Columbia University has joined forces with New York City’s Flatiron Institute and Germany’s Max Planck Society to establish a new center for research in quantum physics, or the study of nature at the atomic and subatomic scales.
The Center for Nonequilibrium Quantum Phenomena aims to understand and control the properties of chemical elements and elementary particles for a wide range of practical applications. Specifically, researchers at the center hope to create new materials for use in next-generation computing, sensing, and cryptography technologies.
The center will draw on Columbia scientists’ expertise in designing and conducting laboratory experiments and their colleagues’ theoretical and computational skills.
“We are all working on a common theme using complementary methods,” says Dmitri Basov, a Columbia physics professor who helped organize the center. “The idea of combining forces seemed so natural, given the substance of our research projects.”
