Since October 2011 I have been a member of the Quantum Physics Institute and have been leading a group conducting research on Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) and ultracold atoms in microgravity and their application to high-precision measurements based on atom interferometry. Our group provides theoretical support within the QUANTUS collaboration, which is funded by the German Space Agency (DLR) and involves a number of mainly experimental groups in Germany.
The collaboration's microgravity experiments are carried out at ZARM's Drop Tower in Bremen and on sounding rockets. MAIUS 1, the first rocket mission, was successfully completed on 23 January 2017 and accomplished the generation of the first BEC in space ever (it is also the first experiment in space with cold atoms and with atom interferometry). More information on the MAIUS 1 mission can be found in DLR's press release and a short movie of the rocket launch is available here. The achievement has also been featured in an article published in Der Spiegel Online (in German).
In addition, we are collaborating with NASA on future joint experiments with ultracold atoms on the International Space Station (ISS).
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