Light, the universe and everything – 12 Herculean tasks for quantum cowboys and black diamond skiers

Abstract

The Winter Colloquium on the Physics of Quantum Electronics (PQE) has been a seminal force in quantum optics and related areas since 1971. It is rather mindboggling to recognize how the concepts presented at these conferences have transformed scientific understanding and human society. In January, 2017, the participants of PQE were asked to consider the equally important prospects for the future, and to formulate a set of questions representing some of the greatest aspirations in this broad field. The result is this multi-authored paper, in which many of the world's leading experts address the following fundamental questions:(1) What is the future of gravitational wave astronomy? (2) Are there new quantum phases of matter away from equilibrium that can be found and exploited -such as the time crystal? (3) Quantum theory in uncharted territory: What can we learn? (4) What are the ultimate limits for laser photon energies? (5) What are the ultimate limits to temporal, spatial, and optical resolution? (6) What novel roles will atoms play in technology? (7) What applications lie ahead for nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond? (8) What is the future of quantum coherence, squeezing, and entanglement for enhanced superresolution and sensing? (9) How can we solve (some of) humanity's biggest problems through new quantum technologies? (10) What new understanding of materials and biological molecules will result from their dynamical characterization with free electron lasers? (11) What new technologies and fundamental discoveries might quantum optics achieve by the end of this century? (12) What novel topological structures can be created and employed in quantum optics?

Observation of a Time Quasicrystal and Its Transition to a Superfluid Time Crystal

“…The frequency of the precession is determined by interactions (here of spin-orbit type, see below) and is robust to perturbations in the system. All this fits the presently adopted criterions of "time crystal", which exhibits typical hallmarks of spontaneous symmetry breaking, such as long-range order and soft modes [17]. The coherent precession can be also considered as macroscopic realization of the time crystal behavior of excited eigenstates [18].…”

The sounds of science—a symphony for many instruments and voices: part II

“…Jan Evangelista Purkyne Some themes from the first movement [1] reverberate here alongside new ones, collectively adding to our earlier work, composed with the interested scientist in mind [3][4][5], and complementing publications by prominent scientists who have written for the general public [2,6,7]. Although Stephen Hawking passed away before seeing his final oeuvre Brief Answers to the Big Questions through to publication [7], a final message was broadcast posthumously inviting everyone to 'look up at the stars and not down at [y]our feet'.…”

Superoscillations: a scale physics perspective

“…Such lenses can be used as part of conventional microscopes to scan and image objects with sub-wavelength resolution, beating the Rayleigh limit. Experiments in the context of superresolution induced by superfocussing have achieved a resolution of λ/6 [11]. Nevertheless, numerical simulations show that resolutions of a tenth of the wavelength are within reach [5].…”