A new Centre of Research Excellence has been funded, the Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies. See a newspaper article here. The CoRE will bring significant new funding to the lab.

The Anderson localisation proposal was funded with room for a postdoc! Watch this space for news

By adding an adjustable phase to the delta-kicked rotor experiment we were able to generate a “flying island” of stability in this classically chaotic system. The results were published here:

Experimental realization of a quantum ratchet through phase modulation

D. H. White, S. K. Ruddell, and M. D. Hoogerland

Phys. Rev. A 88, 063603 – Published 3 December 2013

Our all-optical BEC has been back for a little while, no real problems. We had some standard issues of shutters not shutting at the appropriate time, and magnetic fields not being what they should be, but everything is up and running. Atom numbers are comparable to previously, and we’re working on improving this.

After a lot of mucking around with overhead tables, the new labs overheating and non-working water cooling, we finally have both magneto-optical traps working. The dipole trap is lined up and ready to go. So BEC soon we hope.

We have moved the lab to the basement. The vacuum got shifted in one piece!

Concerning the measurements on helium, check out the
Radio interview on Our Changing world

The science paper got a summary for non-experts in physics today:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.1241

The science paper is now published in Science 333, 196 (2011):

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/333/6039/196.abstract

A perspective by Ed Eyler can be found on page 164 of the same issue of the journal:

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/333/6039/164.summary

Some results from my recent sabbatical in Amsterdam are accepted for publication in Science magazine!