The Grand Challenges in Quantum Fluids and

Solids

The Grand Challenges in Quantum Fluids and

Solids

The Grand Challenges in Quantum Fluids and

Solids

The Grand Challenges in Quantum Fluids and

Solids

Or

We’ve been through all this in

Europe already

Or

We’ve been through all this in

Europe already

Smart growthDigital agenda for EuropeInnovation UnionYouth on the move

Sustainable growthResource efficient EuropeAn industrial policy for the globalisation era

Inclusive growthAn agenda for new skills and jobsEuropean platform against poverty

Emergence and Physics Far From Equilibrium

Quantum Physics for New Quantum Technologies

Nanoscale Design of Functional Materials

Understanding the Physics of Life

UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Matter under extreme conditions

Our response is to identify where and how our research fits into these overarching themes.

Our response is to identify where and how our research fits into these overarching themes.

In other words – what can quantum fluids do for the rest of the community?

Our response is to identify where and how our research fits into these overarching themes.

In other words – what can quantum fluids do for the rest of the community?

What are we good for?

UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Emergence and Physics Far From Equilibrium

Quantum Physics for New Quantum Technologies

Nanoscale Design of Functional Materials

Understanding the Physics of Life

Matter under extreme conditions

In other words we need to put our work in the wider context.

We are not looking for the Grand Challenges of such a specialized area as Quantum Fluids.

We rather need to claim our slice of the BIG Grand Challenges.

And one idea which we would all sign up to is the idea that condensates provide ideal model systems for looking at many other aspects of physics but with a very simple controllable system.

(Like we say in the publicity – we know more about a cupful of superfluid 3He at 100 mK than we do about a bucket of water at room temperature.)

So herewith a few of these aspects which have been important in Europe (personal view).

One area has very much been a European preoccupation.

LINKS WITH COSMOLOGY

For many years we have had a lot of interchange with the cosmology community at various levels, on the basis that the broken symmetries of say 3He (SO(3)xSO(3)xU(1) mimic those of the Universe, SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1).

Very much driven by Grisha Volovik’s interest in this field over on our side.

Here is Grisha Volovik’s view of the world.

EVERYTHING in physics can be derived from the 3He condensate.

Leaving EVERYTHING for a moment and just concentrating on cosmology, there are lots of analogies. Our s/f gap is their rest mass, our vortices are their cosmic strings, our phase boundaries are their branes, etc etc.

OK, cosmology is not our main work in QFs but it is very good for publicity for the field.

I have been to several meetings banging on about these things in the States where there was virtually no input from the US Quantum Fluids community.

The European Science Foundation (ESF) supported for many years a network coupling the quantum fluids and cosmology communities.

For Example

Outline of my talk:

First, we need a quick magic mystery tour around superfluid 3He.

A quick explanation of our (very simple) experimental tools:

Two experiments:

1) Simulation of cosmic string creation.

2) Simulation of brane annihilation

Both the Cosmic String creation papers (Helsinki/Imperial, Lancaster/Grenoble)

and the Brane Annihilation paper (Lancaster) made it into the Nature stable.

Citations!

Another area which is big in Europe is that of Pure Quantum Turbulence.

This being quantum turbulence in the pure condensate, i.e. at essentially zero temperature, in other words, with no normal fluid.

(and there is a lot of related work here in the US too).

The selling point is that while classical turbulence is in a mess as there is no solution to the Navier-Stokes equations, Quantum Turbulence with its singly quantized identical vortices can provide a sort of “atomic theory” for turbulence, potentially able to direct new insight into the classical scenario. 

(QT is uncannily like classical turbulence and given the lack of a viscous medium at ultralow temperatures that is a bit of a surprise.   Maybe that is pointing to something generic in the behavior of systems with hierarchies of disorder which we haven’t picked up yet. )

But here again, we are selling this not just as Quantum Turbulence, but Turbulence Turbulence.

However, the really big things we have had going in the last few years are associated with marketing the ULT knowhow enshrined in the QF community experience to offer microkelvin temperatures to the quantum technology and nanoscience communities.   

That was the central objective of the recent MICROKELVIN consortium effort funded by the EU.  

The motivation being that this is a large and expanding field and it is us guys who have spent years creating the low temperatures needed for studying superfluid 3He and who know how to do it. 

