Quantum Light and Matter at Durham University

Jonathan Mortlock of QLM fame (left) and Yansheng Zhang (right) stand either side of a title slide titled "How interacting Bose gases scatter light?"

Yansheng Zhang stands next to a slide displaying his labs experimental setup.

Thanks to Yansheng Zhang of @cam.ac.uk for visiting Durham QLM to give a seminar on how bosons scatter light.

A man in a purple tshirt stands in front of a out lamp and an orange lamp. They are on a table in front of a train.

An orange lamp glows within a clear plastic enclosure

@durhamqlm.bsky.social members all ready to Celebrate Science this week at @locomotionshd.bsky.social ! Come and see how we use light to identify atoms and make your own colour-changing picture using nothing but sellotape 💡🌈

Visualizing strongly focused 3D light fields in an atomic vapor Structured light, when strongly focused, generates highly confined vectorial electromagnetic field distributions, which may feature a polarization component along the optical axis. Manipulating and detecting such 3D light fields is challenging, as conve...

Via #OPG_Optica: Visualizing strongly focused 3D light fields in an atomic vapor https://opg.optica.org/optica/fulltext.cfm?uri=optica-12-10-1553 #StructuredLight #QuantumSensing @uofglasgow.bsky.social

Our open day sign up for November 26th can be found here:

Our available projects can be found here:

PhD applications are open! We'd love to have you visit Durham Physics to find out more about the(currently!) 17 available projects we have for October 2026 start.

Our open day is November 26th, we hope to see you there!

Find project descriptions and open day sign up links below.

Liam stands in front of his title slide "Rydberg excitons: beyond cuprous oxide" in a seminar room

Liam stands in front of an introductory slide describing his journey from undergraduate to fellow

Liams slide describing the self-Kerr effect

Homegrown fellow @lapgallagher.bsky.social describes his fellowship plans to investigate rydberg excitons in zinc diphosphide.

PDRA Luca Donini stands in front of an introductory slide titled "Frustrated physics in triangular and kagome optical lattices at negative absolute temperature" in white seminar room, with audience.

Luca Donini presents a slide on current progress in his lab, to a seated audience.

Luca Donini presents a slide explaining the experimental sequence in his lab.

Thank you Luca Donini of @cam.ac.uk for visiting us all the way up in Durham, to talk about frustrated physics in triangular and kagome optical lattices at negative absolute temperature.

A seminar room filled with older and newer members of our parish seated to listen to the whirlwind talks group meeting.

A photo from behind of a full seminar room of QLM members listening to the whirlwind talks group meeting.

A speaker standing next to their slide introducing one of many physics labs in Durham QLM while the rest of the section listens.

QLM certainly looks a lot bigger than it did a few years ago...

A whirlwind introduction to all of the wonderful physics happening in QLM at our largest group meeting yet for our new members of the parish, and a refresher for some of our older members.

Prof Michael Holynski stands in seminar room presenting a slide describing the UK national quantum technologies programme and its locations across the UK

Prof Michael Holynski stands in seminar room presenting a slide describing the UK quantum technology research hub and its partners

A wonderful turnout from QLM for our first seminar of the academic year: Prof Michael Holynski, PI at
@qusit.bsky.social, talks about quantum sensing, imaging, and timing.

A photo of three physicists: Prof C Stuart Adams (left); Prof Ifan Hughes (right); and successful PhD candidate Oliver Hughes (centre).

Congratulations to Oliver Hughes on passing his viva. Thesis entitled "Preparation and Coherent
Control of a Rydberg Qutrit in
a Cold Atomic Ensemble". Supervised by @etotheipiequals.bsky.social and @kjweatherill.bsky.social
Seen here with Stuart and internal examiner @ifanghughes.bsky.social

Symbolic illustration of a network formed by Yb atoms connected with optical fibre links.

Got around to building a little website for my new activity on quantum networking with Yb at @durhamqlm.bsky.social, funded by my EPSRC Quantum Technologies Career Acceleration Fellowship: durham-qlm.uk/research/tec...

Assistant Professor Quantum Light and Matter job description linked below.

A photo of the QLM group stood outside the main physics building on campus, featuring staff and PhD students.

Durham QLM logo, an interpretation of an atom interacting with light.

QLM is hiring! We're looking for a new Assistant Professor in QLM. This position is a theory position. Please find the job description below in this thread.

For any academia-related queries, please contact Ifan Hughes (i.g.hughes@durham.ac.uk). We look forward to receiving your application!

