Ionization is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive charge by gaining or losing electrons, often in conjunction with other chemical changes. The resulting electrically charged atom or molecule is called an ion. Ionization can result from the loss of an electron after collisions with subatomic particles, collisions with other atoms, molecules and ions, or through the interaction with electromagnetic radiation. Heterolytic bond cleavage and heterolytic substitution reactions can result in the formation of ion pairs. Ionization can occur through radioactive decay by the internal conversion process, in which an excited nucleus transfers its energy to one of the inner-shell electrons causing it to be ejected.
This is a timeline of quantum computing.
Optical tweezers are scientific instruments that use a highly focused laser beam to hold and move microscopic and sub-microscopic objects like atoms, nanoparticles and droplets, in a manner similar to tweezers. If the object is held in air or vacuum without additional support, it can be called optical levitation.
Resolved sideband cooling is a laser cooling technique allowing cooling of tightly bound atoms and ions beyond the Doppler cooling limit, potentially to their motional ground state. Aside from the curiosity of having a particle at zero point energy, such preparation of a particle in a definite state with high probability (initialization) is an essential part of state manipulation experiments in quantum optics and quantum computing.
Rainer Blatt is a German-Austrian experimental physicist. His research centres on the areas of quantum optics and quantum information. He and his team performed one of the first experiments to teleport atoms, the other was done at NIST in Boulder Colorado. The reports of both groups appeared back-to-back in Nature.
Peter Zoller is a theoretical physicist from Austria. He is professor at the University of Innsbruck and works on quantum optics and quantum information and is best known for his pioneering research on quantum computing and quantum communication and for bridging quantum optics and solid state physics.
Highly charged ions (HCI) are ions in very high charge states due to the loss of many or most of their bound electrons by energetic collisions or high-energy photon absorption. Examples are 13-fold ionized iron, Fe13+
or Fe XIV in spectroscopic notation, found in the Sun's corona, or naked uranium, U92+
, which is bare of all bound electrons, and which requires very high energy for its production. HCI are found in stellar corona, in active galactic nuclei, in supernova remnants, and in accretion disks. Most of the visible matter found in the universe consists of highly charged ions. High temperature plasmas used for nuclear fusion energy research also contain HCI generated by the plasma-wall interaction. In the laboratory, HCI are investigated by means of heavy ion particle accelerators and electron beam ion traps. They might have applications in improving atomic clocks, advances in quantum computing, and more accurate measurement of fundamental physical constants.
Cavity quantum electrodynamics is the study of the interaction between light confined in a reflective cavity and atoms or other particles, under conditions where the quantum nature of photons is significant. It could in principle be used to construct a quantum computer.
Harry Jeffrey Kimble, was the William L. Valentine Professor and professor of physics at Caltech. His research is in quantum optics and is noted for groundbreaking experiments in physics including one of the first demonstrations of teleportation of a quantum state, quantum logic gate, and the development of the first single atom laser. According to Elizabeth Rogan, OSA CEO, "Jeff has led a revolution in modern physics through his pioneering research in the coherent control of the interactions of light and matter." Kimble's main research focus is in quantum information science and the quantum dynamics of open systems.
The Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) in Singapore is a Research Centre of Excellence hosted by the National University of Singapore. The Centre brings together physicists, computer scientists and engineers to do basic research on quantum physics and to build devices based on quantum phenomena. Experts in quantum technologies are applying their discoveries in computing, communications and sensing.
In optical physics, laser detuning is the tuning of a laser to a frequency that is slightly off from a quantum system's resonant frequency. When used as a noun, the laser detuning is the difference between the resonance frequency of the system and the laser's optical frequency. Lasers tuned to a frequency below the resonant frequency are called red-detuned, and lasers tuned above resonance are called blue-detuned.
Gerhard Rempe is a German physicist, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Honorary Professor at the Technical University of Munich. He has performed pioneering experiments in atomic and molecular physics, quantum optics and quantum information processing.
National Laboratory of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics is the national inter-university research center with the headquarters at Institute of Physics of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland. Established in 2002, the Laboratory is focused on atomic, molecular, and optical physics (AMO).
The I. I. Rabi Prize in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics is given by the American Physical Society to recognize outstanding work by mid-career researchers in the field of atomic, molecular, and optical physics. The award was endowed in 1989 in honor of the physicist I. I. Rabi and has been awarded biannually since 1991.
Helen Sarah Margolis is a British physicist who is a Senior Fellow and Head of Science for Time and Frequency at the National Physical Laboratory. Her research considers the use of optical frequency metrology using femtosecond combs.
Wolfgang Lechner is a theoretical physicist from Austria. He is the co-founder and co-CEO of the company ParityQC and professor at the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of Innsbruck.
Tanja Elisabeth Mehlstäubler is a physicist specializing in the field of quantum optical clocks, ion trap based quantum technologies, and precision optical spectroscopy, and is a full time professor at the Leibniz University Hannover in Germany. She is also a guest faculty member at Osaka University, Japan. Mehlstäubler heads a Quantum Clocks and Complex Systems research group at the QUEST Institute for Experimental Quantum Metrology at PTB, Braunschweig. She is involved in developing the high-precision scalable and integrated ion traps for enabling 3D optical access for coherent laser manipulation and clock interrogation. Tanja Mehlstäubler received her PhD summa cum laude, in 2005, from the University of Hannover. She worked on thesis titled Novel Cooling Methods for an Optical Frequency Standard Based on Mg Atoms. A part of her graduate studies was completed at the State University of New York as she was the recipient of a Fulbright grant.
Helmut Ritsch is an Austrian quantum physicist and a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Innsbruck.
Giovanna Morigi is a physicist whose research involves theoretical quantum mechanics, including quantum optics, Wigner crystals, laser cooling, and ultracold atoms. Beyond fundamental physics, she has also published research on size control in biological tissue growth. Born in Italy and educated in Austria, she works in Germany as a professor of theoretical physics at Saarland University.
Wolfgang Sperl is an Austrian physician and has been rector of Paracelsus Medical University in Salzburg since June 1, 2020. Up until June 2021, he headed the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at University Hospital Salzburg and was also Head of the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Salzburg.
