Uses ultrafast multidimensional spectroscopy to study structural dynamics of biomolecules. Directions: (1) 2D IR spectroscopy of protein folding, water dynamics, and membrane systems with sub-100-fs time resolution; (2) single-molecule FRET for resolving conformational heterogeneity in proteins and nucleic acids; (3) development of ultrafast mid-IR laser sources and pulse shaping for 2D spectroscopy. Resolves dynamics inaccessible to other methods.
Observational astronomer studying galaxy evolution and the processes (feedback, galactic winds) that regulate star formation in massive galaxies, using UV-to-IR spectroscopy and SDSS data.
Trenti combines high-redshift galaxy and gamma-ray-burst science with hands-on space instrumentation: he leads SkyHopper, a 6U CubeSat carrying a cooled near-infrared telescope intended for rapid follow-up of transients and exoplanet transits, which is an unusually complete exercise in building a photon-starved instrument under severe SWaP constraints. The group also works on infrared detector characterisation and on-board autonomy. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work β DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity β the relevance to a quantum-sensing candidate is the engineering discipline of getting a low-noise detector to work in a hostile, uncontrolled environment β the same problem that separates a laboratory pT/sqrt(Hz) NV magnetometer from a fieldable one. Borderline inclusion on the astronomy criterion; kept because instrumentation is a genuine focus rather than a by-product.
Treps leads the Multimode Quantum Optics group at LKB. Research directions: (1) Multimode quantum frequency combs β synchronously pumped OPO (SPOPO) generates entangled networks of squeezed modes with configurable graph structure; first demonstration of quantum frequency comb with multimode squeezing (PRL 2012); (2) Quantum-enhanced multiparameter estimation β quantum Fisher information and multimode squeezing for simultaneous beyond-shot-noise parameter estimation (e.g., frequency comb spectral centroid and energy, PRX 2020); (3) Non-Gaussian quantum states β heralded generation of non-Gaussian cluster states for CV quantum computing; (4) Quantum metrological inequalities β relating non-locality to parameter estimation. Spin-off: Cailabs (multimode fiber light-shaping for telecom and industrial lasers). Co-director of QICS. ERC-funded.
Nicolas Treps' multimode quantum optics group (with Valentina Parigi and Claude Fabre) generates and characterises highly multimode squeezed and entangled states of light. Research: (1) optical frequency combs as multimode squeezed state resources β quantum metrology and sensing with frequency combs; (2) reconfigurable multimode squeezed state networks for quantum computing and sensing; (3) spatiotemporal squeezing with optical parametric amplifiers. Key for quantum-enhanced sensing with light.
Treussart uses fluorescent nanodiamonds (NV centres) as photostable bio-probes: intracellular single-particle tracking, nanoscale thermometry/magnetometry, and multimodal biosensing in cells and organisms, alongside super-resolution imaging - a direct NV-ensemble-to-biology bridge. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work is applied here to living cells via nanodiamond probes.
Truppe is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Cold Matter, specialising in laser cooling of atoms and diatomic molecules using deep-UV lasers. His current focus is aluminium monofluoride (AlF) and magnesium fluoride (MgF): AlF can be produced in a bright cryogenic buffer-gas beam and rapidly optically cycled on the AΒΉΞ βXΒΉΞ£βΊ transition, making it a candidate for high-density laser trapping; MgF is characterised for its AΒ²Ξ βXΒ²Ξ£βΊ hyperfine structure, relevant to laser cooling. These molecules open routes to ultracold chemistry studies, precision spectroscopy, and quantum simulation. Truppe returned to Imperial as faculty after a period at the Fritz Haber Institute (ERC Starting Grant, 'CoMoFun', cold molecules for fundamental physics).
Tuthill is the world's leading practitioner of aperture-masking interferometry and its modern photonic successors. His group's instruments β GLINT (a photonic nuller that destructively interferes starlight on a chip), Dragonfly, and the kernel-phase analysis framework β exist to recover structure at and below the formal diffraction limit of the telescope, in the photon-starved, speckle-dominated regime where naive imaging fails. Science targets are the dusty pinwheel nebulae of Wolf-Rayet binaries, protoplanetary discs and direct detection of exoplanets. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work β DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity β this is the astronomy entry in the search that most closely mirrors the intellectual structure of quantum sensing: the instrument's performance is set by a fundamental noise floor (photon and speckle noise, analogous to the shot-noise floor at pT/sqrt(Hz)), and the entire game is designing an estimator and a hardware front end that saturate it. Preferred attribute strongly present.
Hendrik Ulbricht's group pioneers levitated optomechanics and macroscopic quantum systems. Research: (1) optical levitation of nanoparticles for zeptonewton force sensing and quantum-to-classical transition tests; (2) magnetic levitation of micromagnets (diamagnetically stabilised) as ultralight dark matter detectors and magnetometers (fT/βHz sensitivity demonstrated with LeMaMa levitated ferromagnet); (3) spin entanglement witness for quantum gravity (BMV experiment β levitated diamond with NV centre); (4) tests of the DiΓ³si-Penrose model of wavefunction collapse. Multiple Reviews of Modern Physics; active in macroscopic quantum physics community.
Unruh studies stellar magnetic activity, starspots and irradiance variability and their effect on exoplanet transit and radial-velocity observations, helping to characterise host stars for precise exoplanet measurements.