Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons

One of the great strengths of U.S. research is its diversity. Nowhere is this clearer than in AMO science, with its very wide intellectual horizon, its variety of funding sources, and its several modalities available for accomplishing the work.

This discussion of the research profile of AMO science is not complete without a comment about the essential role played by theory. In any discipline where the frontiers are traversed so rapidly, theoretical research is essential—not only to understand what has been observed but also to predict what might be seen next and thereby guide future work. This is especially true in AMO science, where researchers are developing and pursuing dramatic new areas such as ultra-high-field physics, the physics of “sparse” condensed matter systems, the study of the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, and the frontiers of quantum information.

The committee therefore notes with concern that support for AMO theory at NSF has not progressed over the last decade, even while support for experiment has been relatively strong. The size of a single-investigator grant in theory at NSF is far below that at the other agencies (see the following section, Table 8–2, and

TABLE 8–2 Demographics, Success Rates, Turnover, Average Grant Sizes, FY2005

	AFOSR	ARO	ONR	DOE	NASA^a	NIST^c	NSF
Awards^b	~24	~20	~30	~55	~45	~5	~135
Senior^d	~30	~40	~30	~83	~45	~160	~145
Postdoc	~30	~30	NA	~50	NA	~20	~50
Ph.D.	~6	~10	NA	~30	NA	~5	~40
Graduate students	~30	~50	NA	~100	NA	~30	~200
Undergraduate students	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	~20	~115
Women (%)^e	~10	~10	NA	NA	NA	~16	~10
Minorities (%)^e	~7	<5	NA	NA	NA	<5	~2
Average grant size (thousand $)
Experimental	~125	~140	~150	~137	~150	~100^f	~135
Theory	~80	~80	~125	~104	NA	~100^f	~60
Success rate (%)^g	~30	~40	~40	~34	~35	N/A	~43
Turnover (%)^h	~5	~15	~15	~10	NA	N/A	~7
NOTE: Personnel numbers include both experimental and theory. Owing to the high variability and interdisciplinarity of its programs from year to year, DARPA was not included in this table. ^aNASA data include the Laboratory Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences programs. ^bAwards from NIST are solicited by the agency. ^cNumber of grants in place. ^dNumber of senior investigators supported. ^ePercentages of the supported investigator pool represented by women or minorities. ^fFunding per scientist at NIST labs not including overhead, depreciation, and operating expenses. ^gPercentage of proposals funded out of those submitted; many ideas for proposals are “declined” before a submission. ^hThe rate at which new people enter the program.

Table of Contents

Front Matter R1-R14

Summary 1-8

1 Controlling the Quantum World: AMO Science in the Coming Decade 9-29

2 AMO Science and the Basic Laws of Nature 30-52

3 Toward Absolute Zero 53-72

4 Extreme Light 73-97

5 Exploring and Controlling the Inner Workings of a Molecule 98-119

6 Photonics and the Nanoworld 120-136

7 Quantum Information with Light and Atoms 137-169

8 Realizing the Future 170-192

Appendix A: AMO 2010 Queries to Federal Funding Agencies 193-196

Appendix B: Funding 197-203

Appendix C: Foreign Activity in AMO Science 204-208

Appendix D: Intellectual Outlines of Current Research 209-216

Appendix E: People 217-221

Appendix F: New Research Modalities 222-230