Tilman Esslinger is a German experimental physicist. He is Professor at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and works in the field of ultracold quantum gases and optical lattices.

Tilman Esslinger
Tilman Esslinger (2019)
NationalityGerman
Alma materUniversity of Munich
Known forUltracold quantum gases, optical lattices, Mott insulators, experimental realization of the topological Haldane model
Scientific career
FieldsPhysicist
InstitutionsETH Zurich
Doctoral advisorTheodor Hänsch
Websitewww.quantumoptics.ethz.ch

Biography

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Tilman Esslinger received his PhD in physics from the University of Munich and the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Germany, in 1995. In his doctoral research he worked under the supervision of Theodor Hänsch on subrecoil laser cooling and optical lattices. He then build up his own group in Hänsch’s lab and conducted pioneering work on atom lasers,[1] observed long-range phase coherence in a Bose–Einstein condensate,[2] and realized the superfluid to Mott-insulator transition with a Bose gas in an optical lattice.[3][4] Following his habilitation, Esslinger was in October 2001 appointed full professor at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where he pioneered one-dimensional atomic quantum gases,[5] Fermi–Hubbard models with atoms,[6] a quantum-gas analogue of the topological Haldane model [7] and the merger of quantum gas experiments with cavity quantum electrodynamics.[8]

Research

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The work of Esslinger and his group has stimulated an interdisciplinary exchange between the condensed-matter and quantum-gas communities. Recent notable results include the development of a quantum simulator for graphene,[9] setting up of a cavity-optomechanical system in which the Dicke quantum phase transition to a superradiant state has been observed for the first time,[10] as well as creation of a cold-atom analogue of mesoscopic conductors[11] and observation of the onset of superfluidity in that system.[12] Esslinger received a Phillip Morris Research Prize (shared with Theodor Hänsch and Immanuel Bloch) in 2000 and currently holds an ERC advanced grant. He is an author on more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, which have been cited more than 8000 times (as of March 2013).

References

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  1. ^ Bloch, Immanuel; Hänsch, Theodor W.; Esslinger, Tilman (1999-04-12). "Atom Laser with a cw Output Coupler". Physical Review Letters. 82 (15). American Physical Society (APS): 3008–3011. arXiv:cond-mat/9812258. Bibcode:1999PhRvL..82.3008B. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.82.3008. ISSN 0031-9007. S2CID 119408594.
  2. ^ Bloch, I.; Hänsch, T. W.; Esslinger, T. (2000). "Measurement of the spatial coherence of a trapped Bose gas at the phase transition". Nature. 403 (6766). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 166–170. Bibcode:2000Natur.403..166B. doi:10.1038/35003132. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 10646595. S2CID 4427668.
  3. ^ Greiner, Markus; Bloch, Immanuel; Mandel, Olaf; Hänsch, Theodor W.; Esslinger, Tilman (2001-10-01). "Exploring Phase Coherence in a 2D Lattice of Bose-Einstein Condensates". Physical Review Letters. 87 (16). American Physical Society (APS): 160405. arXiv:cond-mat/0105105. Bibcode:2001PhRvL..87p0405G. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.87.160405. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 11690192. S2CID 26265081.
  4. ^ Greiner, Markus; Mandel, Olaf; Esslinger, Tilman; Hänsch, Theodor W.; Bloch, Immanuel (2002). "Quantum phase transition from a superfluid to a Mott insulator in a gas of ultracold atoms". Nature. 415 (6867). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 39–44. Bibcode:2002Natur.415...39G. doi:10.1038/415039a. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 11780110. S2CID 4411344.
  5. ^ Stöferle, Thilo; Moritz, Henning; Schori, Christian; Köhl, Michael; Esslinger, Tilman (2004-03-31). "Transition from a Strongly Interacting 1D Superfluid to a Mott Insulator". Physical Review Letters. 92 (13): 130403. arXiv:cond-mat/0312440. Bibcode:2004PhRvL..92m0403S. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.92.130403. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 15089587. S2CID 34141301.
  6. ^ Esslinger, Tilman (2010-08-10). "Fermi-Hubbard Physics with Atoms in an Optical Lattice". Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics. 1 (1). Annual Reviews: 129–152. arXiv:1007.0012. Bibcode:2010ARCMP...1..129E. doi:10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-070909-104059. ISSN 1947-5454. S2CID 119274107.
  7. ^ Jotzu, Gregor; Messer, Michael; Desbuquois, Rémi; Lebrat, Martin; Uehlinger, Thomas; et al. (2014). "Experimental realization of the topological Haldane model with ultracold fermions". Nature. 515 (7526): 237–240. arXiv:1406.7874. Bibcode:2014Natur.515..237J. doi:10.1038/nature13915. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 25391960. S2CID 204898338.
  8. ^ Brennecke, Ferdinand; Donner, Tobias; Ritter, Stephan; Bourdel, Thomas; Köhl, Michael; Esslinger, Tilman (2007). "Cavity QED with a Bose–Einstein condensate". Nature. 450 (7167): 268–271. arXiv:0706.3411. Bibcode:2007Natur.450..268B. doi:10.1038/nature06120. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 17994093. S2CID 4405139.
  9. ^ Tarruell, Leticia; Greif, Daniel; Uehlinger, Thomas; Jotzu, Gregor; Esslinger, Tilman (2012). "Creating, moving and merging Dirac points with a Fermi gas in a tunable honeycomb lattice". Nature. 483 (7389): 302–305. arXiv:1111.5020. Bibcode:2012Natur.483..302T. doi:10.1038/nature10871. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 22422263. S2CID 4368258.
  10. ^ Baumann, Kristian; Guerlin, Christine; Brennecke, Ferdinand; Esslinger, Tilman (2010). "Dicke quantum phase transition with a superfluid gas in an optical cavity". Nature. 464 (7293): 1301–1306. arXiv:0912.3261. Bibcode:2010Natur.464.1301B. doi:10.1038/nature09009. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 20428162. S2CID 205220396.
  11. ^ Brantut, J.-P.; Meineke, J.; Stadler, D.; Krinner, S.; Esslinger, T. (2012-08-02). "Conduction of Ultracold Fermions Through a Mesoscopic Channel". Science. 337 (6098). American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): 1069–1071. arXiv:1203.1927. Bibcode:2012Sci...337.1069B. doi:10.1126/science.1223175. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 22859818. S2CID 143934.
  12. ^ Stadler, David; Krinner, Sebastian; Meineke, Jakob; Brantut, Jean-Philippe; Esslinger, Tilman (2012). "Observing the drop of resistance in the flow of a superfluid Fermi gas". Nature. 491 (7426): 736–739. arXiv:1210.1426. Bibcode:2012Natur.491..736S. doi:10.1038/nature11613. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 23192151. S2CID 4391706.
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