Exploring the World with the Laser Dedicated to Theodor Hänsch on his 75th birthday

Prof. Dr. Tilman Esslinger

Head of the Quantum Optics Group, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Research area: Quantum gases, quantum simulation, quantum optics

Major scientific accomplishments: first experimental realization of a Fermi-Hubbard model and the Mott insulator using a fermionic quantum gas trapped in an optical lattice, measurement of the critical exponent of the correlation length in a Bose gas, first realization of a one-dimensional atomic quantum gas, cavity QED and cavity opto-mechanics with Bose- Einstein condensates, observation of the Dicke quantum phase transition, optical lattices with Dirac points, realization of the topological Haldane model, observation of quantized conductance in a Fermi gas.

Prof. Dr. Dieter Meschede

Head of Quantum Technology group at University Bonn, Germany

Editor-in-Chief of the journal Applied Physics B – Lasers and Optics,

Research interests: Quantum technologies with single neutral atoms, few-atom quantum systems, discrete-time quantum walks, cavity QED, digital quantum simulators

Prof. Dr. Thomas Udem

Permanent research associate at the Laser spectroscopy division / Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics / Garching and Institute of Physics Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany.

Research interests: Ultraprecise laser spectroscopy, Frequency combs in the extreme ultraviolet, High harmonic generation, Atomic physics with ion traps, Precision spectroscopy of single atoms, hydrogen and hoydrogen-like systems, Test of fundamental laws, Search for slowly varying constants, Frequency combs infrared and extreme ultraviolet, Ion traps, Intra-cavity high harmonic generation