Nonlinear photonic crystals. Photonic crystals have recently became very attractive for photonic technology, that uses light instead of slow electrons as the information carriers replacing electronics in communications and information management. This project has the purpose to develop the fundamental concept of nonlinear photonic crystals and demonstrate their possible applications analysing the properties of the nonlinearity-induced light localization, nonlinear transmission, and frequency co ....Nonlinear photonic crystals. Photonic crystals have recently became very attractive for photonic technology, that uses light instead of slow electrons as the information carriers replacing electronics in communications and information management. This project has the purpose to develop the fundamental concept of nonlinear photonic crystals and demonstrate their possible applications analysing the properties of the nonlinearity-induced light localization, nonlinear transmission, and frequency conversion in band-gap materials with the intensity-dependent optical response. This will allow the possibility realising in practice nonlinear switching even for sharply bent waveguides, providing an effective way to control the flow of light in band-gap photonic circuits.Read moreRead less
Optical and matter-wave vortices in nonlinear and inhomogeneous media. Wave phenomena of diverse nature have a strikingly similar feature of vorticity, with the energy or matter spiralling around isolated phase singularities. This project targets the fundamental theoretical research in an interdisciplinary field of singular waves transporting vortices in nonlinear and inhomogeneous media. Our project will contribute to the designated priority area "Frontier Technologies for Building and Transfor ....Optical and matter-wave vortices in nonlinear and inhomogeneous media. Wave phenomena of diverse nature have a strikingly similar feature of vorticity, with the energy or matter spiralling around isolated phase singularities. This project targets the fundamental theoretical research in an interdisciplinary field of singular waves transporting vortices in nonlinear and inhomogeneous media. Our project will contribute to the designated priority area "Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries" by providing fundamental understanding of novel physical phenomena and underpinning technological advances in the fields of photonics, atom, and electron optics, where Australia has built strong expertise and plays a significant role in the international development.Read moreRead less
Mechanical stresses in holey fibres. The development of holey fibres constitutes arguably the most exciting development in fibre optics in recent years. We will analyze the mechanical stresses in these fibres, which, together with the optical calculations and associated experiments, will allow us to design novel fibre-based devices. This will allow Nufern to develop new products based on holey fibres.
Dynamics of multi-component matter waves. The recent observation of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in weakly interacting ultracold gases has opened the door to the field of coherent matter-wave optics. When the BEC is treated within a mean-field approach the equations resemble those for the propagation of light in nonlinear media. The main aim of this project is to bring our broad and deep nonlinear optical expertise to bare on the classical nonlinear dynamics of multi-component BEC like syste ....Dynamics of multi-component matter waves. The recent observation of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in weakly interacting ultracold gases has opened the door to the field of coherent matter-wave optics. When the BEC is treated within a mean-field approach the equations resemble those for the propagation of light in nonlinear media. The main aim of this project is to bring our broad and deep nonlinear optical expertise to bare on the classical nonlinear dynamics of multi-component BEC like systems. The expected outcome is a position of world leadership in the theoretical understanding of the dynamics of atom lasers, mixed atom-molecule BECs, and fragmented BECs in optical lattices.Read moreRead less
Frozen linear and nonlinear light. Frozen light refers to the observation that light inside particular media can be much brighter than outside it, essentially because it bounced around many times before leaving. Such light has many advantages which have applications in optical signal processing, lasers, and in other optical devices. Until now frozen light has only been studied in a small range of geometries and only at low intensities. In this fundamental research project we will investigate fr ....Frozen linear and nonlinear light. Frozen light refers to the observation that light inside particular media can be much brighter than outside it, essentially because it bounced around many times before leaving. Such light has many advantages which have applications in optical signal processing, lasers, and in other optical devices. Until now frozen light has only been studied in a small range of geometries and only at low intensities. In this fundamental research project we will investigate frozen light, its generation and its properties at low and high intensities, systematically, and we will assess how it can be harnessed for potential applications.Read moreRead less
