SRI Ann Arbor

Until recently, almost all engineering has been successfully based on classical physics. Now however, engineering has a larger base—since the mid-1980s, experiments have proven the reality of quantum effects, formerly thought to be "unphysical" (such as entanglement). Quantum mechanics determines the structure, stereochemistry and chemical properties of molecules, which may thereafter be treated classically.

Theory has shown the potential for exploiting quantum effects for applications such as quantum computing for code-breaking. SRI's Ann Arbor staff investigate further application of quantum effects:

Applied Quantum Systems

• New sensors
  • New field of atomtronics (e.g., Bose Einstein Condensate gravity gradiometers)
  • Rotational Doppler (orbital angular momentum) imaging
  • Quantum coherent mechanisms in biological vision systems
  • Biometric exploitation of chirality in living tissues
  • Applications of selective detection of entangled photons (biphotons)
• Improved atomic clocks
  • Single-ion clock
• Solar energy
  • Biological quantum mechanisms in photosynthesis and enzyme action adapted to man-made energy collection/transport/storage systems
• Nanoscale systems
  

Radar, Signal Processing, and Exploitation

In addition to Applied Quantum Systems, SRI Ann Arbor works closely with SRI's Penetrating Radar staff on radar, signal processing, and exploitation, particularly in these areas:

• Advanced radar concepts
  • Coherent multi-platform, multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) methods
  • Unconventional illumination sources
  • Exploitation of target coherent properties
• Information optimization for tracking and sensor management
• Variational data assimilation (VDA) for exploiting sensor data
  • Estimation of environmental information
  • Advanced radar processing using Maxwell equations
    
    

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