Research groups in the Quantum Matter & Optics programme investigate electronic properties of matter and light-matter interactions with emphasis on quantum information.

The quantum nature of matter and light has grown into a broad and fruitful research field for theorists and experimentalists alike. It combines foundational research with toward applications, the most well known of which is the quantum computer.

The focus of our theoretical physics research is the nature of macroscopic matter that is in one or the other way still in the grip of quantum physics.

We are a dynamic research group at the Leiden Institute of Physics. Our aim is to explore and understand quantum materials, including strange metals, high-temperature superconductors, and quantum critical electron matter.

The master’s specialisation Research in Physics, Quantum Matter and Optics at Leiden University offers a thorough experience on the front line of physics research with a practical training of communicative and computer skills. The programme focuses on Condensed Matter problems, such as Molecular Electronics,…

Schalm

Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen, Leids Instituut voor Onderzoek in de Natuurkunde (LION)

Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen, Leids Instituut voor Onderzoek in de Natuurkunde (LION)

Physicists understand little about quantum matter, which is a building block of future quantum computers. Theorists have now discovered that black holes with ‘dreadlocks’ harbor a similarly exotic order pattern, which makes calculations on quantum matter easier. Publication in Physical Review Letter…

Research in the van Exter lab focuses on quantum aspects of light and light-matter interaction. One of our long-term goals is to develop a reliable quantum memory, based on a single emitter in an open micro cavity.

The research in my group addresses a range of topics related to quantum many-body physics.

Top scientists of three Dutch universities are working on software and systems for quantum computers. Researchers of the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) and the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION) are developing new algorithms to make those super computers work. The coming years,…

We study the dynamics of individual emitters in micro cavities.

This thesis covers various applications of topology in condensed matter physics and quantum information.

Promotor: Prof.dr. D. Bouwmeester, Co-promotor: M.P. van Exter

Promotor: Ronald Cramer, Co-promotor: Serge Fehr

With the help of quantum mechanics, digital quantum hardware may be able to tackle some of the problems that are too difficult for ordinary computers. But despite these expectations and the ongoing effort of the research community, reliable quantum computers are not yet realized in a lab setting.

This thesis is a collection of theoretical works aiming at adjusting quantum algorithms to the hardware of quantum computers.

The worldwide race to the quantum computer is in full swing. This computer can take on computing tasks that we can only dream of today, such as finding proteins that can be used as medicines in seconds flat. Leiden physicists have discovered how the Majorana particle can be used as a building block…

Why do black holes emit thermal radiation? And how does a closed quantum system thermalize?

The research program of the QO group has three leading themes: Optical Physics, Quantum Optics, and Photon-Matter Interactions. We work mostly at the boundaries between these themes with entanglement as a bridging and binding agent.

Promotor: C. W. J. Beenakker, Co-promotor: J. K. Asboth

Promotor: R. Gill, Co-promotor: P. Massart

Quantum computing is a novel paradigm for computation, which is nearing real-world impact with the coming generation of limited, but nonetheless powerful quantum devices.

Quantum computers deserve their own quantum internet. This is a network that dispatches information not in the form of bits - ones and zeros - but rather as qubits, just like in the quantum computer itself. In the view of Dirk Bouwmeester, a professor in Leiden’s Quantum Matter & Optics research group,…

This thesis described the development of novel scanning tunneling microscopy techniques to investigate strongly correlated electronic states in quantum matter.

We explore the possibilities to combine magnetic resonance techniques with atomic force microscopy together in a single microscope: the MRI-AFM, also called Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy (MRFM).

Astronomer Koen Kuijken and physicist Tjerk Oosterkamp have each been awarded a major subsidy by NWO. The funding will allow them to construct new research facilities.

Friday afternoon, 1 October. Location: one of the most vibration-free places in the world. In this setting, Leiden top scientists launched Quantum Leiden. For decades, researchers at the Faculty of Science have been investigating quantum technology at the highest level and also have been brainstorming…

Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. J.W.M. Hilgenkamp, Prof.dr. J. van den Brink

Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen, Mathematisch Instituut (MI)

During my PhD research, I studied the photon statistics of light emitted by a microcavity that contains a single quantum dot (QD) on resonance.

In Quantum mechanics, particles can be in multiple positions simultaneously. Yet, when a measurement is made, the particle is found only in one place. Technology has come to a point where we may design experiments that will tell us how.

In my research, we developed a method to distinguish knots. A knot is a mathematical depiction of the everyday knot that occurs in ropes and cords.

Quantum Delta NL, a research programme in which Leiden University participates, has been awarded 615 million euros from the National Growth Fund to help develop the Netherlands into a top player in quantum technology.

Promotor: C.W.J. Beenakker, Co-Promotor: A.R. Akhmerov

Promotor: C.W.J. Beenakker, Co-promotor: M.T. Wimmer

The NEASQC project brings together academic experts and industrial end-users to investigate and develop a new breed of Quantum-enabled applications that can take advantage of NISQ (Noise Intermediate-Scale Quantum) systems in the near future. NEASQC is use-case driven, addressing practical problems…

The research group ‘Quantum and Society’ explores the boundary between quantum technology and science communication.

Bouwmeester

This master’s programme combines Physics with Data Science. You will learn how physics has its own tricks to deal with big data and how techniques from machine learning and deep learning can be applied to classical and quantum data. The first focus of attention is on classical data, including data mining,…

Our group explores the larger domain of quantum measurement. In particular we investigate two themes that are closely connected: The detection of specially prepared quantum states of light and understanding and characterizing quantum photon detectors.

Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen, Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS)

Promotor: K.E. Schalm, Co-promotor: S.S. Lee

Advancing the understanding of the interaction of light and matter on the single-quantum level is important for near-future quantum technologies but also to answer fundamental questions.