Title slide for a presentation entitled "Quantum computing: has the future arrived?".

Conclusion slide for a presentation with three points: 1. Quantum mechanics is spooky! QM predictions are often counterintuitive. 2. We can exploit the weirdness. Commercial devices not just thought experiments. 3. There is more to come! Quantum computers, quantum simulators, ...

Greatly enjoyed giving a presentation about quantum computers to the IOPWales Physics Teachers Conference 2025.

Two new QLM postgraduate students in the Bransden room cafe

A new QLM postgraduate student (left) with other members of QLM

A new postgraduate in condensed matter physics (left) with a new member of QLM

Welcoming our new postgraduate students to QLM with pizza and friendly faces. We hope you enjoy your research here!

Polarization profiles and their simulated 3D structures at the focus. (a) shows examples of the investigated polarization structures, color coded in purple for radial and yellow for azimuthal polarization components. From top to bottom: radial Oe , azimuthal Oe [Eq. (2)], vortices with twofold symmetry Oe2 [Eq. (3)] and vortices with sixfold symmetry Oe6 [Eq. (4)]. (b) shows the simulated 3D light configurations for Oe2 at the focus of a lens with NA 0.4. These are displayed in different polarization bases: Cartesian components (top row); circular and axial components corresponding to atomic  and  transitions (middle row); and radial, azimuthal, and axial polarization (bottom row), highlighting the conversion of some of the radial input polarization into axial polarization.

Evidence of a varying longitudinal polarization component as function of the “radiality” of the light beam. Absorption spectra in a range of 100 GHz of the D2 transition for Rb for input beams shown in (a) with various polarization profiles from azimuthal (yellow) to radial (dark red). The spectra in (b) for Rb heated to approximately 80Cfeature  as well as  transitions. The  transition absorption is smallest for azimuthally polarized light beams and becomes largest for radial polarization. (c) shows the depth of the leftmost  transition peak on the right block as a function of the beams “radiality” from the equivalent dataset taken at125C.

Visualizing the axial component of various strongly focused (NAD0.4) vector light beams via atomic optical densities at the  transition, illustrated for azimuthal and radial polarizations as well as higher-order vortices with twofold and sixfold symmetries. (a) shows the theoretical polarization profiles and axial intensity distributions at the focus for these four beams. (b) shows the corresponding experimental polarization patterns as well as the optical density of the atomic vapor at one of the  transitions. The data for the spatial polarization tomography and optical density patterns were taken in the far field of the lens configuration.

Hot off the press! Our @durhamqlm.bsky.social results in collaboration with group of @sonjafrankearnold.bsky.social in Glasgow have just been published.
opg.optica.org/directpdfacc...

Atoms, Iasers, big magnets and structured light. What's not to like?

A photograph of Professor Kevin Weatherill giving his invited talk. He is stood in front of two screens showing images of relevant THz research.

PhD student Maddie in front of her prize-winning poster.

Tom's prize-winning poster.

A strong QLM presence at the recent @instituteofphysics.bsky.social QuAMP 2025 conference in Newcastle. In addition to many contributed talks, @kjweatherill.bsky.social gave an Invited talk "radiofrequency and terahertz sensing and imaging using Rydberg atoms". Both Maddie & Tom won Poster Prizes.

Members of the Quantum Light and Matter reserarch group and families at the summer party.

Captain Pizzey setting the field before she can pitch.

Serious levels of concenteation during the rounders.

He's off! Dr Rutley running towards first base, resplendent in his summer hat.

Summer lasted just long enough to squeeze in the @durhamqlm.bsky.social Summer Party. With the traditional non-competitive rounders.

William Phillips: why quantum physics is so ‘deliciously weird’ – Physics World The Nobel-prize-winning physicist William Phillips talks to Margaret Harris about his life and career

For the International Year of Quantum Science & Technology, we chatted with quantum pioneer + Nobel laureate Bill Phillips on the proudest moments in his career, the need for an "immortal qubit" and just why it is that the quantum world is so "deliciously weird." ⚛️🧪 physicsworld.com/a/william-ph...

A 2 by 2 array of images, of the Stokes parameters S0, S1, S2 and S3. For potassium atoms in a magnetic field studied on the D1 line. For a field of 1160 G five different temperatures are show, ranging from 75C to 135C in 15C increments.

