Introduction
Physics is fascinating because of the intellectual excitement it provides and because of the applications it offers. In the Group of Applied Physics (GAP) at Geneva University we get our inspiration from both of these motivations. Optics, in this respect, has a privileged place. Indeed, in modern optics, experiments and theory progress hand-in-hand, and practical applications are close behind. Consequently, we can work both on conceptual issues and on applications. Moreover, it is a very good time for optics! The fascinating new insight about quantum mechanics brought about by recent quantum optics experiments on one side, and the tremendous development of optical communications on the other, illustrates our privileged position!
The American Research Council has recently declared optics as the technology of the 21st century. In contrast, a famous physicist, Michael Berry, has declared that the 21st century will be shaped by quantum physics, in a way similar to electrodynamics, which shaped the 20th century. Our position in GAP-Optique, at the crossroads between optics and quantum physics, ensures our participation to both challenges.
Recent News
Prof. Gisin explique la crypto quantique
In a recent interview with Quadrivium Radio, Prof. Nicolas Gisin explains quantum cryptography. You can use the player below to listen to the interview (in French).
18 months of real-world quantum key distribution
In a recently published article, researchers from our group, other Swiss research facilities and Id Quantique report the results of the Swiss Quantum network. The network used quantum key distribution for secure communication between the University of Geneva, CERN and the University of Applied Sciences in Geneva. The network has been running reliably for more than 18 month in real-world conditions, which proves that the technology can live up to commercial requirements. The Swiss news paper Le Temps also published an article (French) about these findings.
Coherent Schrödinger's cat still confounds
A collaboration between our group and the group of Christoph Simon at the University of Calgary recently resulted in an article on the requirements for detecting micro-macro entangled states. The article has not yet been published, but an arXiv version is already available. Nevertheless, PhysicsWorld considers it a top physics story from around the world, and discusses the article in depth.
Move to a new building
The “Ecole de Medecine”, which was so far housing our group, had reached such a bad state that a renovation will soon be necessary. For that reason our group has moved into newly renovated offices and labs in a grand building in Pinchat, at the edge of Geneva, which has become our new home since the 7th of November. Please note that all addresses and phone numbers have changed. Below you can see a few photos from the move.
Video of QCrypt Presentation
QCrypt is a project investigating secure high-speed communication based on Quantum Key Distribution, launched as a part of the Swiss federal nano-tera program. Recently, Prof. Nicolas, who is the leader of the QCrypt project, gave a presentation in the context of nano-tera.
