Summer Program

Cold and Ultracold Molecules for Fundamental Physics and Many-Body Quantum Science

July 13–August 3, 2025

Organizers:

Tijs Karman, Radboud University
*Tim Langen, Vienna University of Technology
Sebastian Will, Columbia University
Tanya Zelevinsky, Columbia University

*represents the organizer in charge of promoting diversity

Ultracold molecules are opening new fields of exploration: Quantum simulation with dipolar molecules is within reach with the recent advent of quantum degenerate gases. Tabletop precision measurements with molecules can complement collider experiments at the energy frontier, provide the most stringent tests of time-reversal symmetry, and enable tests of the Standard Model. Last but not least, cold molecules help answer fundamental questions about molecular collisions and chemical reactions, and offer new ways for their control. This workshop will foster interactions between experiment and theory, focusing on identifying novel scientific opportunities in three interlinked topics: quantum many-body physics, precision measurements, and cold collisions and chemistry.

Summer Workshops

The summer program, running for 16 weeks from late-May to mid-September, emphasizes exciting open problems at the cutting edge. Two or three concurrent workshops, each with a specific focus selected for timeliness and the potential for breakthroughs and of two to five weeks in length, establish the main themes of each week, with twelve or thirteen different workshops each summer, balanced across fields including particle physics, string theory, astrophysics and hard and soft condensed matter physics, as well as emerging areas including biological physics, ultra-cold atom physics, quantum information, and physical mathematics. Additional researchers participate in small working groups or as individual researchers. This framework is designed to maximize informal interactions and free discussion within each area and to promote cross-fertilization between different areas via the common language of theoretical physics. Participation in the summer program of the Aspen Center for Physics is by application and subsequent invitation only. View past workshops.