General Information
The Quantum Atom Optics theory group at UQ currently has a number of PhD and other research students, and we are always interested in applications from bright, motivated students to join us. If you are are interested, please read the following information to make sure that you are eligible to apply, before reading the information on these web pages about our research and specific PhD projects. Then contact the relevant staff member/prospective supervisor, sending a detailed CV including information about your grades from undergraduate coursework. For further general enquiries please email acqao-info
physics.uq.edu.au.
General PhD information: Completion of a PhD degree in Australia typically takes 3-4 years, and most students begin at the start of the academic year in February. However, it is possible to commence at any time throughout the year provided your funding allows it. PhD students in Quantum Atom Optics at UQ have most often enrolled in Physics within the School of Physical Sciences. Physics at UQ currently includes approximately 40 PhD students and 35 academic and research staff. It may also be possible to arrange PhD enrolment within Mathematics.
Australian and New Zealand PhD applicants: Australian and New Zealand citizens and Australian permanent residents who possess or will obtain a First Class Honours degree in Physics or a related discipline should apply for an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA), or equivalent UQ scholarships. Applications are due in October of each year. General information about PhD enrolment and scholarships can be found here. While all aspects of enrolment and scholarship application are handled by the UQ Graduate School, it is essential that applicants contact a staff member from the Quantum Atom Optics group to discuss research projects in advance.
International PhD applicants: Exceptional international students (i.e., those who are not Australian and New Zealand citizens or Australian permanent residents) can enroll in PhD studies at UQ with financial assistance from the International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS), which covers tuition fees, and an associated UQ scholarship that provides a living allowance. A limited number of scholarships may also be awarded by individual UQ Schools/Centres. Applications are accepted ONLY once a year, with the deadline of 31 August for commencement in the following February at the earliest. You apply by filling out the application form for postgraduate study at UQ found here, and ticking the boxes indicating that you wish to apply for the available scholarships. These scholarships are highly competitive; however, we currently have one IPRS holder in the group. Applicants should hold a 4-year undergraduate (Honours) or Masters degree or equivalent in Physics or a related discipline, possess some research experience, and will be required to satisfy English language requirements. General information about PhD enrollment and scholarships can be found here, and for international students here. While all aspects of enrolment and scholarship application are handled by the International Education Directorate, it is essential that applicants contact a staff member from the Quantum Atom Optics group before applying to discuss research projects in advance.
Unfortunately, the IPRS is currently the only mechanism we possess for funding international students. Interested students should investigate scholarship opportunities in their home country; the faculty here will be happy to assist you with an application for scholarship in the Quantum Atom Optics group.
Top up scholarships: Exceptional students who are successful in obtaining a scholarship for PhD studies at UQ will be offered an additional top-up scholarship of $6,000 per annum from our own funding resources.
Australian IV Year Honours applicants: Information on the Physics Honours program can be found here.
Summer Vacation applicants: These scholarship provide an opportunity for students to undertake a short-term but meaningful piece of research work, and will be of particular interest to students wishing to test their ability in a particular area of research and to inform their decision regarding possible honours studies. Information can be found here.
Introduction to Quantum Atom Optics
Quantum Atom Optics combines quantum optics with atom optics, the new science of ultra-cold atoms.
Quantum Optics is the science of photon lasers, the most significant development in physics in the late twentieth century. It has led to countless applications, and is at the heart of modern communications and measurement.
Atom Optics treats Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) and atom lasers, where many atoms 'sing together' in a coherent matter wave. A field that is at the forefront of modern physics, ultra-cold atoms have been the topic of two recent Nobel prizes in physics (1997 and 2001). As well as being of importance to fundamental science, research into atom lasers has applications in nano-technology, gravity surveys and precision measurements.
A Bose-Einstein condensate is a new state of matter predicted by Einstein over 70 years ago, but first seen only in 1995. Bose condensates, which require ultra-cold temperatures (~100 nK) to form, exhibit quantum mechanical behaviour on a mesoscopic scale, and are providing exciting new insights into the fundamental nature of matter and matter-wave interactions.
