The terahertz (THz) frequency range is widely considered as the most challenging and under-developed frequency range due to the lack of technologies to effectively bridge the transition region between microwaves (below 100 GHz) and optics (above 10,000 GHz). Although THz radiation would be perfect for material identification and as a safe alternative to X-rays for producing high resolution images of the interior of opaque objects, first a fundamentally new approach is needed to establish novel devices and techniques. Rarely considered for its complexity, the so-called “light field” consists of all light rays in 3-D space, flowing through every point and in every direction. Thus a light field camera not only records color and brightness like a 2-D imaging sensor does, but also the direction/angle of all the light rays arriving at the sensor. The beauty of this spatio-directional information is that one can localize hidden objects and calculate their covered three-dimensional shape. So what’s the catch? For any practical means, the natural ambient THz radiation is by far too weak, and THz light-fields need to be created artificially. Here I propose an innovative pathway empowered by massively scaled THz source and detector arrays, which will bring forth the science of computational light-fields to THz 3-D see-through imaging. Starting with newfangled THz source-arrays, I create the missing temporal modulated light-fields directly at the source and investigate a diffraction inclusive THz light-field system theory, architecture and algorithms. This is combined with innovative THz integrated circuits to research real-time THz light-field components. Although the far-reaching objectives incorporate a high risk due to the complexity of the approach connecting physical, computational, and optical sciences with engineering approaches, this is offset by the promise of major breakthroughs to create substantial value for both science and the global economy.

Large-scale simulations of lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) can provide crucial input for searches of new physics at the precision frontier, like in the calculation of the hadronic contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. To find evidence of new physics beyond the current knowledge provided by the Standard Model will require to reach per-mille precision. Attaining such accuracy in the hadronic contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon in lattice QCD can only be achieved by controlling lattice systematics, such as logarithmic terms in the continuum extrapolation, finite volume effects and exponentially increasing noise at large time distances. Simulating gauge ensembles at lattice spacing a<0.04 fm is impossible with current algorithms due to topological freezing. Generative models based on gauge equivariant flows can unfreeze the charge but scale badly with the volume, limiting, up to now, their applicability to toy models. We propose a solution to overcome topological freezing and suppress exponential noise by developing scalable algorithms for lattice QCD simulations closer to the continuum limit and at physical quark masses based on domain decomposition. By combining machine-learned flow proposals with hierarchical accept/reject steps of the factorized fermion determinant, ensembles at very small lattice spacings can be generated using upcoming european exascale supercomputers. We will implement multi-level sampling techniques within a flexible framework to enable good performance of the here developed novel Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm on exascale systems. By the newly generated gauge ensembles lattice QCD will provide a leap in the precision frontier thereby critically contributing in the unraveling of new physics.

The meaning of solar energy for future decentralized power supply will largely depend on both efficiency and cost of solar to electrical power conversion. All kinds of conversion strategies including photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, solar to fuel and others would benefit from efficiently collecting solar power on large areas. For this reason luminescent solar concentrators have been developed for over thirty years, but due to waveguide losses their maximum size is still limited to a few centimeters. The proposed project suggests the exploitation of a new type of electromagnetic waveguide in order to realize passive planar concentrators of unsurpassed collection efficiency, size, concentration, lifetime and costs. A dielectric TE1-mode shows a node, a position in the waveguide where no intensity is found. A thin film placed in this node remains largely “invisible” for the propagating mode. Such dielectric node modes (DNMs) have been investigated by the applicant in previous work, but only recently a silver island film (SIF) was for the first time placed in such a node. The resulting extremely low waveguide losses cannot be explained by our current understanding of waveguide modes and hint to a hybridization between the SIF-bound long-range surface plasmon polaritons (LRSPPs) and the DNMs into what we call hybrid node modes (HNMs). The SIFs strongly interact with incident light. An appropriate nanopatterning of SIFs enables efficient excitation of low-loss HNMs modes collecting solar power over square meters and concentrating it. To achieve this goal new technological methods are used that enable patterning on the nanometer scale and low cost roll-to-roll processing at the same time. New measurement techniques and numerical simulation tools will be developed to investigate the HNMs – a novel kind of electromagnetic modes – and their exploitation in the passive solar concentrators.