CMMC - Cavity-mediated molecular cooling

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Gerhard Rempe; Professorin Dr. Regina de Vivie-Riedle (†)
• Co-Applicants: Professorin Dr. Almut Beige; Professor Dr. Michael Drewsen; Professor Dr. Jürgen Eschner; Dr. Tim Freegarde; Dr. Peter Horak; Professorin Dr. Giovanna Morigi; Professor Dr. Helmut Ritsch
• Subject Area: Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: from 2007 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 44007881

Cavity-mediated cooling has emerged as the only general technique with the potential to cool molecular species down to the microkelvin temperatures needed for quantum coherence and degeneracy. We propose to link leading theoreticians and experimentalists, including the technique’s inventors and experimental pioneers, to develop it into a truly practical technique, reinforcing European leadership in this field. Four major experiments will explore a spectrum of complementary configurations and apply cavity-mediated cooling to molecules for the first time; a comprehensive theoretical program will meanwhile examine the underlying mechanisms and identify the optimal route to practicality. The close connections between theory and experiment, and between pathfinding and underpinning studies, will allow each to guide and inform the others, ensuring that cavity-mediated cooling is swiftly developed as a broad enabling technology for new realms of quantum coherent molecular physics and chemistry.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Spain, United Kingdom, USA
• Participating Persons: Professor Dr. Tommaso Calarco; Professor Dr. Peter Domokos; Professor Dr. Pepijn W.H. Pinkse