A figure showing theoretical predictions of the Stokes parameters for atomic potassium, for a range of magnetic fields and temperatures. S0 and S3 have smooth variation, whereas S1 and S2 have a far more rich, damped oscillatory, structure.

Experimental set up showing the apparatus used for potassium Stokes polarimetry.

New results!
Experimental and theoretical characterisation of Stokes polarimetry of the potassium
D1 line with neon buffer gas broadening
arxiv.org/abs/2507.18353
Performed with colleagues at
@durhamqlm.bsky.social

Atoms, lasers, and magnets!

🧪 #physics ⚛️ #optics 💡

Theoretical transmission spectrum for a Rb atomic vapor cell of natural abundance on the D2 line, which is subject to horizontal-linear light as a function of linear detuning. The figure shows the transmission spectrum and at 12 discrete detuning values the polarization states of the two propagation eigenmodes. Differences between the old and new theory are seen only over a limited range of frequencies. The experimental spectrum shows excellent agreement with the new theory.

Experimental transmission spectroscopy of a natural abundance Rb vapor cell of length 2mm as a function of linear detuning. There is a 2 by 2 array of sub panels showing 4 transmission spectra for different incident linear polarization angles.

Theoretical transmission spectru for a Rb atomic vapor cell of natural abundance on the D line, which is subject to vertical-linear light as a function of linear detuning. Polarisation eigenmodes are shown at 14 discrete frequencies. Differences between the old and new theory are seen over a broad range of frequencies. The experimental spectrum shows excellent agreement with the new theory.

Hot off the press!
Light propagation through an atomic vapor in the presence of a magnetic field of arbitrary direction.
opg.optica.org/oe/fulltext....
Performed with colleagues at
@durhamqlm.bsky.social @wrathmall.bsky.social

Atoms, lasers, magnets!

🧪 #physics ⚛️ #optics 💡

Three Faraday spectra at different magnetic field strengths.

The role of buffer gas in shaping the D1 line spectrum of potassium vapour doi.org/10.1088/1361... via @ioppublishing.bsky.social

First slide of a presentation. Entitled "Quantum light & matter overview"

Photograph of the outside of Ushaw college.

Photograph of the outside of Ushaw college.

Lunch in the refectory of Ushaw college.

Enjoyed participating at the Physics department's research Away Day at Ushaw college. I presented an overview of the @durhamqlm.bsky.social section's reaearch.

Latest theory paper. "AI thermometry of Bose–Einstein condensates
from single-shot in-situ imaged atomic density profiles.” arxiv.org/abs/2506.16925 @durhamqlm.bsky.social #physics

Memebers of the QLM research group at Durham physics. Current and former heads of department. With Prof. Anne L'Huillier. The Rochester lecture 2025.

It was a pleasure to organise the 2025 Rochester lecture, given by Nobel Laureate Prof. Anne L'Huillier. Seen here with members of the @durhamqlm.bsky.social research group, current and former heads of department.

A photo entitled The Rochester Lecture 2025. With Dr R M Potvliege, Prof. Anne L'Huillier, Prof. Paula Chadwick and Prof. Ifan Hughes.

The speaker and the introducer fielding questions at the end of the talk.

Title slide. Entitled "Attosecond pulses of light for studying electron dynamics".

As head of @durhamqlm.bsky.social it was my pleasure to introduce the 2025 Rochester lecture. Delivered by Prof. Anne L'Huillier. A brilliant and inspirational talk. Great to see so many undergraduate students present!

A poster advertising a talk taking place at 4pm June 11th at Durham physics department. The speaker is Nobel laureate Prof. Anne L'Huillier. The topic is "The Rochester lecture 2025: The route to attosecond light pulses".

We are looking forward to host this Rochester lecture tomorrow. The speaker is Prof. Anne L'Huillier talking about the route to attosecond pulses.

Are you interested in Rydberg physics, but in solid state? Come and join my brilliant colleague’s group in Durham, Prof Matthew Jones for a postdoc!

@durhamqlm.bsky.social

A complicated figure showing 10 different beams varying from azimuthal to radial polarization. There are also atomic spectra showing that the depth of certain features strongly correlates with the degree of radiality.

New results!
Visualizing strongly focused 3D light fields in an atomic vapor
arxiv.org/abs/2506.01680
Performed with colleagues at
@durhamqlm.bsky.social and @sonjafrankearnold.bsky.social

Atoms, lasers, magnets and shaped light!

🧪 #physics ⚛️ #optics 💡