EXC 201:  QUEST - Centre for Quantum Engineering and Space-Time Research

Subject Area Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
Particles, Nuclei and Fields
Term from 2007 to 2014
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 38928778
 

Final Report

Final Report Year 2015

Final Report Abstract

During its fife years of funding, the Cluster of Excellence “Centre of Quantum Engineering and Space-Time Research” (QUEST) changed the research landscape of Leibniz Universität Hannover in a sustainable way with large impact on associated partners. QUEST researchers developed and exploited metrology-optimized quantum systems for space-time research to an unprecedented level. With innovative advances in the control of matter with laser light, the field of quantum engineering developed within the cluster to a highly sophisticated level, allowing the exploitation of quantum degrees-of-freedom for use in precision quantum metrology, tests of fundamental physics, and for novel technological applications. QUEST researchers boosted the progress towards the realisation of new quantum sensors functioning at, and beyond, the standard quantum limit, to carry out space-time research in the next generation of gravitational wave detectors on Earth and in space, relativistic geodesy, and for the design of atomic clocks and advanced atom interferometers for inertial sensing. In addition, essential fundamental experiments, including testing the variation of fundamental constants and direct tests of the Einstein equivalence principle were conducted within QUEST, which were only possible due to the interdisciplinary collaboration of scientists from atomic, molecular, and condensed-matter physics, as well as, geodesy, mathematics, general relativity, and fundamental string theory. To face these challenges, the cluster fostered the cooperation of a wide range of top-level partner institutions linked via QUEST to key institutes of physics, geodesy, and mathematics at Leibniz Universität Hannover. The university recognized the cluster’s significance by selecting “Quantum Optics and Gravitational Physics” as one of its main research nuclei. Future interdisciplinary collaborations among QUEST researchers will be focused in a newly built research facility, the Hannover Institute of Technology (HITec), opening in 2016. HITec will provide necessary new infrastructure for QUEST researchers, including a number of state-of-the-art laboratories and large equipment facilities. Leibniz Universität Hannover established a QUEST Leibniz Research School, with powers and responsibilities equivalent to a faculty, to strengthen QUEST research and to establish an optimal governance structure for this interfaculty research institution. Due to the combination of a fruitful scientific environment, the guidance of the QUEST Research School, the contemporary facilities within HITec, and the passion of all participating QUEST members, a high-profile academic centre has been established at Leibniz Universität Hannover, making it a leading location for cutting-edge space-time research and quantum engineering.

Link to the final report

http://dx.doi.org/10.2314/GBV:88299784X

Publications

DFG Programme Clusters of Excellence
Applicant Institution Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover
Participating Institution Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH); Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB); Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)
Standort Bremen
; Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik
(Albert-Einstein-Institut)
Standort Hannover
; Universität Bremen
Fachgebiet Strömungsmechanik
Zentrum für angewandte Raumfahrttechnologie
und Mikrogravitation (ZARM)
Spokesperson Professor Dr. Wolfgang Ertmer
Participating Researchers Professor Dr. Bruce Allen; Professor Dr. Boris Chichkov; Professor Dr. Karsten Danzmann; Professor Dr. Hansjörg Dittus; Professor Dr. Domenico Giulini; Professor Dr. Klemens Hammerer; Professor Dr. Rolf J. Haug; Professorin Dr. Michèle Heurs; Professor Dr. Olaf Lechtenfeld; Professor Dr. Claus Lämmerzahl; Professorin Dr. Tanja E. Mehlstäubler; Professor Dr. Uwe Morgner; Professor Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Müller; Professorin Dr. Silke Ospelkaus; Professor Dr. Christian Ospelkaus; Dr. Maria Alessandra Papa; Privatdozent Dr. Ekkehard Peik; Professor Dr. Ernst Maria Rasel; Professor Dr. Fritz Riehle; Professor Dr. Luis Santos; Professor Dr. Piet Oliver Schmidt; Professor Dr. Roman Schnabel; Professor Dr. Bernard Schutz; Professor Dr. Reinhard F. Werner