Physicist Georgi (Gia) Dvali is to receive a European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant. Prof. Dvali is Chair of Theoretical Particle Physics at the Ludwid-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and scientist at the ORIGINS Excellence Cluster. He is one of four Principal Investigators in the “Gravitational interferometry with entangled states in optical fibers” (GRAVITES) project, together with quantum physicist Professor Philip Walther from the University of Vienna (corresponding PI), theoretical physicist Professor Piotr Chruściel also from the University of Vienna and physicist Prof. Nergis Mavalvala from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

GRAVITES aims to combine four complementary disciplines: quantum photonics and precision interferometry guided by expertise in general relativity and quantum field theory. The synergy among the research groups will realize a large-scale fiber interferometer with unprecedented precision. This will pave the way for a unique experimental platform for probing how gravity interacts with the quantum world.

ERC Synergy Grants fund teams of between two and four researchers. They support projects that lead to “progress at the frontiers of knowledge” through interdisciplinary collaboration. The GRAVITES award comes with funding of almost 9 million euros over a period of six years.

Read more: LMU News