【11.25; Seminar】2025年粒子天体物理全国重点实验室系列学术报告 #35：Quantum Astronomy: Maximizing the Information Extracted from Light

时间/Time: 11月25日周二上午10:00/Tuesday, November 25, 10:00 a.m.

地点/Location: 多学科楼122会议室/Meeting Room 122, Multidisciplinary building

报告人/Speaker: Dr. Nicolas Produit (University of Geneva）

题目/Title: Quantum Astronomy: Maximizing the Information Extracted from Light  

主持人/Host: 孙建超/Jianchao Sun

摘要/Abstract:

Light carries more information than is captured by conventional measurements of direction, time of arrival, energy, and polarization. While these parameters enable images, light curves, spectra, and polarization maps, quantum field theory shows that correlations between photons can reveal far richer data. 

The Hanbury Brown and Twiss (HBT) intensity correlation method—long abandoned due to practical limitations and early theoretical misunderstandings can now be revitalized. Roy Glauber’s Nobel Prize–winning work (2005) provided the correct quantum framework, opening the door to unprecedented observational capabilities. 

With advances in large-telescope access, picosecond photon timing, and clock synchronization over hundreds of kilometers, we aim to improve HBT sensitivity by several orders of magnitude. I will present our progress, initial laboratory and astronomical results, and our roadmap for applying this technique to key astrophysical questions. Looking forward, correlating astronomical photons with entangled photons 

could extend these methods beyond current limits. 

个人简介/Biography:

Dr. Nicolas Produit, a senior researcher from the University of Geneva in Switzerland, specializes in particle physics and high-energy astrophysics. He got his physics degree from the ETH Zurich in 1984 and completed his Ph.D. in particle physics at the University of Geneva in 1991, where he participated in the L3 experiment at CERN. He conducted postdoctoral research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Geneva, and now serves as a senior researcher in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Geneva. Dr. Produit has held key roles in multiple international collaborative projects, including L3, CDF, AMS, INTEGRAL/IBIS, POLAR, POLAR-2, MAGIC, and QUASAR. His teaching activities in astronomy and physics cover quantum field theory, high-energy astrophysics, and instrumentation. His notable research achievements include the development of high-speed data acquisition systems and the demonstration of quantum binding of thermal photons in the QUASAR project. With over 600 publications and an H-index of 88, Dr. Produit has made significant contributions to his field. He is also actively involved in organizing several international conferences.