Atmospheric turbulence exerts a dominant control on the exchange of heat, CO2, water vapor, pollutants and momentum between the surface and the atmosphere, and therefore drives phenomena as diverse as climate, storm systems, air pollution, and glacial melt. Existing turbulence theory was developed for horizontally homogenous flat terrain, and fails in more complex terrain. Thus, for the majority of our planetary surface no viable theory of turbulence is available, and approaches that are known to be inadequate are nevertheless applied. The time is ripe to close this fundamental knowledge gap and formulate a theory universally applicable in complex terrain. Unicorn addresses this using a synergy of measurements, numerical modelling and theory to create a novel framework extending the existing theory of near-surface turbulence to complex terrain. Based on the ground-breaking hypothesis that including the directionality of turbulent exchange (anisotropy) can encode the boundary conditions, Unicorn will identify the key physical processes that cause anisotropy in complex terrain to differ from that over flat terrain. Thus Unicorn will systematically explore the parameter space of different sources of complexity, such as topography, flow conditions and heterogeneity, using unprecedented analysis of over sixty measurement datasets over flat and complex terrain coupled with machine learning approaches, sensitivity studies using state-of-the-art high resolution numerical simulations, and reduced order theoretical derivations. This synergistic approach incorporating the effects of complex terrain into a framework based on turbulence anisotropy will bring a much-needed breakthrough for understanding turbulence in complex terrain. Findings will revolutionize near-surface turbulence representation in numerical models, leading to better predictive capability in numerous societally and scientifically relevant topics, such as climate, extreme weather and air pollution.

Just like digital information processing has revolutionized 20th century technology, quantum information processing and the second quantum revolution are shaping the 21st century. Yet, while classical computing is long set in the path of binary information, the future is still open for quantum information processing, and it would be fatal to force it into the same restrictive paradigm. The goal of this project is to break out of this artificial two-dimensional structure and tap into the large unused potential of high-dimensional quantum information processing. I have extensive expertise in the field of quantum information processing. During my PhD in photonics, I realized the highest fidelity state preparation and measurement of qudits reported to date, and recently I developed a full mathematical and experimental framework for the characterization of quantum coherence in multilevel systems. Building on this expertise, I will develop the first universal qudit quantum processor, using four electronic levels of trapped Ca ions, which are one of the most advanced platforms for quantum information processing. The hosting group of Prof. Rainer Blatt in Innsbruck is a world leader in trapped ion quantum information processing and pioneered all the necessary groundwork, such as laser cooling, coherent control, and large scale entanglement of ions to make this project possible. I will apply the newly developed qudit quantum processor to the quantum simulation of lattice gauge theories of critical interest in high energy physics. The development of this new technology also unlocks a wide range of open questions from quantum simulation to quantum communication and computation, which I and the host institution will be in a unique position to address. This fellowship will give me protected time to realise the proposed research and establish myself as an independent researcher in Europe and an expert in the new paradigm of qudit quantum information processing.