"Ultra-cold neutrons (UCN) are a unique tool to measure fundamental properties of nature. Due to the neutron’s comparably simple composition, it is also a favored system to perform searches for a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of a fundamental system that violates time reversal symmetry. Such a phenomenon is required in most theories in particle physics to explain the excess of matter versus antimatter in the Universe, a problem which the standard model of particle physics fails to explain by eight orders of magnitude. The search for EDMs is already ongoing for many years in different systems and has already ruled out or restricted many theories and already probes energy scales beyond the LHC. In this talk I will give an overview of the research with such very slow neutrons and focus on a new flagship experiment that is currently being set up at the FRM-2 reactor in Garching to measure the neutron EDM with a sensitivity of 10-28 e.cm. This corresponds to a larger than a factor 100 improvement, which requires next to the strongest possible source of UCN also an elaborate effort to control systematic effects in small magnetic and electric fields."

"In this talk I will report on recent progress made at NIST Boulder in the manipulation of ions using microfabricated surface traps. A first experiment performs a laser-less two qubit logic gate, taking advantage of the high magnetic field gradients that can be generated on ion chips. A second experiment, operated at cryogenic temperature, shows the exchange of a single quantum of vibration between two ions trapped 40 micrometers apart. Lastly, I will describe an experiment where the anomalous heating rate of a trapped ion is reduced by a factor of 100 after in-situ cleaning of the surface of the trap."

"The main goal of the new attosecond (asec=10**-18s) science is the visualization, control and manipulation of electrons on their natural time scale, the asec (152 asecs  being the orbital period of the H atom). High order harmonic generation (HHG) in atoms and Molecular High Order Harmonic Generation (MHOHG) in molecules driven by intense ultrashort low frequency laser pulses are the current main source of asec pulses.The mechanism for generation of harmonics is based on the three-step model of tunnelling ionization, acceleration  and collision-recollision of the ionized electron with parent or neighbour ions [1]. So far only linearly polarized isolated asec pulses have been generated for which the recollision model predicts maximum energies [2]. Current research on asec  pulse generation is focused on the polarization state in MHOHG [3]. Modelling of laser-molecule interactions in the nonlinear nonperturbative regime requires extensive (expensive) numerical solutions of Time-Dependent Schroedinger Equations (TDSE) from which one can study recollision dynamics with ultrashort intense circularly polarized laser pulses in order to produce circular asec pulses. Semiclassical models of laser induced recollision allow for determining the effect of various laser parameters such as polarization, intensity and duration of circularly polarized asec  pulses. Such pulses due to their large band width will allow for the creation of circular coherent  electron wave packets (CEWP), ie, « spinning » electrons. Chemistry and biology have lived through 2 centuries of molecular « structure ». Asec pulses will finally allow scientists  to study molecular « function » on the electron`s natural time scale, the asec?"

[1] PB Corkum, Physics Today, March 2011,p.16

[2] AD Bandrauk, S Chelkowski, Intnl Rev Atom Molec Phys, 2, 1-22 (2011).

[3] AD Bandrauk, KJ Yuan, J Phys B, S 45, 074001 (2012)

"We have observed 3D localization of ultra-cold atoms of a Bose Einstein Condensate, suspended against gravity, and released in a 3D optical disordered potential with short correlation lengths in all directions. Fluorescence imaging of the expanding cloud yields density profiles composed of a steady localized part and a diffusive part. A phenomenological analysis of the data allows us to determine the localized fraction and the diffusion coefficients of the diffusing part. I will present and discuss these results, in the context of Anderson localization."

"I will show how one can apply quantum information tools to study various problems in statistical mechanics. We focus on classical spin models, which are toy models used in a variety of fields such as magnetism or quantum gravity, and we tackle them from three different angles. First, we show how the partition function of a class of widely different classical spin models (models in different dimensions, different types of many-body interactions, different symmetries, etc) can be mapped to the partition function a single model. Second, we give efficient quantum algorithms to estimate the partition function of various classical spin models, such as the Ising or Potts model. Finally, we outline the possibility of applying quantum information tools to a model of discrete quantum gravity called causal dynamical triangulation."

"Quantum networks form the basis of distributed quantum computing architectures and quantum communication. Single atoms in optical cavities are ideally suited as universal quantum network nodes capable of sending, storing and retrieving quantum information. We demonstrate this by presenting an elementary version of a quantum network based on two identical nodes in remote, independent laboratories. The dynamic control of coherent dark states allows for the reversible exchange of quantum information by exchange of a single photon."

