FORM2025 workshop focuses on Rydberg physics

15 May 2025

Photo: ZOQ

The workshop was part of a Cluster program which aims to encourage collaboration and communication between the next generation of experimentalists and theorists at German research institutions.

In recent years, there has been increasing attention given to highly excited Rydberg atoms. Advances in trapping and cooling atoms, as well as tailoring their interactions, have led to unprecedented progress in controlling and engineering quantum matter. From May 5 to 7, the Functionalities of Rydberg Matter (FORM2025) workshop gave young doctoral and postdoctoral researchers the chance to share their latest findings in the rapidly evolving field of Rydberg physics.

For three days, ZOQ's seminar room hosted excellent talks on relevant research topics in ultracold atomic and molecular physics, atomic quantum computing, light-matter interactions, and many-body physics in the context of Rydberg systems.  Furthermore, dinner-table discussions, evening walks, and other socializing opportunities were arranged to encourage collaboration between the invited speakers and the resident scientists of Hamburg.

More than 30 people participated in the scientific discussions, 17 of whom were external speakers invited to Hamburg. Rohan Srikumar, Zeki Zeybek, and Aslam Parvej organized the workshop. They are young researchers who work on Rydberg physics within the theory groups of Prof. Peter Schmelcher and Prof. Ludwig Mathey at the University of Hamburg.

This initiative is part of the recurring young researchers workshop program at the Cluster of Excellence “CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter”, which aims to encourage collaboration and communication between the next generation of experimentalists and theorists at German research institutions.

Key topics:

• Rydberg atoms in optical tweezer arrays
• Rydberg atom-based quantum computers
• Rydberg molecules and Rydberg polarons
• Manybody physics with atom arrays
• Quantum optics with Rydberg atoms
• Atom-atom and atom-ion interactions
• Ultracold high-resolution microscopy