Dr Erik Gauger
Group leader, Associate Professor at Heriot-Watt, and Member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's Young Academy of Scotland.
We are the quantum theory team led by Dr Erik Gauger at Heriot-Watt University.
To learn more please scroll down or use the site menu.
We study how harnessing quantum mechanical properties of nanostructures enables novel kinds of technologies:
Unlocking the ultimate limits of energy efficiency requires a physical understanding at level of single quanta of energy.
Information processing in the quantum world offers fascinating non-classical advantages.
Quantum systems are fragile, and this can exploited for probing the environment.
Group leader, Associate Professor at Heriot-Watt, and Member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's Young Academy of Scotland.
Moritz is a senior Research Associate working on efficient and exact simulations of nanoscale quantum devices, as part of a joint project with collaborators at St Andrews.
Nick is a Research Associate to work on bio-inspired, quantum-enhanced light-harvesting.
is interested in quantum-enhanced light harvesting and quantum simulation of open systems dynamics.
explores protocols for quantum metrology, studying both optical setups and spin sensors.
has been investigating the coherence time of sunlight and the modelling of semi-coherent excitation. He is also at home in the Edinburgh Mostly Quantum Lab.
currently works on dispersive, waveguide-assisted read out of double quantum dots. He is jointly supervised with Brendon Lovett and based at St Andrews.
studies information theoretic approaches to optimising quantum transport. He is jointly supervised with Felix Pollock.
studies questions pertaining to noise-enhanced quantum transport. He is jointly supervised with Brendon Lovett.
explores approaches for understanding, controlling, and optimising solid-state quantum devices using machine learning. He is primarily based in Oxford in the group Dr Natalia Ares.
investigates quantum effects in the light matter interaction of strongly coupled systems with applicaitons for light-harvesting.
is working on understanding the properties of strongly coupled indistinguishable quantum emitters and absorbers.
uses Bayesian inference for Lindbladian learning from measured data. He is jointly supervised with Dr Cristian Bonato.
We are looking for enthusiastic people to join our group!
Opportunities for fully funded PhD studentships for UK and EU applicants exist. Places are filled on a competitive, rolling basis.
Harvesting and distributing energy are two of the major challenges faced by society. In Nature, these processes are crucial for all forms of life, and have been fine-tuned within living organisms for hundreds of millions of years.
On the atomic scale, energy is ‘quantised’, e.g. as a photon of light, and its behaviour is governed by quantum mechanics. Taking inspiration from the ingenious solutions found in Nature, in this project you will explore novel ways of harnessing quantum effects in artificial, ‘quantum-engineered’ devices and molecules. This will involve applying and deriving suitable open quantum systems approaches for modelling the properties of quantum many body systems in realistic condensed matter environments.
Starting with the light harvesting step, the aim of this project is to develop blueprints for highly efficient energy harvesters based on condensed matter quantum nanostructures.
Many animals use Earth’s magnetic field as an aid for navigation. For several species of birds the evidence points to a compass based on the quantum properties of the electronic spin. However, these compass spins will not only experience Earth’s magnetic field but must also interact strongly with the ‘hot and wet’ biological environment. The precise workings of the birds' compass remain a topic of debate, but analysing data from behavioural studies already allows us to extract some of its surprising properties, and we have recently predicted world-record spin coherence times [2]. Recent experimental studies confirm the extraordinary sensitivity of the bird’s compass to tiny electromagnetic field fluctuations, and thus underline the need for a better theoretical understanding of this biological quantum system.
In this project you will be developing theoretical models of the physical properties of a radical pair of spins in a condensed matter environment. This will be accomplished by applying and developing non-Markovian open quantum systems techniques. The goal of this project will be to understand how the exceptionally long-lived quantum coherence may survive in the messy physical environment surrounding the core compass unit, and to develop experimentally testable predictions.
Many solid-state nanostructures, such as semiconductor quantum dots and crystal defects in diamond or silicon, feature both an optical transition as well as an electron and nuclear spins. Owing to their hierarchy of coupled quantum degrees of freedom, they are considered particularly promising candidates for a host of quantum information technologies, ranging from secure communication and enhanced sensing to fully fledged information processing.
In this theoretical project you will explore the physics of solid-state nanostructures with multiple coupled degrees of freedom. Building on our existing theory work, a particular goal of this project will be to design specific protocols which can be tested in the labs of our experimental collaborators.
Spin-based sensors are a promising platform for nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging. This project is concerned with unlocking their full potential through the exploration and development of quantum control approaches based on Hamiltonian- and machine learning approaches. More info is available here.
Unfortunately, there are no current openings, however, we would be very happy to support personal fellowship applications. Please get in touch if interested.
We expect to be able to recruit to a fully funded PhD studentship to start in autumn 2022.
More details on the project to follow soon. However, please don't hesitate to get in touch now to learn more available projects and to find out how to apply.
A complete list of publications with links can be found on
Dr Erik M Gauger
Room DB 1.10
Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences
School of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh EH14 4AS, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)131 451 3345
e.gauger@hw.ac.uk