More than 30 years ago, Richard Feynman outlined his vision of a quantum simulator for carrying out complex calculations on physical problems. Today, his dream is a reality in laboratories around the world. This has become possible by using complex experimental setups of thousands of optical elements which allow atoms to be cooled to nanokelvin temperatures, where they almost come to rest. The atoms can then be trapped and manipulated in arrays of millions of microscopic light traps. Such light crystals allow an unprecedented view into the microscopic world of quantum materials and enable the currently most precise atomic clocks, fundamental to next-generation timing and navigation. In this public lecture, Professor Bloch will explain how such quantum simulators are realized at the lowest temperatures known, and highlight their applications, which range from condensed-matter physics and statistical physics to "table-top" high-energy physics.
	Immanuel Bloch is scientific director at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching and holds a chair for experimental physics at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich. His scientific work is among the most frequently cited in the field of quantum physics and has helped to open a new interdisciplinary research field at the interface of atomic physics, quantum optics, quantum information science and solid stata ephysics. For his research, he has received numerous internationalawards, including the Körber European Science Prize and the Harvey Prize of the Technion in Israel.	Introduction by Lars Bildsten