"Liberation of an electron is the first step of the recollision model describing high order harmonic generation and attosecond pulse generation. Orbital tomography and electron self-diffraction imaging furthermore intimately rely on a firm grasp of electron dynamics in the Coulomb field of their parent molecular ion. These strong field effects all rely on tunneling dynamics which we study with true mid-IR waveforms. I will show unexpected electron dynamics, and first 3D momentum measurements, when probed, without the ubiquitous ambiguities at the Ti:Sa range, in the non-perturbative tunneling regime. The availability of intense ultrashort pulses at 3100 nm permits exploitation of nonlinear pulse propagation in the anomalous dispersion regime leading to interesting X-wave dynamics, unprecedentedly large supercontinua and stable pulse self-compression in bulk media."

"There has been remarkable progress on using the combination of short pulse, high spatial coherence and large  flux from x-ray free electron lasers (FEL) for nonperiodic imaging and nanocrystallography. The possibility of atomic-scale imaging remains a primary motivation for the construction of FELSs.  Their unprecedented properties also motivate the study the dynamics of atomic-scale fluctuations directly in the time-domain.  However, an important open question is under what conditions the textbook picture of linear, x-ray–matter interactions holds.  In this colloquium, I will describe evidence for coherent nonlinear interactions at LCLS and SACLA FELs as well as the first direct time-domain measurements of the dispersion relation for lattice vibrations in photo-excited materials."

"Historically,  two paradigms competed to explain  superconductivity  (i)  Bose Einstein Condensation (BEC) of weakly interacting Charge 2e pairs (Schafroth), and (ii)   Pairing instability of the  Fermi liquid (BCS).   BCS theory  was the unquestionable winner until the late 80's. BCS approximations however,  have suffered  major setbacks  in the advent of  high temperature, short coherence length superconductors, such as cuprates,  pnictides, and granular superconducting films. A third paradigm has offered itself for understanding some properties of unconventional superconductors: Strongly Interacting Lattice Bosons (LB). LB behave less like in BEC's or  or BCS theory, but (strangely)  more like localized quantum spins. Their static correlations are very well understood by theories of quantum antiferromagnets. Their dynamics have only recently been explored. Near commensurate fillings they exhibit the condensed matter version of the Higgs mode. Conductivity of Lattice Bosons exhibit strange metallic properties which may explain phenomenology of unconventional superconductors in their "normal" state. LB also exhibit interesting vortex dynamics and Hall conductivity sign reversals."

"I will describe three insights into the transition from quantum to classical. I will start with (i) a minimalist (decoherence-free) derivation of preferred states. Such pointer states define events (e.g., measurement outcomes) without appealing to Born's rule . Probabilities and; (ii) Born’s rule can be then derived from the symmetries of entangled quantum states. Derivation of Born’s rule will be the focus of my presentation. With probabilities at hand one can analyze information flows from the system to the environment in course of decoherence. They explain how (iii) robust “classical reality” arises from the quantum substrate by accounting for objective existence of pointer states of quantum systems through redundancy of their records in the environment. Taken together, and in the right order, these three advances elucidate quantum origins of the classical."

"We have created a superfluid atom circuit using a toroidal Bose-Einstein Condensate. Just as a current in a superconducting circuit will flow forever, if a current is created in our superfluid circuit, the flow will not decay as long as the current is below a critical value. A repulsive optical barrier across one side of the torus creates the tunable weak link in the condensate circuit and can be used to control the current around the loop. By rotating the weak link at low rotation rates, we have observed phase slips between well-defined persistent current states.  This behavior is analogous to that of a weak link in a superconducting loop. A feature of our system is the ability to dynamically vary the weak link, which in turn varies the critical current, a feature that is difficult to implement in superconducting circuits. For higher rotation rates, we observe a transition to a regime where vortices penetrate the bulk of the condensate. These results demonstrate an important step toward realizing an atomic SQUID analog."

After the full characterization of the tools for attosecond spectroscopy by the attosecond streaking technique [1], first experiments have been carried out to measure sub-femtosecond behavior of matter. Recently, the dynamics of the photoionization process on solids has been studied [2,3]. Not only that attosecond metrology now enables clocking on surface dynamics, but also the individual behaviour of electrons of different type (core electrons vs. conduction band electrons) can be resolved. We measured different time delays in the emission of the aforemention two types of electrons in different solids. Recent experiments towards an absolute measurement of the travel time of electron inside solids and through layered systems are discussed.

On the other hand, experiments with molecules in the gas phase and on surfaces are carried out. UV pump / XUV probe experiments to investigate ultrafast electron dynamics in these molecules are introduced.

"Resonant optical excitation of semiconductors creates an interband polarization that can decay via re-radiation or interaction-induced conversion into quasi-particle excitations such as electron-hole plasma and/or excitons. With the help of time-delayed pulses with central frequencies in the terahertz (THz) range, one can induce transitions between the eigenstates of the temporally developing many-body system. Besides the characterization of the momentary excitation state, this combined optical and THz time-domain scheme allows for deliberate quantum-state manipulation, excitation shelving into optically dark states, transient exciton ionization, as well as high-harmonic generation."