Taming, slowing and trapping atoms with light
Cold is quantum, Quantum is cool!
We shape quantum matter
Multicolored lasers for a variety of atoms
Keeping our eyes on the quantum world
Join our ultracool group!
High technology for great science
Taming, slowing and trapping atoms with light

Welcome to the website of the Ultracold Quantum Gases group at the European Laboratory for Nonlinear Spectroscopy (LENS), the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Florence (Italy) and the Institute of Optics of the Italian National Research Council (CNR - INO). In our labs we use lasers and magnetic fields to produce the lowest temperatures of the Universe, just a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero...

At these temperatures, atoms stop moving and we can control them for a variety of different fundamental studies and applications. We can force atoms to arrange according to a periodic structure and simulate the behavior of crystalline solids and new materials. We can use the atoms as ultra-high accurate sensors to probe forces with the power of quantum mechanics. We can study how quantum particles combine together under the action of strong interactions and how superfluidity develops. We can use these ultracold atoms to process information and develop new quantum technologies.

Dress warmly and... follow us for this ultracold journey!

LAST NEWS

Looking for a PhD? Join us!

We are looking for applicants who either hold or expect to obtain a Master’s degree in physics or a related field and have a strong interest in atomic physics, photonics, quantum optics, and quantum technology. Join our world-class research environment to explore quantum sciences with ultracold matter.

The new PhD call by the University of Florence is out! Contact us to devise together a PhD project to be carried out in our labs. There are two PhD programs available to join our labs: the doctoral programme in physics and astronomy and the international doctorate in atomic and molecular photonics.

Application deadline: June 16, 2025 at 12:00 PM (CEST / Central European Summer Time)

You can find further information here and on our Jobs Page.

 

Master Degree in Physics at UNIFI

The Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Florence starts this year its Master degree in Physical and Astrophysical Sciences
in English! Explore the 6 curricula and enroll!

 

Congratulations Diego!

Congratulations to Diego on successfully defending his PhD thesis, titled ”Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in annular superfluids”! We are incredibly proud of you — well done, Dr. Hernández-Rajkov!

Check out the thesis here.

Cooling Our Way to Quantum Chemistry

credits: APS/YOHOHO

On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of quantum mechanics, PRX Quantum has selected our work on Ultracold LiCr molecules for their International Year of Quantum collection, among those highly interdisciplinary papers impacting the next decade of quantum science.

Check it out at the link below!
 

Our selected paper on Ultracold LiCr: Ultracold : A New Pathway to Quantum Gases of Paramagnetic Polar Molecules | PRX Quantum

Capillary instability observed in a quantum mixture

Our new article has been published in PRL and has received the Editors' Suggestion!

 

L. Cavicchioli et al.
Dynamical Formation of Multiple Quantum Droplets in a Bose-Bose Mixture
Phys. Rev. Lett. ,134, 093401 (2025)

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