Prof. Dr. Tilman Esslinger

Tilman Esslinger studies quantum many-body physics and matter-light interactions using quantum simulators and pioneers new concepts in quantum computing.

Tilman Esslinger studied Physics at the Ludwig Maximillian University in Munich, Germany, and at the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. In October 2001, he became Full Professor and Chair of Quantum Optics at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. From 2013 to 2015 he headed the Department of Physics at ETH Zurich and from 2011 to 2022 he was Vice Director of the National Centre of Competence in Research Quantum Science and Technology.

Tilman Esslinger is best known for his work on quantum simulators using optical lattices, which are based on quantum degenerate atoms exposed to periodic optical potentials tailored from interfering laser beams. This research has provided an unprecedented view of quantum phase transitions and establishes a unique link between macroscopically observed quantum phenomena and microscopic description. He observed the quantum phase transition between a superfluid and a Mott insulator and pioneered fermionic atoms in optical lattices to realize the iconic Fermi-Hubbard model, leading to the observations of a fermionic Mott insulator and quantum magnetism. By designing optical lattices of tunable and geometry, he realized artificial graphene, as well as Haldane’s seminal model for a topological Chern insulator. Beyond the inspiration of quantum simulation of materials, Tilman Esslinger and his team conceived a realization of the Dicke-model of quantum electrodynamics using ultracold matter in optical cavities and demonstrated the paradigmatic phase transition to a superradiant state, as well as supersolid phases. A new branch of research is the measurement of conductances in quantum gases, where he and his team demonstrated the equivalent of the thermoelectric effect and observed for the first time quantized conductances in neutral matter. Using dynamic optical lattices he created topological pumps and atomic quantum gates.

Tilman Esslinger has published well over 140 papers, including 13 research papers in Nature and 10 in Science. Tilman Esslinger is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, he received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, shared the Senior BEC Award and the Philip-Morris Research Prize. He has received two ERC advanced grants and an SNF advanced grant. He was Senior Research Visitor at Keble College, Oxford, Guest Professor at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and Guest Researcher at JQI Washington and at Harvard University and Visiting Fellow at JILA. He has delivered numerous invited lectures and several named colloquia. Several of his PhD students and postdocs have become Professors at renowned institutions around the world.