorption of large numbers of organic molecules represents an important step toward developing a prototype of a Dicke quantum batttery.
With collaborators from Delft and Oxford, we have provided the first simultaneously recorded full mapping of the thermoelectric properties of a single molecule.
We contributed to the study Understanding resonant charge transport through weakly coupled single-molecule junctions in Nature Communications, which tests our recent work Beyond Marcus theory and the Landauer-Büttiker approach in molecular junctions: A unified framework .
Our work on Light-harvesting with guide-slide superabsorbing condensed-matter nanostructures was selected for a Supplemental Cover in the The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. Our study shows that superabsorbing light-harvesting should indeed be achievable, even with antennae consisting of noisy condensed matter nanostructures.
Our paper in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters shows how quantum interference in spiro-conjugated molecules could lead to attractive components for functional molecular circuits. Earlier work on single molecule junctions in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics translates the celebrated mechanism of Environment-Assisted Quantum Transport (ENAQT) from energy to charge transfer processes.
In our publication Attosecond-Resolution Hong-Ou-Mandel Interferometry we demonstrate that a Fisher-information informed protocol improves experimental HOM sensitivity by factor ∼100 and makes it comparable to classical phase-sensitive interferometry.
Our paper Photocell Optimization Using Dark State Protection, concerned with beating the famous Shockley-Queisser limit for light harvesting by exploiting collective quantum mechanical effects, has been selected as an Editor's Suggestion by Physical Review Letters and has been covered by ArsTechnica .
Orbs is the result of an interdisciplinary collaboration exploring the use of games for the communication of science. This project was supported by the Scottish Crucible programme of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The finished game, which was presented at DIGRA in Dundee, August 2016.
In a recent publication in Nature Communcations we show that the signature quantum effect of superradiance can be inverted, promising better photon detectors and improved light harvesting. Our paper has been highlighted by Nature Photonics and Physics World.
The debate we have triggered on the utility of postselected weak measurements for designing better quantum sensors continues.
Performing measurements which only reveal little information can sometimes be useful in the quantum world, as this does not collapse the wavefunction. Over the last few years, it has been suggested that such measurements combined with judicial postselection may even unlock superior metrological performance. However, analysing this question for magnetic sensors a couple of years ago we found no advantage. Our publication has since triggered a lively debate, inspiring a host of follow up work from all over the world.
We have also been digging deeper with an article in Phys. Rev. X which deals with imperfections at the detection stage. However, once more we find that amplification obtained by weak measurements generally does not improve metrological performance.
Together with Chris Ferrie and Josh Combes, we have now posted a survey about the state of play and remaining open questions in weak-value amplification.
Intriguingly, there is now increasing evidence that the compass sense of birds involves a quantum mechanical process, which may enable birds to literally 'see' the magnetic field.
How precisely do birds navigate over long distances without getting lost? In a Biophysical Journal article, we suggest that certain migratory birds might literally ‘see’ Earth’s magnetic field superimposed on their normal vision, reminiscent of a fighter pilot’s heads up display.
Our proposal builds on the established Radical Pair model of the avian compass, replacing the hypothetical chemical signal transduction stage, for which no evidence exists, with a physical mechanism, by which an electrical dipole field directly influence the visual process in the bird’s eye.
Apart from simplifying the story, our model provides an explanation as to why the evolution of an extraordinarily long compass coherence time would have been favoured by natural selection. This provides at least a partial answer to this puzzling questions which we raised with a previous Physical Review Letter on the same topic.
We are always looking for enthusiastic and talented people to join our group!
Opportunities for fully funded PhD studentships for UK and international applicants regularly exist. Places are filled on a competitive, rolling basis. Please get in touch if interested.
We are open to discussing a broad range of project topics related to our research interests (see recent publications for an overview).
We will be adversiting an opportunity to work on the project "Exploring bio-inspired collective light-matter interactions in the solid-state" supported by the Leverhulme Trust soon. Get in touch or check back soon if interested.
We are happy to support applications and host recipients of personal research fellowships (e.g. URF, Marie Curie, 1851, Newton International etc).
A complete list of publications can be found on
Prof Erik M Gauger
Room DB 1.10
Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences
School of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh EH14 4AS, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)131 451 3345
e.gauger@hw.ac.uk
