Mathematical physicist Prof. Dr. Tomaž Prosen has become the first in Slovenia to receive his second prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant (ERC ADG)
UL FMF
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The awarded ERC AdG, which is aimed at established researchers, is undoubtedly the most prestigious scientific project that an individual researcher can receive. For Prof. Dr. Tomaž Prosen, this is already his second such project, this time titled QUEST (Quantum Ergodicity: Stability and Transitions). In addition to being a top-level success on a global scale for the researcher, it is also an outstanding achievement for the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Ljubljana - primarily for its exceptionally high-quality research environment that it provides for researchers and their groups.
The European Research Council (ERC) selects and funds the most creative researchers each year, regardless of their nationality or age, to conduct their projects in Europe. It offers four long-term and financially rewarding schemes for research projects, including the ERC Advanced Grant for established researchers.
Prof. Dr. Tomaž Prosen, leading one of the few groups to secure this funding for the second time, explained the content of his current project success: "In the ERC project QUEST (Quantum Ergodicity: Stability and Transitions), we will investigate the robustness of quantum chaos and quantum ergodicity to external disturbances. This involves basic research in the field of mathematical statistical physics. Ergodicity is one of the key characteristics of typical systems with many components - so-called many-particle systems, which are mathematically extremely difficult to prove."
"In our group, we have identified one such exactly solvable paradigm in recent years, which we call double unitary systems, where we can demonstrate exponential fast relaxation to thermodynamic equilibrium." The study of double unitary systems has become very relevant in the last 2–3 years, as these systems offer an ideal platform for testing quantum computers. Since these are a special class of dynamic systems, the key question is how robust the analytical mechanisms of ergodicity are to external disturbances that disrupt the structure and ideal solvability of the system. The key hypothesis of the QUEST project is that double unitary systems must be robust to external disturbances.
Prof. Dr. Tomaž Prosen further explains: "Intuitively, we rely on the mathematical analogy from the theory of classical chaos, known as structural stability. If we can at least partially prove our hypotheses, there are immediately many interesting applications from condensed matter theory and quantum computing to quantum field theory and holography or quantum gravity theory," with his first task being to form an impactful research group. The amount of funding obtained is 2,167,000 EUR.
In September, the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics will organize a public presentation of the project's content with a roundtable discussion on the importance of ERC for the Slovenian research community.
Currently, the following ERC projects are being conducted at the faculty:
- HDPR (Holomorphic Partial Differential Relations), led by Prof. Dr. Franc Forstnerič,
- FIRSTLIGHT (Exploring Cosmic Dawn with James Webb Space Telescope), led by Prof. Dr. Maruša Bradač,
- KARST (Predicting flow and transport in complex Karst systems), led by Prof. Dr. Bojan Mohar.
Additionally, the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Ljubljana successfully participates in the following ERC projects:
- FAIME (Flavour Anomalies with advanced particle Identification MEthods), led by Prof. Dr. Peter Križan from UL FMF and IJS,
- and in the project LOGOS (Light-operated logic circuits from photonic soft-matter), led by Prof. Dr. Igor Muševič from UL FMF and IJS.
Faculty colleagues at other institutions have obtained the following projects:
- Cellular lasers – Connecting optical resonances with biological processes (led by Dr. Matjaž Humar at IJS),
- TRAJECTORY – Coherent trajectories through symmetry-breaking phase transitions (led by Prof. Dr. Dragan Mihailović at IJS), and
- MULTraSonicA – Multiscale modeling and simulation approaches for biomedical ultarsonic applications (led by Prof. Dr. Matej Praprotnik at the National Institute of Chemistry).
The faculty has successfully completed 2 ERC projects:
- MODES (Modal analysis of atmospheric balance, predictability and climate), led by Prof. Dr. Nedjeljka Žagar,
- and the OMNES project (Open Many-body Non-Equilibrium Systems), led by Prof. Dr. Tomaž Prosen.
About ERC
The European Union established the European Research Council (ERC) in 2007 as the first European institution for funding cutting-edge pioneering research across all scientific fields without predefined priorities. It promotes the work of established top researchers, as well as fosters the growth of the next generation of researchers in Europe. In selecting projects and allocating funding, it adheres solely to the criterion of scientific excellence.
By the start of Horizon Europe, the European Research Council had already funded over 12,000 top researchers at various stages of their careers and more than 75,000 doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and other staff in their research groups. It strives to attract the best researchers from around the world to conduct research in Europe. It has agreements with key research agencies worldwide, allowing their researchers the opportunity to collaborate on ERC research projects in Europe for a specific period. The European Research Council is governed by an independent governing body, the Scientific Council, consisting of 22 top researchers from various scientific fields. Maria Leptin currently serves as its president.
