Realizing an efficient, controllable interface between photons and atoms or atom-like emitters forms the basis for wide-ranging applications, such as quantum memories for light and nonlinear optics at the single-photon level. However, despite many spectacular demonstrations of quantum atom-light interactions, such interfaces still face two major bottlenecks. First, the error bounds for most protocols scale unfavorably with system resources. Second, it is extremely difficult to improve these figures of merit in conventional systems. Within this context, DAALI will pursue new, disruptive platforms and protocols, which offer novel solutions to boost important system parameters and/or reduce the resources needed for applications. In particular, we will: • Develop state-of-the-art interfaces between atomic media and nano/micro-photonic systems. Such systems offer excellent potential for scalability and large atom-photon coupling strengths. Moreover, the flexibility to engineer their spatial modes and dispersion enables new, powerful paradigms that have no obvious analogue in macroscopic interfaces. • Demonstrate novel protocols for quantum memories and photon-photon gates. These protocols will take advantage of novel mechanisms such as those found in nanophotonic interfaces, “selective radiance,” and strong atom-atom interactions. These novel effects can even enable error rates that scale exponentially better as a function of physical resources than previously known bounds. DAALI brings together partners with theoretical and experimental expertise in atomic physics, quantum optics, and photonics, who will work together to solve the multi-disciplinary challenges needed to design and construct real systems that can maximally utilize and exploit these disparate concepts. Our results have the potential to completely re-define the technological possibilities of light-matter interfaces.

Poor knowledge of the spatio-temporal changes in the characteristics and distribution of subsurface fluids remains an insurmountable barrier to addressing important societal issues, including: sustainable management of energy resources (e.g., hydrocarbons and geothermal energy), management of water resources, and assessment of hazard (e.g., volcanic eruptions). Gravimetry is highly attractive because it can detect changes in subsurface mass, thus providing a window into processes that involve deep fluids. However, high cost and operating features associated with current instrumentation seriously limits the practical field use of gravimetry. NEWTON-g proposes a radical change of paradigm for gravimetry to overcome such limitations. We aim at developing a field-compatible gravity imager able to real-time monitor the evolution of the subsurface mass changes through continuous images of the gravity field. This system will include an array of low-costs MEMS-based relative gravimeters anchored on an absolute quantum gravimeter. The adjustable position, grid and shape of the array of sensors and the continuous logging of the gravimeters will provide imaging of gravity changes, associated with variations in subsurface fluid properties, with unparalleled spatio-temporal resolution. Specific work will be carried out to ruggedize the devices for field operation. We will deploy the new gravity imager at Etna volcano (Italy), where frequent gravity fluctuations, easy access to the active structures and the presence of a multiparameter monitoring system (including traditional gravimeters) ensure an excellent natural laboratory for testing the new tools. Insights from the new gravity imager will be used for volcanic hazards analysis, to demonstrate the importance of gravity to problems of societal relevance. A successful implementation of NEWTON-g will open new doors for geophysical exploration and will shift the locus of gravimeter manufacture from North America to Europe.

The ENIGMA network will train a new generation of young researchers in the development of innovative sensors, field survey techniques and inverse modelling approaches. This will enhance our ability to understand and monitor dynamic subsurface processes that are key to the protection and sustainable use of water resources. ENIGMA focuses mainly on critical zone observation, but the anticipated technological developments and scientific findings will also contribute to monitor and model the environmental footprint of an increasing range of subsurface activities, including large-scale water abstraction and storage, enhanced geothermal systems and subsurface waste and carbon storage. While many subsurface structure imaging methods are now mature and broadly used in research and practice, our ability to resolve and monitor subsurface fluxes and processes, including solute transport, heat transfer and biochemical reactions, is much more limited. The shift from classical structure characterization to dynamic process imaging, driven by ENIGMA, will require the development of multi-scale hydrogeophysical methods with adequate sensitivity, spatial and temporal resolution, and novel inverse modelling concepts. For this, ENIGMA will gather (i) world-leading academic teams and emerging companies that develop innovative sensors and hydrogeophysical inversion methods, (ii) experts in subsurface process upscaling and modelling, and (iii) highly instrumented field infrastructures for in-situ experimentation and validation. ENIGMA will thus create a creative and entrepreneurial environment for trainees to develop integrated approaches to water management with interdisciplinary field-sensing methods and novel modelling techniques. ENIGMA will foster EU and international cooperation in the water area by creating new links between hydrogeological observatories, academic research groups, innovative industries and water managers for high-level scientific and professional training.

A scientific and technological paradigm change is taking place, concerning the way that very high performance time and frequency reference signals are distributed, moving from radio signal broadcasting to signal transport over optical fibre networks. The latter technology demonstrates performance improvements by orders of magnitude, over distances up to continental scale. Research infrastructures are developing several related technologies, adapted to specific projects and applications. The present project aims to prepare the transfer of this new generation of technology to industry and to strengthen the coordination between research infrastructures and the research and education telecommunication networks, in order to prepare the deployment of this technology to create a sustainable, pan-European network, providing high-performance "clock" services to European research infrastructures. Further this core network will be designed to be compatible with a global European vision of time and frequency distribution over telecommunication networks, enabling it to provide support to a multitude of lower-performance time services, responding to the rapidly growing needs created by developments such as cloud computing, Internet of Things and Industry 4.0. The project aims at partnership building and innovation for high performance time and frequency (clock) services over optical fibre networks and to prepare the implementation of such a European backbone network.

PASQuanS will perform a decisive transformative step for quantum simulation towards programmable analogue simulators addressing questions in fundamental science, materials development, quantum chemistry and real-world problems of high importance in industry. PASQuanS builds on the impressive achievements of the most advanced quantum simulation platforms, based on atoms and ions. The neutral-atom simulators handle more than 50 cold atoms in optical lattices or arrays of optical tweezers, interacting via either collisional or Rydberg-state-mediated interactions. The ion-trap platform reaches unsurpassed control with up to 20 ions. By scaling up these platforms towards >1000 atoms/ions, by improving control methods and making these simulators fully programmable, PASQuanS will push these already well-advanced platforms far beyond both the state-of-the-art and the reach of classical computation. Full programmability will make it possible to address quantum annealing or optimization problems much sooner than digital quantum computation. PASQuanS will demonstrate a quantum advantage for non-trivial problems, paving the way towards practical and industrial applications. PASQuanS tightly unites five experimental groups with complementary methods to achieve the technological goals, connected with six theoretical teams focusing on certification, control techniques and applications of the programmable platforms, and five industrial partners in charge of the key developments of enabling technologies and possible commercial spin-offs of the project. PASQuanS will result in modular building blocks for a future generation of quantum simulators. Possible end-users of these simulators, major industrial actors, are tightly associated with the consortium. In a cross-fertilization process, they will be engaged in a dialogue on quantum simulation, and help to identify and implement key applications where quantum simulation provides a competitive advantage.