Humanity’s reliance on the rapid and free flow of information cannot be understated. Over the last two decades, control over the spectral, temporal, and spatial structure of light has led to a massive increase in optical data transfer rates via signal multiplexing. For example, the simultaneous encoding of information in 84,236 spatial and frequency channels was recently used for achieving a record 10 Petabit/sec data transmission rate. As quantum technologies mature, so will the needs of a quantum infrastructure that relies on the efficient and noise-robust transfer of information. Precise control over the photonic degrees of freedom (DOFs) of space, time, and frequency offer the potential to enable similar breakthroughs for the fields of quantum communication and networking, and in parallel unlock key functionalities for quantum imaging and sensing with light. PIQUaNT will develop methods for the coherent control and measurement of the high-dimensional position-momentum and time-frequency DOFs of a photon, and drive forward the creation of techniques for combating sources of noise that inhibit the long-distance transfer of multi-mode quantum information. PIQUaNT will in turn apply these techniques in demonstrations of noise-resilient, high-capacity entanglement distribution in multiple photonic DOFs over commercially available multi-mode and multi-core fibres. Through the realisation of a prototype entanglement-based high-dimensional quantum communications network, PIQUaNT will serve as a blueprint for the future development of noise-robust quantum information networks that saturate the information carrying capacity of a photon.

The project will develop a seismic-resistant steel frame for high seismic resilience. The frame consists of a moment-resisting frame equipped with concentric braces. Replaceable energy-dissipative hourglass shape pins made of duplex stainless steel that results in high post-yield stiffness are in series connected to the braces. Moreover, replaceable fuses are introduced at the locations of the beams of the moment resisting frame where plastic hinges are expected to develop. The project uses an integrated experimental-numerical research methodology to evaluate the seismic performance of the proposed configuration. Emphasis is placed in developing a reliable seismic design methodology for the practical application of the proposed system.

This is a PhD Project in Physics. Laser surgery using mid-infrared or ultrafast picosecond/femtosecond lasers can greatly enhance the precision and effectiveness of treatment for a wide range of diseases. Highly flexible anti-resonant microstructured fibres have now enabled endoscopic delivery within the complex structures of the body. However, in order to fully exploit this technology novel beam steering and manipulation solutions must developed, and combined with optical monitoring and sensing technologies, to fully aid and guide surgeons.

Obstacle avoidance with monocular vision is an important open problem in robotics. Measurements of optical flow (OF) carry information about potential collisions directly without the need to identify complex and abstract semantics of the video stream. However, dense OF for navigation remains a poorly explored area because, until recently, real-time dense OF estimation was simply not available. This project was aimed at harnessing the power of modern neural networks to extract collision information from dense OF of a robots video stream. A pixel-wise classifier was proposed to identify regions of high collision probability. This exploratory work discusses potential solutions to challenges specific to OF frames processing, as well as high class imbalance of the collected training data.

Reactive transport modelling is a key tool in understanding the extremely complex interplay of flow, transport and reactions occurring over various temporal and spatial scales in the subsurface. The most difficult challenge in reactive transport is the capture of scale dependence, and upscaling reactive transport will ultimately only be successful if there is a detailed understanding of fundamental mechanisms at the pore level and the supporting data are available. State-of-the-art tools (e.g. X-ray microtomography and on-chip porous media) are not sufficient to understand reactive flow, as they do not provide real-time mapping of propagation of fronts (e.g. temperature, pressure, concentration) that are critical to refine and validate simulations. The ambition is to progress beyond the state of the art via additive manufacturing tools to print 3D replicas of porous cores that enable monitoring the properties within the pores. Our unique approach is to develop for the first time three-dimensional instrumented replicas of porous structures, so we can gain much needed dynamic data at the pore scale that can be incorporated into validated simulations coupling flow and reactive transport processes. We combine expertise and integrating ground-breaking work in: (i) additive manufacturing to produce three dimensional replicas of porous structures; (ii) tools to embed sensors to determine in-vivo propagation of fronts (pressure, temperature, pH) within complex structures; and (iii) novel high-fidelity in-silico pore models coupling relative permeability functions and critical saturations with compositional changes and validated using virtual reality tools. The ERC MILEPOST project will transform our ability to analyse and predict the behaviour of a wide range of pore-scale processes governing the macroscopic behaviour of complex subsurface systems and open up new horizons for science in other areas, e.g porosity controlled in polymers and bioprinting.