Research in quantum atom optics is aimed at understanding and utilising the physics of these exotic quantum systems, and UQ has a major theoretical programs in this area. The BEC and Quantum Optics theory group provides theoretical leadership to the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Atom Optics (ACQAO). Its pioneering work on 'super-chemistry' inspired experiments on atomic-molecular BECs internationally, and it is a world leader in developing computational techniques for dynamical quantum many-body systems.
Further reading for introduction to the field of Bose-Einstein condensation
Introductory papers for non-specialists:
"Very Cold Indeed: The Nanokelvin Physics of Bose-Einstein Condensation",
E. Cornell, in Special Issue on Bose-Einstein Condensation, Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, v. 101(4), p. 419 (1996). Link.
Special Issue on Bose-Einstein Condensation (Keith Burnett, Mark Edwards, and Charles Clark, Editors),
Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, v. 101(4), (1996) Link.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2001 (Eric Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle, and Carl Wieman): "for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates". Link.
"Bose-Einstein Condensation in Alkali Gases",
Advanced information on the Nobel Prize in Physics 2001. Link.
Nobel Lecture: "Bose-Einstein condensation in a dilute gas, the first 70 years and some recent experiments",
E. A Cornell and C. E. Wieman., Rev. Mod. Phys. 74, 875-893 (2002). Link.
Nobel Lecture: "When atoms behave as waves: Bose-Eisntein condensation and the atom laser",
W. Ketterle, Rev. Mod. Phys. 74, 1131 (2002). Link.
Popular Websites:
What is BEC?
JILA BEC Homepage
Introduction to BEC (from MIT)
Advanced Review Papers:
Nature Insight on Ultracold Matter (collection of review papers), Nature 418, 205 (2002). Link.
"The physics of trapped dilute-gas Bose–Einstein condensates", A. S. Parkins and D. F. Walls, Physics Reports 303, 1 (1998). Link.
"Bose-Einstein condensation in the alkali gases: Some fundamental concepts", A. J. Leggett, Rev. Mod. Phys. 73, 307 (2001). Link.
"Theory of Bose-Einstein condensation in trapped gases", F. Dalfovo, S. Giorgini, L. P. Pitaevskii, and S. Stringari, Rev. Mod. Phys. 71, 463 (1999). Link. (also available at cond-mat/9806038).
"Experiments in dilute atomic Bose-Einstein condensation", E. A. Cornell, J. R. Ensher and C. E. Wieman, in Bose-Einstein Condensation in Atomic Gases, Proceedings of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi" Course CXL (M. Inguscio, S. Stringari and C. E. Wieman, Eds., Italian Physical Society, 1999), pp. 15-66. (available at cond-mat/9903109).
"Making, probing and understanding Bose-Einstein condensates", W. Ketterle, D. S. Durfee, and D. M. Stamper-Kurn, in Bose-Einstein Condensation in Atomic Gases, Proceedings of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi" Course CXL (M. Inguscio, S. Stringari and C. E. Wieman, Eds., Italian Physical Society, 1999). (available at cond-mat/9904034)
"Atom cooling, trapping, and quantum manipulation", Carl E. Wieman, David E. Pritchard, David J. Wineland, Rev. Mod. Phys. 71, S253–S262 (1999). Link.
List of Project Areas
Bose-Einstein Condensates and Atom Lasers (pdf flyer)
The field of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) is a significant, rapidly growing research area at the forefront of contemporary physics. Its attraction lies in its ability to display phenomena well known from other fields, such as condensed-matter physics, in a clear and unambiguous manner, allowing accurate and powerful theory to be applied to "real-life" experimentally relevant situations. Its significance was recognized with Nobel Prizes in Physics in 2001 for the first observation of BEC in 1995.
