Timon Hilker answers call to the University of Strathclyde
As a Reader, he will continue his successful research on quantum simulations of complex materials in Glasgow.
Timon Hilker, group leader in the Quantum Many-Body Systems department at MPQ, has accepted a permanent position at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. There he will continue his research on quantum simulations with ultracold atoms. Since 2020, Timon Hilker has been heading the Lithium Quantum Gas Microscope laboratory at MPQ, and together with Philipp Preiss, the FermiQP project. While the "Lithium Lab" uses quantum simulations to investigate the different phases of the Fermi-Hubbard model to unravel the microscopic processes surrounding the phenomenon of high-temperature superconductivity, the FermiQP project focuses on the combination of analogue quantum simulation and digital quantum gates in optical lattices. In recent years, Timon Hilker has also supported the sodium-potassium group led by Xinyu Lu in experiments with ultracold molecules.
Timon Hilker is now a Reader at the University of Strathclyde. This is the third of four academic ranks in the UK system and comparable to a W2 professorship. It involves teaching physics and working as an independent researcher. In Glasgow, he will be setting up new experiments with lithium atoms at temperatures of one billionth of a degree above absolute zero. "My research will continue to focus on quantum simulations of complex materials. To do this, we are building high-precision artificial quantum systems in which we can observe each particle individually. This will allow us to better describe the collective motion of electrons, for example in magnets. The aim is to gain a better understanding of fundamental processes in these systems and to find new methods for developing quantum materials. In my new research project, I will benefit from my ten years at MPQ and the exciting new developments in neutral atom quantum computing," says Timon Hilker.
The University of Strathclyde educates more than 20,000 students and is technically oriented, similar to the Technical University of Munich. The Department of Physics in the Faculty of Science has a strong focus on quantum optics. It is currently headed by Stefan Kuhr, who together with Immanuel Bloch, Director of the Quantum Many-Body Systems Department, has set up one of the world's first quantum gas microscopes at MPQ by 2010. Several groups in Glasgow are experimenting with ultracold atoms - - like many laboratories at the MPQ (and also at the LMU in Munich). In addition to experiments with optical lattices, they are working on quantum computers in optical tweezers and quantum sensors. This focus was one of the main reasons why Timon Hilker chose Strathclyde. "It is much easier to set up a new lab in an existing community, where I can discuss new ideas every day. In addition, Glasgow is one of the UK's centres for quantum technologies. For example, a new doctoral school for applied quantum technologies has just been established, and the region is already home to many laser companies whose products equip experiments at MPQ.
Culturally Timon Hilker is already familiar with the UK. During his two and a half years as a postdoctoral researcher in Cambridge, funded by a Marie Curie grant from the European Union, he met his British wife, with whom he has been "happily married ever since". The MPQ wishes Timon Hilker a good start in Glasgow and every success in his new position.
