Quantum Science Documentary by ORF Tirol

Photo Credit: ORF

We’re excited to share that our group is featured in the ORF Tirol documentary “The Future Begins Now – Innsbruck at the Center of Quantum Research” (in German), part of the Österreich-Bild series.

In the documentary, Éric Berdaguer explores how Innsbruck became a world-leading hub for quantum research. The story begins in the 1990s, when Anton Zeilinger—later awarded the Nobel Prize—laid the groundwork for quantum science in Tirol and helped put Innsbruck on the map. The film then shifts to the present, highlighting today’s cutting-edge research, including a visit to our labs and interviews with Francesca and other members of our group.

📺 Watch the full documentary here.

📰 Read the quantA article about the documentary here.

Sarah defends her thesis!

Congratulations to our Masters student, Sarah Embacher, who defended her thesis today! 🥳 Sarah worked in the ERBIUM lab where she implemented a scanning optical dipole trap and also carried out simulations of how q-plates can be used to create optical potentials. ⚛️🔦

After a short break, Sarah will be returning to the ERBIUM lab as a PhD student. Well done on your defense, and we look forward to having you back soon, Sarah!

2024’s Biggest Breakthrough in Physics

Quanta Magazine has declared our research on the ‘Observation of vortices in a dipolar supersolid‘ one of 2024’s Biggest Breakthrough in Physics!

Moving from the largest stage to the very smallest one, physicists who manipulate atoms, molecules and crystals in the lab have also spent 2024 in the throes of discovery, having achieved astonishing levels of precision and control over their quantum quarries. A team in Innsbruck created a long-predicted exotic state of matter called a supersolid, and even imaged the hallmark “quantum tornadoes” that formed when they stirred an otherwise rigid crystal of dysprosium atoms. Astrophysicists suspect that this supersolid phase might arise inside incredibly dense, fast-spinning stars called pulsars.

Read the rest of 2024’s Biggest Breakthroug here: The Year in Physics

Watch the Quanta video, featuring Francesca and PhD student Elena Poli, here: Youtube Explainer

Read the feature by Quanta Magazine here: Physicists spot quantum tornadoes twirling in a supersolid

See the article in Nature here: Observation of vortices in a dipolar supersolid

Read the pre-print here: arXiv:2403.18510.

Ferlaino group at the InnFi Meeting 2024

The Ferlaino group headed down south to Florence from October 29th to the 31st for the Ultracold Florence-Innsbruck Joint Meeting hosted at the beautiful National Institute of Optics (Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, CNR-INO).  We had a great time sharing our latest research with presentations by Elena and Eva (Theory and Er-Dy), Louis (ERBIUM) and Daniel (T-REQS)!