BECs can be thought of a macroscopic number of particles sharing the same wave function, and the atoms have similar coherence properties to a laser. The development of the atom laser promises state-of-the-art measurement devices, but more fundamentally BECs allow us to model the quantum fields that underlie nearly all of modern physics in systems where we have unparalleled experimental control. Predicting the behaviour of these systems is a major theoretical challenge, and designing improved atomic sources is a critical requirement for future experiments.
This topic involves developing theoretical techniques for studying BECs at finite temperatures, and applying them to understand the physics of condensates in a variety of situations. Research interests include:
- Theory of a continuous atom laser
- Coherence properties of atom lasers and BEC
- Controlling trapped atomic gases through feedback
- Rotating condensates and the formation of vortex lattices
- Dynamics of BEC formation
- Fluctuations and topological structures in lower dimensional systems
Supervisors
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Dr Matthew Davis <mdavis physics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Murray Olsen <mkophysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Ashton Bradley <abradleyphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Prof Peter Drummond <drummondphysics.uq.edu.au> |
Detailed project descriptions in this area:
Ultracold Fermions and Molecules (pdf flyer)
The discovery of Bose-Einstein condensation in 1995 by C. Wieman and E. Cornell, and the subsequent Nobel Prize awards in 2001, have introduced a new era in fundamental physics research. One of the outstanding opportunities in this new field is the theory and measurement of quantum correlations in ultra-cold atomic gases. These have applications to many areas, from novel tests of macroscopic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, to determining fundamental quantum noise limits in atom lasers and precise engineering of novel condensed matter systems.
This project is concerned with exploring the physics of the superfluid phase transition in strongly interacting Fermi gases and the study of dissociation of molecular Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) as means of producing strongly correlated and entangled atomic ensembles.
This is closely linked to an experimental program at the Swinburne University of Technology node of ACQAO on ultra-cold molecule formation using fermionic Lithium atoms near a magnetic Feshbach resonance. There are additional international links with experimental programs at École Normale Superiere (France), Innsbruck University (Austria), and Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics (Germany).
The research program will include the study of:
- Fermionic and bosonic atom correlations in molecule dissociation
- Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox and Bell's inequalities with fermions
- BCS-BEC crossover regime in degenerate Fermi gases
- Quantum many-body simulation methods
- Thermodynamics of trapped Fermi gases
- Collective modes, vortex structures, and finite temperature effects
Supervisors
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Dr Karen Kheruntsyan <kheruntsphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Joel Corney <corneyphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Prof Peter Drummond <drummondphysics.uq.edu.au> |
Detailed project descriptions in this area:
Field Theory and Quantum Correlations (pdf flyer)
The simplicity and controllability of ultracold atomic experiments means that they are able to implement well-known models in many-body quantum physics and quantum field theory to a high accuracy. Examples include the well-known Bose and Fermi Hubbard models, which are realised by means of atoms in optical lattice potentials. These physically important models are fundamental to condensed matter physics and possess quantum phase transitions. Similar technology can also to implement reduced dimensional Bose and Fermi gases, where quantum correlation effects are important.
Also, the equations for excitations in a BEC can be cast in the form of relativistic field equations, with a metric that corresponds to curved space-time. Thus BECs that can be used to study phenomenon analogous to black holes and Hawking radiation in systems that can be probed in the laboratory.
Because dynamics and correlations can now be quantitatively studied in the laboratory, new questions are being put to these well-known models, in many cases demanding deeper theoretical understanding and new methods of solution.
PhD topics in this area include:
- Quantum statistics of BECs
- Correlations and thermodynamics of one-dimensional Bose gases
- Quantum properties of BEC in lattices
- BECs as analogues of interacting quantum fields and black holes
Supervisors
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Dr Joel Corney <corneyphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Karen Kheruntsyan <kheruntsphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Matthew Davis <mdavisphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Prof Peter Drummond <drummondphysics.uq.edu.au> |
Detailed project descriptions in this area:
Computational Physics and Quantum Simulations (pdf flyer)
Recent pioneering experiments with ultracold atoms have opened up experimental regimes in which many-body quantum physics can be investigated with unprecedented simplicity and precision. Theoretical predictions can thus be tested to high accuracy. Although described by relatively simple models, except in special cases such systems cannot be solved analytically without serious approximations.
