Turku Centre for Quantum Physics

News

Janne Ahokas (Atomic Hydrogen) is having his dissertation on Oct. 30, 2010, at 12.15 in the Quantum Auditorium, with Prof. Nicholas P. Bigelow (Univ. of Rochester) as the opponent. The thesis is available at the Doria System.
The Centre is hosting the workshop Quantum Mechanics: Foundations and Open Systems II, chaired by Sabrina Maniscalco. The workshop is part of the Science Workshop on Entanglement programme, funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation SKR. The workshop is also supported by the Turku University Foundation and the Magnus Ehrnrooth Foundation.
The proceedings of the 16th Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics - CEWQO2009 are now published as the Topical Issue T140 of Physical Scripta.

Pekka Lahti (Operational Quantum Physics) received an Academy of Finland general research grant for 2011-2014, equal to 300 000 euros.
The Wihuri Physical Laboratory, with which the Atomic Hydrogen group is associated, received again a general grant of 160 000 euros for one year from the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation.

Sabrina Maniscalco chaired the Entanglement Workshop at Villa Rauhala, Turku, on July 16-19, 2010. The workshop was part of the Science Workshop on Entanglement programme, funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation SKR.

The recent PRL article by Laura Mazzola, Jyrki Piilo and Sabrina Maniscalco, titled “Sudden Transition between Classical and Quantum Decoherence”, has been highlighted in the PhysOrg web page. Sabrina Maniscalco has also given a Colloquium talk at KTH, Stockholm about the quantum correlations on April 29, 2010.

The popular TED lectures are over for the moment, but instead, a new concept of Quantum Lunches has been initiated. The first one will take place on April 9, and for details and further times see the corresponding web page.
On April 19, 2010, the Emil Aaltonen Foundation has awarded Pinja Haikka (Open Quantum Systems and Entanglement) a graduate study grant of 22 300 euros.

On March 6 the Magnus Ehrnrooth Foundation has awarded Laura Mazzola (Open Quantum Systems and Entanglement) a graduate study grant of 18 500 euros, Kalle-Antti Suominen (Quantum Optics and Quantum Dynamics) a project grant of 9 000 euros, Sabrina Maniscalco and Janika Paavola (Open Quantum Systems and Entanglement) a travel grant of 2 000 euros each, Jyrki Piilo (Non-Markovian Processes and Complex Systems) a travel grant of 1 300 euros, and Ruggero Vasile (Open Quantum Systems and Entanglement) a travel grant of 1 200 euros.
Francesco Francica from Universita’ della Calabria, Cosenza (Italy) is visiting the Open Quantum Systems and Entanglement group for March 3 - April 30.

On Feb. 27 Finnish Cultural Foundation (Suomen Kulttuurirahasto) has awarded Sabrina Maniscalco (Open Quantum Systems and Entanglement) a Science Workshop grant of 100 000 euros, and Jussi Schultz (Operational Quantum Physics) a graduate study grant of 21 000 euros.
On Feb. 26 the University of Turku, at its 90th Anniversary ceremonies, awarded Simo Jaakkola (Atomic Hydrogen, retired) the Memorial Medal of the University.
Massimo Borrelli has started as a graduate student in the Open Quantum Systems and Entanglement group.

The popular series of video lectures from TED conferences continues in Spring 2010, hosted by Sabrina Maniscalco (Open Quantum Systems and Entanglement). The first two events are on Jan. 12 and Jan. 26., at 4 pm - 5 pm (sharp times), at the Quantum Auditorium. For more details: International TED web pages or the local TED@UTU 2010 web page.
Kalle-Antti Suominen has joined the Editorial Board for Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics.
Jaakko Lehto has started as a graduate student in the Quantum Optics and Quantum Dynamics group, working on time-dependent few-level systems such as the Landau-Zener model.

The Opening event of the Centre was held on Dec. 15, 2009, at the Quantum Auditorium, with Hugo Zbinden, Stig Stenholm and Simo Jaakkola as invited speakers. For more information, see the event web page in Finnish or in English.
On Dec. 14 members of the Centre received grants from the Vilho, Yrjö and Kalle Väisälä Fund (Finnish Academy of Science and Letters): Pinja Haikka (4 000 euros for research visit), Janika Paavola (21 000 euros for graduate studies) and Jyrki Piilo (6 000 euros for econophysics research), a total of 31 000 euros.

Sabrina Maniscalco (Open Quantum Systems and Entanglement) was interviewed about quantum computers on November 17th at the BBC World Service radio program The Forum. Listen to the program here (podcast here). And here is the BBC Facebook webpage.
Elsi Laine and Jyrki Piilo (Non-Markovian Processes and Complex Systems), together with Heinz-Peter Breuer from Freiburg, have published an article in Physical Review Letters (PRL 103, 210401 (2009) [4 pages]), titled "Measure for the Degree of Non-Markovian Behavior of Quantum Processes in Open Systems". This article has been selected as an "Editors' Suggestion" and as a Physics Highlight. The article itself is available at PRL online.
Sabrina Maniscalco (Open Quantum Systems and Entanglement) will be hosting three sessions of video lectures from TED conferences. The first event is on Nov. 10, at 4 pm - 5 pm, and then on Nov. 24, and Dec. 8, at the same time, and all events at the Quantum Auditorium. For more details: International TED web pages, University web page in Finnish or the local TED@UTU 2009 web page.

Our TCQP monthly seminar series is started, with Ruggero Vasile as the first speaker on Oct. 19, 2009. For details and future seminars, see the appropriate web page.
Elsi Laine (Non-Markovian Processes and Complex Systems) has received a one-year grant for doctoral studies from the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation on Oct. 9, 2009, equal to 21 000 euros. The Wihuri Physical Laboratory, with which the Atomic Hydrogen group is associated, received again a general grant of 160 000 euros for one year.
Sabrina Maniscalco (Open Quantum Systems and Entanglement) received an Emil Aaltonen Foundation project grant for 2010-2012, equal to 200 000 euros.

Kalle-Antti Suominen (Quantum Optics and Quantum Dynamics) received an Academy of Finland general research grant for 2010-2013, equal to 484 000 euros.
Jarno Järvinen, affiliated with the Atomic Hydrogen group (but currently at Univ. of Grenoble), received an Academy of Finland postdoctoral researcher position for 2010-2012.
Turku Centre for Quantum Physics - TCQP was established and the web site was opened.

The 60th birthday of Pekka Lahti (Operational Quantum Physics) in December 2008 has been commemorated by a two-part Festscrift in the journal Foundations of Physics, edited by Paul Busch, Dennis Dieks and Gerardus ’t Hooft. The Festschrift covers the issues 6 and 7 (June and July) of vol. 39 (pp. 519-868), see the Springer link.
On May 23-27, 2009, the groups that now form the Centre collaborated in organising the 16th Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics - CEWQO2009. The 70th birthday (Feb. 2009) of prof. Stig Stenholm was commemorated, and the proceedings of the conference will appear in Physica Scripta in 2010. This joint activity was one of the milestones on the road to the Centre. In June 2009 the post-conference picture web page was opened.

18.10.2010 12:54 Kalle-Antti Suominen