WG1: Fundamental science studies

Leader:
André Xuereb
University of Malta

Vice Leader:
Simon Groeblacher
Delft University of Technology

We will set the foundations of the research programme within QTSpace, and establish the enabling ground for the experimental efforts that are at the core of the Action’s Work Plan. WG1 will thus have an explicitly enabling character, entailed by its fundamental nature. Specifically, WG1 will address three targeted tasks:

1. The evaluation of tests for fundamental theories in quantum mechanics, and their extensions towards implementation in a space environment;
2. The thorough characterization of the needs for the successful realization of fundamental quantum experiments in space environments, including the identification of the experimental regimes that would lead to the observation of potential deviations from the prescriptions of quantum mechanics. This task of WG1 will thus be instrumental to the identification of a factual roadmap for the experimental assessment of quantum tests in space;
3. The exploration of the possibility to realise space missions aimed at the exploration, within the realm of fundamental quantum physics, of the various platforms identified in QTSpace (from optical quantum communication to cold-atom interferometry, from matter-wave interferometry with large masses to atomic-clock technology).

The development of the WG will take advantage of the variegate expertise available within QTSpace, which spans from the foundations of quantum mechanics to the experimental management of nano-/mesoscopic systems, from open-system dynamics to quantum optics and quantum information processing. The work performed within the WG will underpin the efforts of the other Working Groups trough a propositive, informative, and through-provoking approach to difficult questions in fundamental quantum physics.