ERC Starting Grants for Yiwen Chu and Judit Szulágyi

There are currently many efforts around the world to build electrical circuits for performing complex computations using the laws of quantum mechanics. At the same time, light is being used as a carrier of quantum information over large distances. Yiwen Chu, Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) for Hybrid Quantum Systems, will develop in her project new ways of connecting these two important quantum technologies, which is a crucial step in building the quantum analog of a long-​distance telecommunications network. Her approach involves using quantum mechanical states of acoustic waves in crystalline materials as an intermediary to transduce information between the electrical and optical domains.

Judit Szulágyi, currently senior research associate at University of Zurich, is studying the formation of planets. Since 1992, more than 4000 planets were detected outside the solar system, and they show great diversity. Our understanding on the formation process is still very incomplete. In her ERC project she will focus on complex computer simulations of the formation of planets, moons, and entire planetary systems to move a step closer to our understanding on how our solar system was born, as well as how planetary systems form in general in the universe. She also turns the computer simulations into observational predictions in order to figure out how we could observe nascent planetary systems with the current telescopes.