The accurate simulation of quantum many body systems is one of the great challenges of many body physics. Fermionic simulations, plagued by infamous Fermi sign problem, are particularly difficult. Quantum phase-space methods are a proven way of simulating interacting quantum systems. Originally developed to simulate optical systems, they are under development in the centre, by means of "stochastic gauges", alternative basis sets, and hybrid approaches, to tackle systems with stronger interactions (such as atoms) and to simulate fermions as well as bosons.
ACQAO has a strong program in computational physics. The in-house simulation package for stochastic PDEs, known as XMDS, is useful for many projects in the centre, and its extension to new types of problems is an active area of development. A new 64bit Linux cluster at the UQ node is available for researchers in the centre.
ACQAO PhD projects in this area cover:
- Novel simulation methods for fermions
- Dynamics of ultracold atoms in a lattices
- Stochastic gauges for stable quantum simulations
- Dynamics of BEC formation and vortices
Supervisors
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Prof Peter Drummond <drummondphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Joel Corney <corneyphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Matthew Davis <mdavisphysics.uq.edu.au> |
Detailed project descriptions in this area:
Matter Waves in Lattices and Waveguides (pdf flyer)
A dilute atomic gas at temperatures close to absolute zero can form a new state of matter - the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Its experimental creation in 1995 was recognised by the Nobel Prize award in 2001. In a condensate, a macroscopic number of particles share the same quantum state. Hence the collection of atoms can behave coherently, as a single giant "matter wave".
A BEC loaded into periodic potentials created by interference of laser beams forms a perfectly ordered periodic "crystal", called an optical lattice. The dynamics of the coherent matter waves can then mimic the behavior of a single electron in a crystalline solid or a coherent wave of laser light in a periodic photonic structure ("photonic crystal"). The critical factors that make BECs in optical lattices remarkably different from both solid state and optical periodic structures are the inherent nonlinearity of the condensate due to atomic interactions and the tunability of the optical lattice potential.
This project will examine the effects that arise due to the interplay of the BEC nonlinearity and periodicity of the optical lattice. This study aims for a deeper understanding of links between the physics of superfluidity, condensation, and nonlinear atom optics.
The research program will include the study of:
- Nonlinear localization of multi-species BECs in lattices
- Formation and dynamics of topological defects (vortices)
- Condensate dynamics in lattices of nontrivial geometries
- Nonlinear effects in quasiperiodic and random lattices
- Atomic-molecular Bose gases in optical Lattices
Supervisors
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Prof Peter Drummond <drummondphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Matthew Davis <mdavisphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Joel Corney <corneyphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Karen Kheruntsyan <kheruntsphysics.uq.edu.au> |
Detailed project descriptions in this area:
Quantum Information and Quantum Optics (pdf flyer)
Entanglement and the failure of local realism make quantum mechanics quite different from classical mechanics. This is at the heart of such phenomena as the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox and the Bell inequalities. Open questions include how entanglement can be extended to multiple observers, what happens with macroscopic particle numbers, and whether quantum superpositions are affected by gravity.
There is a fundamental question here:
Can we test quantum mechanics in new regimes, including macroscopic systems and/or massive particles?
Potential applications are to precision measurements below the standard quantum limits.
ACQAO PhD projects in this area cover:
- Storage of optical quantum states in atoms via EIT
- Quantum simulations of pulse propagation in optical fibres
- Quantum state transfer between optical and BEC fields
- Multipartite entanglement and Bell inequalities
- Mesoscopic oscillators and light-matter entanglement
- Signatures of macroscopic coherence and entanglement for optical and spin squeezing
Supervisors
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Prof Peter Drummond <drummondphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Margaret Reid <margaretphysics.uq.edu.au> |
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Dr Murray Olsen <mkophysics.uq.edu.au> |
Detailed project descriptions in this area:
Other Projects