Mueller's group performs light-pulse atom interferometry at extreme precision to test the equivalence principle, measure the fine-structure constant, and search for new physics, developing techniques (large momentum transfer, squeezed-atom methods) that also underlie compact atom-interferometric gravimeters and gyroscopes. The lab is actively recruiting postdocs.
Prentiss's group works on cold-atom light-pulse interferometry for compact, potentially fieldable inertial sensors (gravimeters/gyroscopes), alongside a parallel biophysics program using optical tweezers and single-molecule methods to study DNA and cell mechanics. The atom-interferometric sensing work is squarely in the quantum-sensing gravimetry/inertial-navigation tradition alongside cold-atom-gradiometer and atom-chip clock efforts elsewhere in the field.
Schneider leads the Many-Body Quantum Dynamics group. His primary work is on optical lattice quantum simulation with ultracold atoms (quasicrystalline and kagome potentials, non-equilibrium dynamics), but he also co-leads a significant quantum sensing arm: he is a core Cambridge PI in the AION collaboration building a 10 m strontium single-photon atom interferometer at Oxford and contributing to MAGIS-100 at Fermilab, targeting mid-band gravitational wave detection and ultralight dark matter. In 2026 he co-leads the UKRI-funded SEQUIN project, a hybrid quantum-classical interferometer array combining atom interferometry with seismometers to probe gravitational waves and Earth's interior.
Prof. Shahriar's group uses atomic and optical systems for precision measurement and quantum information. Key directions: (1) White-light cavities β using anomalous dispersion media inside optical cavities to create a bandwidth-extended cavity enabling broadband gravitational wave detector sensitivity enhancement beyond current LIGO designs; (2) Superluminal (fast-light) gyroscopes β anomalous-dispersion-enhanced ring-laser gyroscopes for measuring the Lense-Thirring frame-dragging effect as a test of general relativity, with >10βΆΓ sensitivity enhancement over conventional Sagnac gyroscopes; (3) Quantum memories and computers using trapped atomic ensembles (PRISM protocol); (4) Ultra-low-light nonlinear optics with nanofibers and atoms for optical switching and quantum logic; (5) Holographic and polarimetric image processing. Member of LIGO Scientific Collaboration; contributed to GW170817 binary neutron star merger discovery. AT&T Professor of ECE.
Carrie Weidner's GECKO group develops experimental quantum sensing and simulation with cold atoms and hot atomic vapours. Key directions: (1) robust atom interferometry for 6-axis inertial sensing using optical lattice potentials (EPSRC-funded, Infleqtion partnership); (2) magnetic field imaging with squeezed light in hot atom vapour cells (wide-field OPM-type sensing using Faraday rotation); (3) quantum optimal control theory for atom interferometric sensors. The group is establishing a full ultracold atom apparatus for quantum simulation and sensing. Active postdoc positions.
Windpassinger's group works on cold neutral atoms as both a platform for fundamental light-matter physics and a deployable sensing technology. The fundamental line uses dysprosium -- the most magnetic element -- to study light propagation in dense dipolar media, where interatomic spacings fall below the optical wavelength and light-induced plus magnetic dipole-dipole interactions produce cooperative effects (superradiance, subradiance); controlled transport in optical dipole traps and microfocusing let them tune from single-atom to collective behaviour. The applied line builds ultracold-atom quantum sensors that survive outside the lab: atom interferometers and BEC sources flown in the Bremen drop tower, on sounding rockets, and on the ISS, aimed at inertial sensing, gravimetry and tests of fundamental constants under microgravity. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), this is the complementary 'cold and fragile but absolutely calibrated' end of the sensing spectrum; the group's real distinguishing asset for a postdoc is the space/microgravity engineering pipeline, which is rare. The group states it is continuously looking for motivated researchers and lists open positions via the PI.