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Immanuel Bloch, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Chair of Experimental Physics at Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, has been elected as an international member of the National Academy of Sciences. Appointment to the NAS is one of the highest distinctions a scientist can receive – its members are considered luminaries in their respective fields. more

At the nationwide Girls’Day, girls have the chance to explore careers where women are still underrepresented. The Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics has been part of the initiative for many years – and once again this year, the participants enjoyed a wide-ranging programme. Through talks, hands-on experiments and tours of a lab and the mechanical workshop, the fifteen students gained insight into the diverse everyday work of a quantum optics researcher. more

Ferenc Krausz received the award as part of the Bavarian Digital Prize B.DiGiTAL 2025. Florian Herrmann, Head of the Bavarian State Chancellery and Minister of State for Federal Affairs and Media, presented the award on behalf of Minister President Markus Söder: “Ferenc Krausz’s groundbreaking research is advancing progress in medicine and IT – with the potential for many more revolutionary developments.” more

On the evening of April 9, 2025, the Free State of Bavaria awarded its new Hightech Prizes for the first time, across four categories. Recipient of the “Hightech Prize of the Bavarian Prime Minister” is MPQ Director Immanuel Bloch, honored for his pioneering work in experimental quantum sciences, particularly in the study of quantum many-body systems. The award includes a prize of €300,000, which is to be reinvested into research. more

The theorist explored the potential of tensor networks as a tool for describing chiral gapped condensed matter systems. His work showed how methods from quantum field theory could extend the range of applicability of tensor network theory. His results effectively render tensor networks a more complete and powerful theory for condensed matter, allowing them to describe a wider variety of systems using exclusively analytical techniques. more

In the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, the member institutes of the Munich Quantum Valley Initiative open their doors to the public. The first regular event in the series “MQV-Einblicke” took place at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. During an introductory lecture and a subsequent tour of the quantum optics laboratories, the audience gained insights into quantum simulation and quantum computing with neutral atoms. more

In his PhD project, Kritsana Srakaew investigated how tunable long-range interactions of Rydberg atoms can be utilised in quantum many-body systems. His research focused on two key settings: subwavelength atomic arrays and itinerant Hubbard systems. His findings deepen our understanding of how Rydberg interactions shape quantum systems, opening new avenues for controlling light-matter interactions and studying complex quantum phases. more

Researchers at MPQ, in collaboration with the chemicals company Covestro, have developed a method for simulating chemical models using fermionic quantum simulators. The key advantage: The energetic states produced in the lab intrinsically mirror molecular behaviour. Mapping chemistry algorithms onto their fermionic quantum simulator marks a major step toward harnessing quantum computing for fundamental chemistry. more

A research team at MPQ has confirmed surprising properties of thermalisation in two-dimensional quantum systems using a quantum simulator with neutral atoms. The study demonstrates how the initial state can significantly influence the thermodynamic behaviour of such systems—unlike in classical physics. The results were recently published in Nature and provide new insights into the behaviour of quantum systems out of equilibrium. more

Philipp Preiss, independent research group leader, has secured an ERC Proof of Concept grant. These grants aim to bridge the gap between fundamental research and practical applications, helping to transform new scientific insights into tangible societal or commercial benefits. With his project, FermiChem, Preiss and his team will further explore the use of quantum simulators based on ultracold fermions to tackle complex problems in quantum chemistry.  more

For decades, quantum mechanics assumed all observable particles fall into two categories: fermions and bosons. Now, this dichotomous view of particles is being questioned. Researchers from MPQ and Rice University have investigated the intricacies of particle exchange statistics and shown that a third category, paraparticles, can exist under specific physical conditions. more

In his dissertation, Julian Wienand studied chaotic quantum systems and their description. His work demonstrated for the first time that such systems can be understood macroscopically as diffusion processes. The model of fluctuating hydrodynamics (FHD), which simplifies the description of complex systems, is therefore also applicable to quantum processes. These results could significantly simplify the analysis of quantum systems. more