This has given a big boost to our work. Berlin has sensors running at sub-microkelvin temperatures now.  I don’t think there is anything equivalent going on over here at that level.

This has recently run its course and we are currently unfunded, but a new one is on the cards.  

The network of 12 Partners around Europe (research and commercial).

However, with no current overall European funding, we are keeping this idea alive,

both for our own momentum,

and to provide an entity which represents this activity.

Research at the frontier near absolute zero has long been a powerhouse of ideas in physics and beyond. The principal objective of EMP is the opening up of the milli- and microkelvin temperature regime to nanoscience, condensed matter physics, particle physics, cosmology and instrumentation.

The EMP is a consortium of 20 leading ultralow temperature physics and technology partners in Europe. The main aim of the consortium is the further integration of ultralow temperature research in Europe for the development of new ideas, knowledge, technology, applications and commercial exploitation to enhance further the European research effort and innovation potential of this field. The chosen partners form a coherent group providing a comprehensive portfolio of capacities.

The European Microkelvin Platform has to be seen as the next evolutionary step in the integration and restructuring of European ultralow temperature infrastructure.

The EMP is a consortium of 20 leading ultralow temperature physics and technology partners in Europe. The main aim of the consortium is the further integration of ultralow temperature research in Europe for the development of new ideas, knowledge, technology, applications and commercial exploitation to enhance further the European research effort and innovation potential of this field. The chosen partners form a coherent group providing a comprehensive portfolio of capacities.

The European Microkelvin Platform has to be seen as the next evolutionary step in the integration and restructuring of European ultralow temperature infrastructure.

Research at the frontier near absolute zero has long been a powerhouse of ideas in physics and beyond. The principal objective of EMP is the opening up of the milli- and microkelvin temperature regime to nanoscience, condensed matter physics, particle physics, cosmology and instrumentation.

Finally, the way the EU encourages us to work has meant that we have many opportunities for collaborative work between laboratories all over Europe with an enormous increase in productivity through better connectivity and working together.   Providing money for networking and short-term working in other labs is one of the most cost effective ways of making use of the funds.  In that we seem to be somewhat ahead. 

(The motive is that the EU would like to have “European” laboratories but as none of the member states is prepared to give up its own facilities, the EU is doing the same thing by stealth by creating distributed “virtual” laboratories on several sites.  However, that said, it actually works.)  

So the message is, we are looking beyond purely QF problems to justify our existence, and working in what is beginning to look like a rather more productive way of operating.

As an example:-

 

Extract from MICROKELVIN final presentation meeting.

Extract from MICROKELVIN final presentation meeting.

The BASEL dilution refrigerator has been developed by BlueFors using expertise from AALTO. The BASEL nuclear cooling stage has been developed with help and advice from ULANC.

Extract from MICROKELVIN final presentation meeting.

The BASEL dilution refrigerator has been developed by BlueFors using expertise from AALTO. The BASEL nuclear cooling stage has been developed with help and advice from ULANC.

The nuclear stage of the ULANC new microkelvin facility builds on the experience of BASEL. The dilution refrigerator developed with input from SAS.

Extract from MICROKELVIN final presentation meeting.

The BASEL dilution refrigerator has been developed by BlueFors using expertise from AALTO. The BASEL nuclear cooling stage has been developed with help and advice from ULANC.

The nuclear stage of the ULANC new microkelvin facility builds on the experience of BASEL. The dilution refrigerator developed with input from SAS.

The CNRS machine has a heat exchanger stack and a heat switch manufactured by Lancaster Cryogenics (ULANC ) and has a thermometer from PTB Berlin.

Extract from MICROKELVIN final presentation meeting.

The BASEL dilution refrigerator has been developed by BlueFors using expertise from AALTO. The BASEL nuclear cooling stage has been developed with help and advice from ULANC.

The nuclear stage of the ULANC new microkelvin facility builds on the experience of BASEL. The dilution refrigerator developed with input from SAS.

The CNRS machine has a heat exchanger stack and a heat switch manufactured by Lancaster Cryogenics (ULANC ) and has a thermometer from PTB Berlin.

The RHUL nuclear stage also has a PTB Berlin thermometer, a Lancaster Cryogenics (ULANC) heat switch and is a joint project with Oxford Instruments.

Extract from MICROKELVIN final presentation meeting.

The BASEL dilution refrigerator has been developed by BlueFors using expertise from AALTO. The BASEL nuclear cooling stage has been developed with help and advice from ULANC.

