In our ever-growing digital world, finding fast and efficient ways of manipulating and transmitting information unlocks the possibility to implement more efficient business models (using big data, cloud computing, deep learning...). Amidst a number of concurrent fields (electronics, spintronics, amtronics...), photonics aims to address this technological need by exploring novel means for the generation, transmission, manipulation and detection of light. In this proposal, we want to develop a new research direction by combining knowledge from photonics and topological soft matter to find novel ways of guiding light using chiral birefringent media. The non-linear optical response of these media allows a laser beam to be self-confined and to propagate over long distances, leading to what is called spatial optical solitons. Our primary objective is to develop a complete model of optical solitons in chiral birefringent media and examine how these light solitons can be steered and controlled using topological solitons — localized and tunable perturbations of the molecular orientational field which cannot be continuously deformed into the uniform state. Our methodology will be based on the theoretical and numerical modeling of the non-linear equations for the propagation of light in chiral birefringent media, combined with collaborative experiments. This fellowship is designed to include an excellent training both on scientific skills (mainly photonics and topology, for which the expertise of the host group will be essential) and transferable skills such as leadership, project and data management, intellectual property rights, etc. The training that I will receive on photonics — a major field both in the academic and industry sector — will also provide a significant boost on my career prospects.

The integrity of the cell membrane, while essential for life of any biological cell, presents a barrier that sometimes needs to be transiently disrupted in order to deliver therapeutic molecules inside the cell. High-intensity pulsed electric fields (PEFs) are used increasingly in medicine to achieve such increase in cell membrane permeability via a phenomenon called cell membrane electroporation. PEF-based clinical applications include gene therapy techniques, DNA vaccination, electrochemotherapy, non-thermal tumor ablation, and cardiac ablation. Depending on the desired outcome of the PEF treatment, the targeted cells must either survive or die. However, different cell types exhibit different susceptibility to PEF treatment, with some cells being killed at lower pulse amplitude than others, which often presents a disadvantage that limits the safety and efficiency of PEF treatment. In this action I aim to design an approach that will allow us to increase or decrease cell’s susceptibility to PEF treatment in a controlled, clinically applicable way. The approach is based on using modulators of membrane ion channels, that can influence the extent and longevity of post-pulse membrane depolarization – a hallmark of membrane electroporation. My idea is on the one hand inspired by increasing amount of evidence showing the involvement of ion channels in PEF-induced cell response, and on the other hand by the fact that ion channel modulators are already successfully used in treatment of various diseases and we can expect exciting development of new modulators in the near future. The design will be guided by state-of-the-art microscopic techniques and computational models, including molecular dynamics simulations, particle-based simulations, and finite element modeling, that will help elucidate the molecular mechanisms of membrane depolarization and choose the appropriate modulators and pulse parameters for fine-tuning the treatment outcome.

We shall study non-equilibrium many-body quantum systems, considering local interactions in one or two spatial dimensions in situations where the generator of time evolution in the bulk of the system is unitary whereas the incoherent processes are limited to the system's boundaries. We foresee a mathematical theory of dynamical quantum phases of matter with applications in the theory of quantum transport and nanoscale devices that manipulate heat, information, charge or magnetization. Our steady-state setup represents a fundamental paradigm of mathematical statistical physics which has been pioneered by the PI, who gave the first explicit solution for boundary driven/dissipative strongly interacting many-body problem (XXZ spin 1/2 chain) which answered a long debated question on strict positivity of the spin Drude weight at high temperature. The main focus of OMNES will be centered on exploring the following three interconnected pathways: Most importantly, we shall develop a general framework for exact solutions of non-equilibrium integrable quantum many-body models, in particular the steady states and relaxation modes, and develop quantum integrability methods for non-equilibrium many-body density operators. Fundamentally new concepts which are expected to emerge from these studies, relevant beyond the context of boundary-driven/dissipative systems, are novel quasilocal conservation laws of the bulk Hamiltonian dynamics. Second, we shall investigate relevance of exact solutions in physics of generic systems which are small perturbations of integrable models and explore the problem of stability of local and quasilocal conserved quantities under generic integrability-breaking perturbations. Third, we shall formulate and study the problem of quantum chaos in clean lattice systems, in particular to establish a link between random matrix theory of level statistics and kinematic and dynamical features of lattice models with sufficiently strong integrability breaking.

The decarbonisation of transport requires the design of lighter components for electric vehicles. To ensure that new components meet safety requirements in terms of their susceptibility to vibration fatigue (VF) and to facilitate shorter development times, a new VF identification tool is required. Nostradamus aims to deliver tool that will enable fast and non-contact damage identification caused by VF using the High-speed (HS) camera. Optimisation of digital replicas of the actual products (digital twins) will become easier, to deliver of Safer, Lightweight, Green and Quiet (SLGQ) products. The primary objective is to develop a new method called the Optical vibration fatigue damage identification (OptiViFa). It will enable close to real-time identification of fatigue damage with high spatial density. This will be possible with a ground-breaking extension of the recent scientific progress in HS camera measurements and modal-domain VF. The research objectives are to: 1) identify material strain with a HS camera; this will be achieved through developing a new method for identification of strain mode-shapes using HS camera measurements. 2) Develop OptiViFa for VF identification; this will be achieved through experimental verification in the laboratory and industry via a secondment with a research and development SME within the car industry. 3) Implement OptiViFa as an open-source Python package, enabling other researchers to use and further develop the new methods from the on-line repository. The training and development component of this fellowship will position the fellow at the forefront of research in HS image processing, and vibration fatigue. The inter-sectorial secondment will provide understanding of the crucial relationship between academic research and industry. The results will be open-science and open-source. Finally, the proposal results will help EU industry in developing SLGQ products and citizens of the EU to have a safer, greener and quieter lifestyle.