Quantum Integrable Systems and Applications: From Condensed Matter to Quantum Information. Quantum integrable systems have produced exciting results and techniques vital in the efforts to achieve the ultimate goal of understanding quantum science beyond perturbation. The proposal gathers four world experts from Australia, Japan and Russia to work on highly interdisciplinary projects designed to resolve fundamental problems in the field, which will underpin the development of emerging technologie ....Quantum Integrable Systems and Applications: From Condensed Matter to Quantum Information. Quantum integrable systems have produced exciting results and techniques vital in the efforts to achieve the ultimate goal of understanding quantum science beyond perturbation. The proposal gathers four world experts from Australia, Japan and Russia to work on highly interdisciplinary projects designed to resolve fundamental problems in the field, which will underpin the development of emerging technologies. As a result, Australian science will be seen to be at the forefront internationally, and the leading status of Australia in the field will be greatly strengthened. Early career researchers and PhD students will be trained as part of the project, important in enhancing Australia's capability to develop and retain scientific talent. Read moreRead less
Searching for solvability in Statistical Mechanics and beyond using advanced Enumerative Combinatorics. Standard models in lattice statistical mechanics provide basic models of a large variety of physical systems from polymers to the spread of forest fires. The ability to write down some kind of solution to these problems provides inestimable insight into their generic and universal behaviour. This project aims to expand the types of "solution" that mathematicians and physicists can write down.
Integrable quantum systems: mathematical foundations for developing quantum science. Quantum science is an exciting and challenging area, one which will underpin the development of the next generation of computers and novel devices such as atom lasers. New mathematical techniques are being pursued, to formulate the frameworks that will provide deep insights into the complex nature of the physical principles governing this field, in order to fully realise the potential applications. This project ....Integrable quantum systems: mathematical foundations for developing quantum science. Quantum science is an exciting and challenging area, one which will underpin the development of the next generation of computers and novel devices such as atom lasers. New mathematical techniques are being pursued, to formulate the frameworks that will provide deep insights into the complex nature of the physical principles governing this field, in order to fully realise the potential applications. This project will enhance the scale of an established and internationally competitive program in mathematics research, producing new approaches to meet these demands. It will also provide opportunities for research training, important in ensuring that Australia is well equipped to play a leading role in future quantum science developments.
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Algebraic Structures and Correlations in Quantum Many-Body Systems. Algebraic structures such as quantized superalgebras are among the most important discoveries in mathematics and have applications in a wide range of physics. Internationally there has been recent excitement about vertex operators and representations of these algebraic structures and their applications to integrable systems and quantum field theory. I have made significant contributions to this rapidly expanding field, and will ....Algebraic Structures and Correlations in Quantum Many-Body Systems. Algebraic structures such as quantized superalgebras are among the most important discoveries in mathematics and have applications in a wide range of physics. Internationally there has been recent excitement about vertex operators and representations of these algebraic structures and their applications to integrable systems and quantum field theory. I have made significant contributions to this rapidly expanding field, and will capitalize on this success. I will develop a comprehensive theory of these mathematical structures and their applications in the construction of correlation functions and form factors, and in so doing write a definitive monograph on the subject.Read moreRead less
Metallic nanograins: superconducting correlations, Josephson tunneling and conformal field theory. Experimental studies of aluminium grains which are a few nanometres in size have exposed unexpected physical characteristics, including pairing interactions which are responsible for bulk superconductivity. Our previous theoretical work has shown that precise information about these nanograins can be gained in the framework of the exact solution of the BCS model. This project will continue our work ....Metallic nanograins: superconducting correlations, Josephson tunneling and conformal field theory. Experimental studies of aluminium grains which are a few nanometres in size have exposed unexpected physical characteristics, including pairing interactions which are responsible for bulk superconductivity. Our previous theoretical work has shown that precise information about these nanograins can be gained in the framework of the exact solution of the BCS model. This project will continue our work in this area with an emphasis on investigating the nature of Josephson tunneling between coupled nanograins. The results of this project will have important applications in emerging technologies such as the implementation of Josephson junctions of nanoscale size.Read moreRead less