The nuclear stage of the ULANC new microkelvin facility builds on the experience of BASEL. The dilution refrigerator developed with input from SAS.

The CNRS machine has a heat exchanger stack and a heat switch manufactured by Lancaster Cryogenics (ULANC ) and has a thermometer from PTB Berlin.

The RHUL nuclear stage also has a PTB Berlin thermometer, a Lancaster Cryogenics (ULANC) heat switch and is a joint project with Oxford Instruments

The AALTO machine is based on a BlueFors refrigerator.

I think both the complexity of the field and in Europe the pressures from the drive from European Integration are forcing us to work in a more collaborative way, with larger groups, and distributed groups at that.

In our field, the days of the lone professor with a single graduate student are long gone.

And furthermore we are more and more having to justify our existence in the wider world.

We have faced that longer over there than perhaps you have over here.

And that means that whatever “Challenges” “Themes” or however our funders like to package their research portfolios, we have learned that we need to lobby to get our little words into the definitions that they use.

SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE This project couples the expertise of the Microkelvin Quantum Fluids Group with the Quantum Technology users in the department and the university through the upgrade of capability afforded by the new isolated environments. All these components are EPSRC priorities. First, Quantum Technology is a primary theme in the EPSRC portfolio. Secondly, Quantum Fluids is a recognised area within the Physical Sciences theme, which states: “The area also has links to astrophysics and space (STFC remit) and has the potential to address the Physical Sciences Grand Challenge: Emergence and Physics Far From Equilibrium”.

During the recent BIS equipment scoping survey, “Extreme conditions and controlled environments” was identified as one of four “key activities”. From the report the following extract defines IsoLab precisely: “… competitive research in the field of scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging requires extreme isolation from mechanical and acoustic vibrations. This is achieved by locating the instrumentation in “rooms within rooms”, with floors that are completely insulated from the external environment through “keel slabs” with passive or active anti-vibration systems.” In short, the whole philosophy of, and the fields supporting, this bid fall squarely within the national strategic priorities as expressed in the last twelve months.

SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE This project couples the expertise of the Microkelvin Quantum Fluids Group with the Quantum Technology users in the department and the university through the upgrade of capability afforded by the new isolated environments. All these components are EPSRC priorities. First, Quantum Technology is a primary theme in the EPSRC portfolio. Secondly, Quantum Fluids is a recognised area within the Physical Sciences theme, which states: “The area also has links to astrophysics and space (STFC remit) and has the potential to address the Physical Sciences Grand Challenge: Emergence and Physics Far From Equilibrium”.

During the recent BIS equipment scoping survey, “Extreme conditions and controlled environments” was identified as one of four “key activities”. From the report the following extract defines IsoLab precisely: “… competitive research in the field of scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging requires extreme isolation from mechanical and acoustic vibrations. This is achieved by locating the instrumentation in “rooms within rooms”, with floors that are completely insulated from the external environment through “keel slabs” with passive or active anti-vibration systems.” In short, the whole philosophy of, and the fields supporting, this bid fall squarely within the national strategic priorities as expressed in the last twelve months.

SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE This project couples the expertise of the Microkelvin Quantum Fluids Group with the Quantum Technology users in the department and the university through the upgrade of capability afforded by the new isolated environments. All these components are EPSRC priorities. First, Quantum Technology is a primary theme in the EPSRC portfolio. Secondly, Quantum Fluids is a recognised area within the Physical Sciences theme, which states: “The area also has links to astrophysics and space (STFC remit) and has the potential to address the Physical Sciences Grand Challenge: Emergence and Physics Far From Equilibrium”.

During the recent BIS equipment scoping survey, “Extreme conditions and controlled environments” was identified as one of four “key activities”. From the report the following extract defines IsoLab precisely: “… competitive research in the field of scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging requires extreme isolation from mechanical and acoustic vibrations. This is achieved by locating the instrumentation in “rooms within rooms”, with floors that are completely insulated from the external environment through “keel slabs” with passive or active anti-vibration systems.” In short, the whole philosophy of, and the fields supporting, this bid fall squarely within the national strategic priorities as expressed in the last twelve months.

SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE This project couples the expertise of the Microkelvin Quantum Fluids Group with the Quantum Technology users in the department and the university through the upgrade of capability afforded by the new isolated environments. All these components are EPSRC priorities. First, Quantum Technology is a primary theme in the EPSRC portfolio. Secondly, Quantum Fluids is a recognised area within the Physical Sciences theme, which states: “The area also has links to astrophysics and space (STFC remit) and has the potential to address the Physical Sciences Grand Challenge: Emergence and Physics Far From Equilibrium”.

During the recent BIS equipment scoping survey, “Extreme conditions and controlled environments” was identified as one of four “key activities”. From the report the following extract defines IsoLab precisely: “… competitive research in the field of scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging requires extreme isolation from mechanical and acoustic vibrations. This is achieved by locating the instrumentation in “rooms within rooms”, with floors that are completely insulated from the external environment through “keel slabs” with passive or active anti-vibration systems.” In short, the whole philosophy of, and the fields supporting, this bid fall squarely within the national strategic priorities as expressed in the last twelve months.

Quantum fluids and solids consists of a small specialised community that has strong links to other EPSRC research areas including Cold atoms and molecules and Condensed matter: electronic structure and Condensed matter: magnetism and magnetic materials. The quality of the research is recognised to be high with the international standing of several of the groups being world leading (see International Perceptions of UK Research in Physics and Astronomy (2005) (PDF 365KB) - page 22). The research generates fundamentally important ideas that underpin other advances in physical sciences such as topological order and quantum turbulence. The area also provides a trained skills base for the UK's low temperature physics technology industry sector as well as developing technologies that have the potential to impact on a broad range of areas such as superconducting quantum interference device - nuclear magnetic resonance (SQUID-NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Possible challenges to the area could include the highly specialised environment necessary to conduct the research, the limited potential for immediate application and uncertainties in the supply of helium (see Royal Society of Chemistry article on Helium).

Quantum fluids and solids consists of a small specialised community that has strong links to other EPSRC research areas including Cold atoms and molecules and Condensed matter: electronic structure and Condensed matter: magnetism and magnetic materials. The quality of the research is recognised to be high with the international standing of several of the groups being world leading (see International Perceptions of UK Research in Physics and Astronomy (2005) (PDF 365KB) - page 22). The research generates fundamentally important ideas that underpin other advances in physical sciences such as topological order and quantum turbulence. The area also provides a trained skills base for the UK's low temperature physics technology industry sector as well as developing technologies that have the potential to impact on a broad range of areas such as superconducting quantum interference device - nuclear magnetic resonance (SQUID-NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Possible challenges to the area could include the highly specialised environment necessary to conduct the research, the limited potential for immediate application and uncertainties in the supply of helium (see Royal Society of Chemistry article on Helium).

Quantum fluids and solids consists of a small specialised community that has strong links to other EPSRC research areas including Cold atoms and molecules and Condensed matter: electronic structure and Condensed matter: magnetism and magnetic materials. The quality of the research is recognised to be high with the international standing of several of the groups being world leading (see International Perceptions of UK Research in Physics and Astronomy (2005) (PDF 365KB) - page 22). The research generates fundamentally important ideas that underpin other advances in physical sciences such as topological order and quantum turbulence. The area also provides a trained skills base for the UK's low temperature physics technology industry sector as well as developing technologies that have the potential to impact on a broad range of areas such as superconducting quantum interference device - nuclear magnetic resonance (SQUID-NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Possible challenges to the area could include the highly specialised environment necessary to conduct the research, the limited potential for immediate application and uncertainties in the supply of helium (see Royal Society of Chemistry article on Helium).

Quantum fluids and solids consists of a small specialised community that has strong links to other EPSRC research areas including Cold atoms and molecules and Condensed matter: electronic structure and Condensed matter: magnetism and magnetic materials. The quality of the research is recognised to be high with the international standing of several of the groups being world leading (see International Perceptions of UK Research in Physics and Astronomy (2005) (PDF 365KB) - page 22). The research generates fundamentally important ideas that underpin other advances in physical sciences such as topological order and quantum turbulence. The area also provides a trained skills base for the UK's low temperature physics technology industry sector as well as developing technologies that have the potential to impact on a broad range of areas such as superconducting quantum interference device - nuclear magnetic resonance (SQUID-NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Possible challenges to the area could include the highly specialised environment necessary to conduct the research, the limited potential for immediate application and uncertainties in the supply of helium (see Royal Society of Chemistry article on Helium).