Public Abstract

DE-SC0020340: High Energy Density Quantum Matter

Award Status: Active

Institution: University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
UEI: F27KDXZMF9Y8
PM: Parra, Enrique

Most Recent Award Date: 08/27/2026
Number of Support Periods: 7
PI: Collins, Gilbert

Current Budget Period: 09/01/2026 - 08/31/2027
Current Project Period: 09/01/2026 - 08/31/2029

Public Abstract

This is a pivotal time in the history of science and technology (S&T) with breakthroughs in quantum computing and the enabling quantum materials, the realization of thermonuclear fusion ignition with ~2MJ of laser energy, and the tremendous growth and integration of artificial intelligence in predicting and exploiting the next discoveries. High energy density (HED) science is at the nexus of these technology breakthroughs. This initiative strategically aligns with today’s national priorities, builds on our recent science and technology breakthroughs making revolutionary improvements in how we consider and exploit quantum matter. A few years ago, our team launched a bold effort to unlock a new quantum frontier at high energy density (HED) conditions, and many of the original goals are laid out in the DOE-QIS and National Academy of Sciences reports, as well as several roadmap publications. Our mission is to explore, understand, and realize extremes of quantum matter behavior, properties, and phenomena by tuning the energy density of materials in the HED regime. Over the past few years, our team of scientists, together with ~45 students and postdocs, made groundbreaking discoveries documented in more than 82 high profile publications including PRL, Nature, and PNAS, and presented this work at ~200 lectures world-wide. Our HED Quantum Matter effort serves as a national center with weekly meetings and seminars, and with education and training of the next generation playing a major role. Discoveries include the emergence of topological behavior and electron localization of matter into the TPa regime, use of dopants to chemically compress hydrogen leading to the prediction and experimental realization of the highest temperature superconductors discovered to date, the manipulation of traditional quantum materials into the HED realm to transform and improve their quantum properties, the potential for superfluid-Bose condensed pure hydrogen and or deuterium, the search for extreme Majorona fermions, understanding extreme chemical and dynamical properties of dense matter, and the development of new computational and experimental techniques to charter still more discoveries in HED quantum matter. We propose to capitalize and expand on these successes together with intelligent (AI) computational strategies to bring about a generational change in how scientists and engineers explore, harness, and exploit extreme quantum processes. Since the earliest days of quantum mechanics, the realm of quantum matter has been limited to low temperatures, restricting the breadth of quantum phenomena exploited and explored. Our work will tune the energy density of matter into a high-energy-density quantum regime. Quantum behavior often emerges, for example, when the deBroglie wavelength becomes comparable to the interatomic distance ann. Thus, usually T and m are reduced to sufficiently increase the deBroglie wavelength. This project however takes advantage of developments in HED science which enable the controlled manipulation of pressure, temperature, fields, and composition opening the way to revolutionary quantum states of matter. Compression experiments can now tune ann < deBroglie wavelength, bringing the quantum behavior of matter to unprecedentedly high temperatures and transferring the quantum behavior to the macroscale. Our proposed effort is divided into three thrust areas. 1) Novel Quantum Matter from “Simple” Systems at Extremes whose goal is to predict, discover, and create novel HED quantum structures, bonds, and properties through energy-density tuning in the HED regime. Examples include the production of electride-topological structures and the potential Majorona Fermions. 2) Superconducting Hydrides to Superconducting-Superfluid H, whose goals are to discover, characterize, understand, and realize next generation hydrogen-rich strongly correlated materials through theory-inspired experiments at HED conditions. 3) Computation and Experimental Technique Development, whose goals are to develop the transforming technical capabilities for discoveries in thrust areas 1 and 2. This effort will bring about a generational change in how scientists, engineers, and society explore, harness, and exploit quantum processes. Goals: (1) Create new HED quantum states of matter and understand their limiting behaviors at extreme temperatures, pressures, and fields. (2) Explore new quantum processes unlocked by HED conditions. (3) Translate emergent quantum HED properties to ambient conditions. (4) Develop tools to harness, characterize, and understand extreme quantum frontier. Our scientific team contains top leaders in HED science, emergent quantum materials, plasmas, condensed matter, and computations. Finally, extensive presentations, workshops, and high-profile publications resulting from this work are engaging a world-wide community in this extreme quantum revolution.

