Complex Computer-Designed Quantum Experiments

Quantum effects are very difficult to understand intuitively. An example is the so-called quantum entanglement. There, it seems that two particles remain connected over large distances. When you measure the first particle, something happens to the second particle instantaneously. Effects like these are the basis for a new class of technologies, with a variety of applications. For example, they would allow to ensure completely secure communication; to implement novel and much faster models of computers or to improve imaging systems such as telescopes or microscopes. Many of these quantum effects are also an important part of basic research. To understand these phenomena in more detail, one would like to be able to create and examine them in laboratories. However, that is often a problem: designing the right experiments and setups can prove to be a very difficult task. Only recently have automatic search algorithms been used for such questions, and some of these computer-suggested experiments have already been successfully implemented and investigated in laboratories. However, as there are a tremendous number of possibilities for experimental setups, this method is limited. Interestingly, there is a field of research that, although at first glance far removed from quantum optics, has very similar questions. In the field of quantum chemistry one wants to design novel molecules and materials that have particularly desirable properties, such as for new batteries, for efficient photovoltaics, and many others. For some years now, state-of-the-art artificial intelligence algorithms have been used to help design new materials. In my project, in the group of quantum chemist Alan Aspuru-Guzik, I will translate these A.I. algorithms from chemistry to quantum optics. This gives me the opportunity to answer many of the open questions of quantum optics. Among other things, these questions deal with the generation of very high-quality quantum states, which are crucial for quantum computers. Furthermore, I will use my algorithms to design concrete quantum-based enhancements of optical images in astronomical telescopes. These computer suggestions can then be studied in laboratories and can lead to considerable scientific and technical advances. Finally, I will explore what the underlying reasons and principles are, that these new solutions work, which until now have been hidden from human researchers. Findings from this could have far- reaching implications for the understanding of quantum optics, as well as for quantum chemistry, and provide new understanding or mathematical descriptions that were unknown until now.

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