"Dipolar quantum gas systems at ultralow temperatures are expected to exhibit novel many-body quantum phases as a result of the long-range and anisotropic dipole-dipole interaction. For our Rb-Cs mixture experiment the focus is on the creation of a bosonic quantum gas of polar ground-state RbCs molecules using Feshbach association and subsequent stimulated adiabatic Raman transfer (STIRAP). We have created a high phase-space density sample of ultracold RbCs Feshbach molecules from an ultracold mixture of Rb and Cs and have performed high-resolution molecular spectroscopy using the Feshbach molecules and have found intermediate electronically excited levels suitable for RbCs ground-state transfer. We have measured the binding energy of the RbCs rovibrational ground state in two-photon spectroscopy and have performed STIRAP experiments with transfer efficiencies of up to 90%. We have implemented an optical lattice with the ultimate aim to create a Mott-insulator state having precisely one atom of each species at each lattice site to improve the creation efficiency for the Feshbach molecules and the STIRAP transfer efficiency. Presently, we switch on the lattice after Feshbach molecule creation to localize the molecules and to prevent collisions. To improve the STIRAP efficiency we have set up ultra-stable optical resonators to which we lock the transfer lasers to reduce laser phase noise. Finally, we will give an update on our endeavor to create a BEC of ground-state Cs dimers."

"One of the most important techniques in the ultracold atom toolbox is the optical lattice: a periodic scalar potential formed from standing waves of light.  Optical lattices are central to the use of atomic gases as quantum simulators, and allow the exploration of strong-correlation phenomena related to condensed matter systems.  In this talk, I shall describe how simple laser configurations can give rise to a new kind of optical lattice -- a so-called "optical flux lattice" -- in which optically dressed atoms experience a periodic effective magnetic flux with high mean density. Optical flux lattices have narrow energy bands with nonzero Chern numbers, analogous to the Landau levels of a charged particle in a uniform magnetic field. These lattices will greatly facilitate the achievement of the quantum Hall regime for ultracold atomic gases."

"The introduction of mode-locked laser optical frequency combs during the last decade led to revolutionary progress in precision optical frequency synthesis and metrology.  Such combs typically operate at repetition rates of hundreds of MHz.  Combs at higher repetition rates are of interest for other applications, such as arbitrary waveform generation and radio-frequency signal processing, which do not require full stabilization of the offset frequency.  In this talk I discuss two flavors of high repetition rate comb generation starting with a single continuous-wave laser.  Continuous-wave lasers subject to strong periodic electro-optic modulation can be formed into optical frequency combs and compressed into trains of picosecond pulses at rates on the order of 10 GHz.  Nonlinear optical propagation can extend comb bandwidths into the THz regime, allowing realization of pulse durations at the few hundred femtosecond level, and producing combs with extremely flat and smooth optical power spectra.  We have exploited such combs for applications such as line-by-line optical pulse shaping, also known as optical arbitrary waveform generation, and programmable radio-frequency filtering.  Generation of combs at much higher repetition rates can be achieved via nonlinear wave mixing in high quality factor (high Q) microresonators.  Our group has investigated line-by-line pulse shaping of such combs generated in silicon nitride ring resonators.  Our experiments reveal formation of two different types of combs which exhibit strikingly different time domain behaviors.  One type can be compressed to nearly bandwidth-limited pulses, which indicates high coherence across the spectrum.  A second type exhibits limited compressibility and degraded coherence.  Accordingly, understanding and control of the coherence constitutes a topic of significant interest in the further development of microresonator comb generators."

"Otto Stern is one of the great pioneers of modern atomic, molecular and nuclear physics. In 1943 he received the Nobel prize in physics for his development of the “Molecular Beam Method” and his “Measurement of the Magnetic Moment of the Proton”. The molecular beam method allowed physicists and chemists for the first time to perform experiments on single isolated atoms or molecules and determine inner properties of atoms and nuclei. For the exploration of the quantum world his invention has an importance similar to Gutenberg’s invention of single separated letters for printing of books. Stern was 81 times nominated for the Nobel prize in physics more than Planck, Einstein or any other of the great pioneers. Based on Sterns invention the Maser, the Atomic clock, the nuclear magnetic resonance etc. were developed. In 1933 Stern was forced to emigrate to the US since he was Jewish."

"Recent experiments in Vienna have shown that large covalently bound complexes, composed of several hundred atoms, can be delocalized over hundred times their own size and maintain quantum coherence over many milliseconds , even when heated to several hundred Kelvin. Two major motivations are driving this research: Nanoparticle interferometry turns out to be optimized for testing new measures of quantum macroscopicity. We will discuss the molecular beam methods and coherent manipulation schemes that are required to push the current state-of-the-art by the next orders of magnitude where new bounds will be set to non-standard quantum models at the quantum-classical interface. Molecular interferograms are quantum nanorulers either in position space or in the time-domain They have an intrinsic force sensitivity down to the Yoctonewton level and are therefore well-suited for novel measurements of magnetic, structural, electronic and optical properties of molecules, clusters and other nanoparticles with widely delocalized quantum states in controlled external fields."

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2.        S. Nimmrichter et al., Phys. Rev. A 83, 043621 (2011).

3.        S. Gerlich et al., Nature Communs. 2, 263 (2011).

4.        T. Juffmann et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 263601 (2009).

5.        S. Gerlich et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 47, 6195 (2008).

6.        S. Gerlich et al., Nature Phys. 3, 711 (2007).

7.        L. Hackermüller, NATURE 427, 711-714 (2004).