Karlsruhe Institute of Technology: Wolfgang Wernsdorfer Awarded ERC Synergy Grant for Groundbreaking Quantum Technologies’ Six-Year Project

The European Research Council (ERC) has selected the international project “Quantum Technologies for Axion Dark Matter Search”, or DarkQuantum for short, for funding with an ERC Synergy Grant. Physicist Professor Wolfgang Wernsdorfer from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is involved in the project as lead researcher. DarkQuantum aims to experimentally prove the existence of axions using quantum technologies. These previously hypothetical elementary particles are considered promising candidates for dark matter.

It permeates our universe and poses major challenges for research: dark matter. Because it does not emit any light or any other electromagnetic radiation, it is invisible. Dark matter is evident in many astrophysical and cosmological observations; However, their particle physics nature is still unclear. According to a convincing hypothesis, dark matter consists of light axions that interact weakly with ordinary matter. These are previously hypothetical elementary particles of low mass. According to the hypothesis, within a strong magnetic field, axions can transform into electromagnetic waves and vice versa. In theory, there is a lot to be said for axions as candidates for dark matter. However, experimental proof of their existence is still pending.

Quantum-assisted haloscopes search for axions

Searching for axions and proving their existence is the goal of the European project DarkQuantum. Professor Wolfgang Wernsdorfer from the KIT Physics Institute (PHI) acts as one of the lead researchers in the project, which is funded by the European Research Council with a Synergy Grant. “The nature of quantum phenomena is one of the largest, unexplained and therefore particularly fascinating research questions. The work on this topic is also a prime example of cross-institutional and international collaboration in science. I am very pleased that Wolfang Wernsdorfer and his colleagues at home and abroad were able to jointly acquire one of the renowned ERC Synergy Grants,” says Professor Oliver Kraft, Vice President Research at KIT.

DarkQuantum uses quantum technologies and combines them with particle physics infrastructures at CERN and DESY to locate axions in the galactic halo, i.e. in the outer Milky Way. Superconducting qubits enable instruments that are extremely sensitive to tiny amounts of electromagnetic radiation, with much lower background noise than traditional technologies. The plan is to build two quantum-assisted haloscopes. These sensors can detect the axions with unprecedented sensitivity and range via their interactions with electromagnetic fields.

Proof would fundamentally influence understanding of reality

“The Axion haloscopes have a highly cooled vacuum chamber in which a strong magnetic field is generated. In this cavity, axions would have to be converted into photons and the resulting oscillations in the electromagnetic field could be detected using highly sensitive detectors,” explains Professor Wernsdorfer. The construction of quantum-based instruments for particle physics requires close collaboration between experts in various areas of physics, from low-temperature cryogenics to quantum circuits to particle physics. “If the new strategies of the DarkQuantum project succeed in experimentally detecting axions, this would be a breakthrough in physics that would fundamentally influence our understanding of reality,” says Wolfgang Wernsdorfer.

A total of eight European universities and research institutions are involved in the DarkQuantum project. The Universidad de Zaragoza in Zaragoza/Spain acts as coordinator; The lead researchers come from her as well as from KIT, the Center national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in France and Aalto University in Finland. The project is scheduled to last six years. The funding amount is 12.9 million euros, of which KIT will receive around two million euros.

To person

Professor Wolfgang Wernsdorfer studied physics at the University of Würzburg and at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, received his doctorate at the CNRS in Grenoble and completed his habilitation at the Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble. In 2004 he became research director at the Institut Néel of the CNRS in Grenoble. In 2016 he received a Humboldt Professorship at KIT. He leads research groups at the Physics Institute and the Institute for Quantum Materials and Technologies at KIT and, among other things, deals with quantum components based on semiconductors, superconductors and magnetic molecules. Wolfgang Wernsdorfer has already received numerous prizes and awards, including an ERC Advanced Grant for a project at KIT.

ERC Synergy Grants

The European Research Council supports promising teams of researchers with Synergy Grants. The projects should only be possible in collaboration between the named scientists. They are intended to lead to discoveries at the interfaces between established disciplines and to significant advances at the frontiers of knowledge. A total of 395 applications were received for the 2023 call for proposals; The ERC selected 37 projects for a Synergy Grant. Germany is represented in 27 of the selected projects and is therefore by far the most strongly represented. The prestigious ERC Synergy Grant has now gone to KIT researchers for the third time.

As “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association,” KIT creates and imparts knowledge for society and the environment. The aim is to make significant contributions to global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility and information. To this end, around 9,800 employees work together on a broad disciplinary basis in natural sciences, engineering, economics, humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, business and science through research-oriented university studies. The innovation activity at KIT builds the bridge between knowledge and application for social benefit, economic prosperity and the preservation of our natural resources. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.