This is a pivotal time in the history of science and technology (S&T) with breakthroughs in quantum computing and the enabling quantum materials, the realization of thermonuclear fusion ignition with ~2MJ of laser energy, and the tremendous growth and integration of artificial intelligence in predicting and exploiting the next discoveries. High energy density (HED) science is at the nexus of these technology breakthroughs. This initiative strategically aligns with today’s national priorities, builds on our recent science and technology breakthroughs making revolutionary improvements in how we consider and exploit quantum matter. A few years ago, our team launched a bold effort to unlock a new quantum frontier at high energy density (HED) conditions, and many of the original goals are laid out in the DOE-QIS and National Academy of Sciences reports, as well as several roadmap publications. Our mission is to explore, understand, and realize extremes of quantum matter behavior, properties, and phenomena by tuning the energy density of materials in the HED regime. Over the past few years, our team of scientists, together with ~45 students and postdocs, made groundbreaking discoveries documented in more than 82 high profile publications including PRL, Nature, and PNAS, and presented this work at ~200 lectures world-wide. Our HED Quantum Matter effort serves as a national center with weekly meetings and seminars, and with education and training of the next generation playing a major role. Discoveries include the emergence of topological behavior and electron localization of matter into the TPa regime, use of dopants to chemically compress hydrogen leading to the prediction and experimental realization of the highest temperature superconductors discovered to date, the manipulation of traditional quantum materials into the HED realm to transform and improve their quantum properties, the potential for superfluid-Bose condensed pure hydrogen and or deuterium, the search for extreme Majorona fermions, understanding extreme chemical and dynamical properties of dense matter, and the development of new computational and experimental techniques to charter still more discoveries in HED quantum matter. We propose to capitalize and expand on these successes together with intelligent (AI) computational strategies to bring about a generational change in how scientists and engineers explore, harness, and exploit extreme quantum processes.

Since the earliest days of quantum mechanics, the realm of quantum matter has been limited to low temperatures, restricting the breadth of quantum phenomena exploited and explored. Our work will tune the energy density of matter into a high-energy-density quantum regime. Quantum behavior often emerges, for example, when the deBroglie wavelength becomes comparable to the interatomic distance ann. Thus, usually T and m are reduced to sufficiently increase the deBroglie wavelength. This project however takes advantage of developments in HED science which enable the controlled manipulation of pressure, temperature, fields, and composition opening the way to revolutionary quantum states of matter. Compression experiments can now tune ann < deBroglie wavelength, bringing the quantum behavior of matter to unprecedentedly high temperatures and transferring the quantum behavior to the macroscale.

Our proposed effort is divided into three thrust areas. 1) Novel Quantum Matter from “Simple” Systems at Extremes whose goal is to predict, discover, and create novel HED quantum structures, bonds, and properties through energy-density tuning in the HED regime. Examples include the production of electride-topological structures and the potential Majorona Fermions. 2) Superconducting Hydrides to Superconducting-Superfluid H, whose goals are to discover, characterize, understand, and realize next generation hydrogen-rich strongly correlated materials through theory-inspired experiments at HED conditions. 3) Computation and Experimental Technique Development, whose goals are to develop the transforming technical capabilities for discoveries in thrust areas 1 and 2.

This effort will bring about a generational change in how scientists, engineers, and society explore, harness, and exploit quantum processes. Goals: (1) Create new HED quantum states of matter and understand their limiting behaviors at extreme temperatures, pressures, and fields. (2) Explore new quantum processes unlocked by HED conditions. (3) Translate emergent quantum HED properties to ambient conditions. (4) Develop tools to harness, characterize, and understand extreme quantum frontier. Our scientific team contains top leaders in HED science, emergent quantum materials, plasmas, condensed matter, and computations. Finally, extensive presentations, workshops, and high-profile publications resulting from this work are engaging a world-wide community in this extreme quantum revolution.