{{short description|German physicist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Tilman Esslinger | image = File:ETH-BIB-Esslinger,_Tilman_(1965-)-Portr_19735.jpg | caption = Tilman Esslinger (2019) | birth_date = | birth_place = | field = Physicist | work_institution = ETH Zurich | alma_mater = LMU Munich | doctoral_advisor = Theodor Hänsch | doctoral_students = | known_for = Ultracold quantum gases, optical lattices, Mott insulators, experimental realization of the topological Haldane model | societies = | prizes = | religion = | footnotes = | website = {{URL|http://www.quantumoptics.ethz.ch}} }}
'''Tilman Esslinger''' is a German experimental physicist. He is Professor at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and works in the field of ultracold quantum gases and optical lattices.
==Biography== Tilman Esslinger received his PhD in physics from LMU Munich and the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Germany, in 1995. In his doctoral research, he worked under the supervision of Theodor Hänsch on subrecoil laser cooling and optical lattices. He then built up his own group in Hänsch's lab and conducted pioneering work on atom lasers,<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Bloch | first1=Immanuel | last2=Hänsch | first2=Theodor W. | last3=Esslinger | first3=Tilman | title=Atom Laser with a cw Output Coupler | journal=Physical Review Letters | publisher=American Physical Society (APS) | volume=82 | issue=15 | date=1999-04-12 | issn=0031-9007 | doi=10.1103/physrevlett.82.3008 | pages=3008–3011| arxiv=cond-mat/9812258 | bibcode=1999PhRvL..82.3008B | s2cid=119408594 }}</ref> observed long-range phase coherence in a Bose–Einstein condensate,<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Bloch | first1=I. | last2=Hänsch | first2=T. W. | last3=Esslinger | first3=T. | title=Measurement of the spatial coherence of a trapped Bose gas at the phase transition | journal=Nature | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=403 | issue=6766 | year=2000 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/35003132 | pages=166–170| pmid=10646595 | bibcode=2000Natur.403..166B | s2cid=4427668 }}</ref> and realized the superfluid to Mott-insulator transition with a Bose gas in an optical lattice.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Greiner | first1=Markus | last2=Bloch | first2=Immanuel | last3=Mandel | first3=Olaf | last4=Hänsch | first4=Theodor W. | last5=Esslinger | first5=Tilman | title=Exploring Phase Coherence in a 2D Lattice of Bose-Einstein Condensates | journal=Physical Review Letters | publisher=American Physical Society (APS) | volume=87 | issue=16 | date=2001-10-01 | issn=0031-9007 | doi=10.1103/physrevlett.87.160405 | article-number=160405| pmid=11690192 | arxiv=cond-mat/0105105 | bibcode=2001PhRvL..87p0405G | s2cid=26265081 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Greiner | first1=Markus | last2=Mandel | first2=Olaf | last3=Esslinger | first3=Tilman | last4=Hänsch | first4=Theodor W. | last5=Bloch | first5=Immanuel | title=Quantum phase transition from a superfluid to a Mott insulator in a gas of ultracold atoms | journal=Nature | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=415 | issue=6867 | year=2002 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/415039a | pages=39–44| pmid=11780110 | bibcode=2002Natur.415...39G | s2cid=4411344 | arxiv=2506.21303 }}</ref> Following his habilitation, Esslinger was in October 2001 appointed full professor at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where he pioneered one-dimensional atomic quantum gases,<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Stöferle | first1=Thilo | last2=Moritz | first2=Henning | last3=Schori | first3=Christian | last4=Köhl | first4=Michael | last5=Esslinger | first5=Tilman | title=Transition from a Strongly Interacting 1D Superfluid to a Mott Insulator | journal=Physical Review Letters | volume=92 | issue=13 | date=2004-03-31 | issn=0031-9007 | doi=10.1103/physrevlett.92.130403 | article-number=130403| pmid=15089587 | arxiv=cond-mat/0312440 | bibcode=2004PhRvL..92m0403S | s2cid=34141301 }}</ref> Fermi–Hubbard models with atoms,<ref>{{cite journal | last=Esslinger | first=Tilman | title=Fermi-Hubbard Physics with Atoms in an Optical Lattice | journal=Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics | publisher=Annual Reviews | volume=1 | issue=1 | date=2010-08-10 | issn=1947-5454 | doi=10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-070909-104059 | pages=129–152| arxiv=1007.0012 | bibcode=2010ARCMP...1..129E | s2cid=119274107 }}</ref> a quantum-gas analogue of the topological Haldane model <ref>{{cite journal | last1=Jotzu | first1=Gregor | last2=Messer | first2=Michael | last3=Desbuquois | first3=Rémi | last4=Lebrat | first4=Martin | last5=Uehlinger | first5=Thomas | last6=Greif | first6=Daniel | last7=Esslinger | first7=Tilman |display-authors=5| title=Experimental realization of the topological Haldane model with ultracold fermions | journal=Nature | volume=515 | issue=7526 | year=2014 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/nature13915 | pages=237–240| pmid=25391960 | arxiv=1406.7874 | bibcode=2014Natur.515..237J | s2cid=204898338 }}</ref> and the merger of quantum gas experiments with cavity quantum electrodynamics.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Brennecke | first1=Ferdinand | last2=Donner | first2=Tobias | last3=Ritter | first3=Stephan | last4=Bourdel | first4=Thomas | last5=Köhl | first5=Michael | last6=Esslinger | first6=Tilman | title=Cavity QED with a Bose–Einstein condensate | journal=Nature | volume=450 | issue=7167 | year=2007 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/nature06120 | pages=268–271| pmid=17994093 | arxiv=0706.3411 | bibcode=2007Natur.450..268B | s2cid=4405139 }}</ref>
==Research== The work of Esslinger and his group has stimulated an interdisciplinary exchange between the condensed-matter and quantum-gas communities. Recent notable results include the development of a quantum simulator for graphene,<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Tarruell | first1=Leticia | last2=Greif | first2=Daniel | last3=Uehlinger | first3=Thomas | last4=Jotzu | first4=Gregor | last5=Esslinger | first5=Tilman | title=Creating, moving and merging Dirac points with a Fermi gas in a tunable honeycomb lattice | journal=Nature | volume=483 | issue=7389 | year=2012 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/nature10871 | pages=302–305| pmid=22422263 | arxiv=1111.5020 | bibcode=2012Natur.483..302T | s2cid=4368258 }}</ref> setting up of a cavity-optomechanical system in which the Dicke quantum phase transition to a superradiant state has been observed for the first time,<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Baumann | first1=Kristian | last2=Guerlin | first2=Christine | last3=Brennecke | first3=Ferdinand | last4=Esslinger | first4=Tilman | title=Dicke quantum phase transition with a superfluid gas in an optical cavity | journal=Nature | volume=464 | issue=7293 | year=2010 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/nature09009 | pages=1301–1306| pmid=20428162 | arxiv=0912.3261 | bibcode=2010Natur.464.1301B | s2cid=205220396 }}</ref> as well as creation of a cold-atom analogue of mesoscopic conductors<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Brantut | first1=J.-P. | last2=Meineke | first2=J. | last3=Stadler | first3=D. | last4=Krinner | first4=S. | last5=Esslinger | first5=T. | title=Conduction of Ultracold Fermions Through a Mesoscopic Channel | journal=Science | publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | volume=337 | issue=6098 | date=2012-08-02 | issn=0036-8075 | doi=10.1126/science.1223175 | pages=1069–1071| pmid=22859818 | arxiv=1203.1927 | bibcode=2012Sci...337.1069B | s2cid=143934 }}</ref> and observation of the onset of superfluidity in that system.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Stadler | first1=David | last2=Krinner | first2=Sebastian | last3=Meineke | first3=Jakob | last4=Brantut | first4=Jean-Philippe | last5=Esslinger | first5=Tilman | title=Observing the drop of resistance in the flow of a superfluid Fermi gas | journal=Nature | volume=491 | issue=7426 | year=2012 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/nature11613 | pages=736–739| pmid=23192151 | arxiv=1210.1426 | bibcode=2012Natur.491..736S | s2cid=4391706 }}</ref> Esslinger received a Phillip Morris Research Prize (shared with Theodor Hänsch and Immanuel Bloch) in 2000 and currently holds an ERC advanced grant. He is an author on more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, which have been cited more than 8000 times (as of March 2013).
==References== <references/>
==External links== {{Scholia}} *[http://www.quantumoptics.ethz.ch/ Group homepage]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Esslinger, Tilman}} Category:German quantum physicists Category:21st-century German physicists Category:Academic staff of ETH Zurich Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society