Research Areas at the MPQ

Currently, five different research areas are established in our institute, all in pursuit of the mysterious interplay of matter and light. Quantum Dynamics works with single photons and atoms – building blocks for future quantum computers. Theorists, on the other side, calculate concepts of how quantum bits can transmit and encrypt information – bugproof. Scientists of the Quantum Many-Body Systems Group investigate the peculiar characteristics of ultracold quantum gases and new phases of matter. Our Laboratory for Attosecond Physics creates some of the world’s shortest light flashes so they can observe tiny almost unperceivable motions in the microcosmos, like electrons moving around. All along these others our Laser Spectroscopy group measures spectral lines of hydrogen in the most precise way, testing provocative thoughts against all we know, even the commonly agreed constants of nature.

 Quantum Optics – tracing a new form of physics?

In Quantum Optics, we investigate two columns of nature: matter and light, and how they interact with each other. For our research we create extreme conditions like the coldest temperatures existent in the universe or the shortest pulses of light known to mankind. They open our view to the exceptional, strange and baffling quantum mechanical phenomena visible in the microcosmos. Are they harbinger of a new form of physics? Will they flip our knowledge of nature upside down? Can they help designing the high technology of the future? All these questions are fuel to our search and constant curiosity.