Ruari McCloskey has been awarded 2.5k Euros from the COST Action MP1209 “Thermodynamics at the quantum limit” to cover a 10-day research visit to the group led by prof. G. Massimo Palma at Universita’ di Palermo. Ruari will work on collision-based models for system-environment interaction.
We are sure Ruari is enjoying the local folklore and the food!
Very recently, Mauro has been promoted to Professor.
It is a very great and well deserved achievement, congratulations Prof. Paternostro!
Here is our celebration altogether in a pizzeria!
The kick-off meeting of the EU Collaborative project TherMiQ, which is coordinated and managed by Mauro and Gabriele and puts together 7 world-leading teams interested in the thermodynamics of quantum systems, will be held in Belfast on the 20 and 21 March 2014.
Project partners and research collaborators will join QTeQ’s members for a two-day event of talks, discussions, and social interactions. If you’re interested in some of the details, check the poster of the meeting. Further info at thw project’s website
A review paper on the activity of the group (and collaborators) in the field of hybrid quantum optomechanics has appeared last week on the Arxiv:
B. Rogers, N. Lo Gullo, G. De Chiara, G. M. Palma, and M. Paternostro, “Hybrid Optomechanics for quantum technologies”, arXiv:1402.1195
The paper showcases the contributions given to the emerging field of hybrid optomechanics with the proposal of BEC-enhanced optomechanical devices, the use of optimal control techniques for the steering of the dynamics of mechanical systems, and the engineering of non-classical mechanical states by means of spin-mediated mechanisms.
This is an invited submission to the new journal “Quantum Measurements and Quantum Metrology“, which will be open-access for the whole 2014. We hope that this review will be a useful tool for anyone intending to approach this area.
Andre’ Xuereb has been very recently interviewed by the Sunday Times of Malta. He discussed his research in optomechanics (including what he works on with some of the QTeQ members) and how it can be used to make a difference to the world by enabling direct light-light interfaces.
The interview, which obviously does not lack of the witty sense of humour of Andre’, is available at this link (unfortunately, there’s a paywall…). Way to go, Andre’!
Today, Gareth Cochrane passed successfully his viva with only minor corrections to his thesis.
Congratulations to Dr. Gareth, who will take a position as analyst at the Royal Bank of Scotland! Congratulations to Gareth (and Jim) on this success.
Matthew has published his first paper entitled: Dynamical symmetry breaking with optimal control: Reducing the number of pieces in Phys. Rev. B. The research, conducted in collaboration with Gabriele, has analysed the production of defects when a system crosses a phase transition. As predicted by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism, the rate of production of defects depends on the rate of change of the parameter driving the transition. By carefully tailoring the time-dependence of this parameter Matthew and Gabriele have shown that the number of defects can be drastically reduced by more than 40%. This research can be readily used in experiments of structural phase transitions of trapped ion crystals.
Ref.: Matthew J. M. Power and Gabriele De Chiara, Phys. Rev. B 88, 214106 (2013).
Margherita Zuppardo, long-term visitor of QTeQ, and Mauro Paternostro have published a research paper in the prestigious Phys. Rev. Lett. reporting the results of an international collaboration with University of Queensland and Nanyang Technological University of Singapore! The paper, which addresses the issue of distributing entanglement without the use of such a precious resource, has been picked as an “Editors’ Suggestion” by the Editors of Phys. Rev. Lett. and featured in a “Physics Viewpoint” article authored by Prof. Christine Silberhorn (University of Paderborn). Details of the work can be found at
A. Fedrizzi, et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 230504 (2013)
The Viewpoint commentary by Prof. Silberhorn can be found at
Ch. Silberhorn, Physics 6, 132 (2013)
PRL Editor Robert Garisto tweets about it as well.
The papers are free to read. Way to go, Margherita!!
Tony Apollaro has just published a paper in collaboration with Universita’ della Calabria, Universita’ di Firenze and Mauro at QTeQ. The paper, which deals with a strategy to effectively achieve a cut in an interacting spin-ring, digs deep into the statistical mechanics features of the system being addressed and shows that the behaviour of quantum correlations across the ring could be a faithful indicator of the cut.
Details on this work are found in
T. J. G. Apollaro, F. Plastina, L. Banchi, A. Cuccoli, R. Vaia, P. Verrucchi, M. Paternostro, Physical Review A 88, 052336 (2013)
Matteo Brunelli, a graduate student from Universita’ degli Studi di Milano, joins Queen’s and QTeQ for his PhD studies. Matteo, who worked on quantum correlations in continuous variable systems under the supervision of Prof. Matteo G. A. Paris, is the latest addition to the group’s efforts in understanding the potential of thermodynamics when applied to quantum mechanical systems. Matteo will be funded by the EU.
