After the successful kick-off of the event series last month with an evening lecture by Rainer Blatt, visitors this week had the rare chance to visit a quantum optics laboratory and see the complex experimental setups up close. To get started, Maximilian Ammenwerth, a doctoral student at MPQ, explained the basics of quantum computing, specifically with neutral atoms. How can individual atoms be captured with laser light and controlled and manipulated in such a way that calculations can be carried out? And how can this help to solve complex physical phenomena that are based on the interaction of a large number of particles, such as the binding behavior of large molecules, magnetism or superconductivity? In an exciting lecture lasting about 45 minutes, Maximilian answered these questions and also made the concepts accessible to participants for whom they would otherwise be far removed from their everyday lives. “It was the first time I understood what this topic is actually about,” said a man from the audience. “It really was a great lecture.”
After the lecture, the participants visited various laboratories at the MPQ in small groups and had another opportunity to ask the researchers their numerous questions. The abstract topics from the lecture thus became much more tangible. The mixture of presentation and laboratory tour was particularly well received. It was very cool to see the real laboratories, one participant noted. In the laboratory, you got a much better feel for the topic, added another.
The visitors were also able to learn more about the lasers that are so important for the work at the MPQ and how they work – by means of the unique exhibit presented at the MPQ: the world's first laser!
More information:
All other events in the “MQV-Einblicke” series, with links to registration, can be found here: https://www.munich-quantum-valley.de/quantum-2025/mqv-einblicke
An overview of all further events organized by the MQV and its partners to mark the International Year of Quantum can be found here: https://www.munich-quantum-valley.de/quantum-2025
The monthly Quantum Fridays at the MPQ's PhotonLab school laboratory offer an introduction to quantum physics and the opportunity to conduct experiments yourself. The current dates and the opportunity to register can always be found here: https://eveeno.com/quantenfreitage
You can view the general PhotonLab program for school students here: https://photonworld.de/de/photonlab/ueberblick.html
About the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics: https://www.mpq.mpg.de/