Pramodh Yapa

Sarah defends her thesis!

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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!

Goodbye to Tom Bland

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We said goodbye to Postdoc Thomas Bland in December 2024! Dr. Bland joined the Ferlaino Group in December 2020 as one of the first members of the theory team. Tom was at the forefront of demystifying two-dimensional supersolidity, and we thank him for leading the theory team for four glorious years! Tom has now moved back to the UK and will soon start a new position as a senior researcher in the group of Stephanie M. Reimann at Lund University. Best of luck at your new position, Tom!

 

2024’s Biggest Breakthrough in Physics

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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.

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