The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded one of the coveted ERC Starting Grants to a researcher at the Leibniz Universität Hannover. Prof. Tobias J. Osborne, professor of theoretical physics at the Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Cluster of Excellence QUEST (Centre for Quantum Engineering and Space-Time Research), will benefit from a grant of 1.34 million Euros for the next five years. The funded project “Quantum field theory, the variational principle, and continuous matrix product states” is aimed at applying new ideas emerging from the field of quantum information theory to the study of fundamental quantum fields. With ERC Starting Grants, the European Research Council supports excellent young scientists in conducting novel and innovative research projects.
Quantum field theory, the branch of physics modelling fundamental particles through to the interactions of ultracold many particle physics, has always presented special difficulties to theorists. However, new insights emerging from the field of quantum information theory in the study of quantum entanglement have recently provided new tools for the study of strongly correlated systems. The application and development of these new ideas for the study of the ultimate theories modelling the constituents of the universe is the central focus of the research project. The proposed work promises a new way to understand the motion and interactions of large collections of quantum particles by avoiding the infamous “sign problem”, which has plagued prior studies.
Prof. Dr. Tobias Osborne studied mathematics and physics at The University of Queensland and completed a PhD in quantum information theory there in 2003. In 2005 he was appointed as a lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London and was promoted to Reader in 2009. From 2009 to 2010 he was also a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berling, before becoming a professor of theoretical physics at the Institute of Quantum Optics, Leibniz Universität Hannover, in August 2010.
