FWF START Awards 2019

Silicon is the dominant material of the digital world as all integrated chips are based on it. However, digitalization based on silicon electronics will clearly reach its limits in the foreseeable future. This project investigates a fundamentally new approach for extracting light from silicon-compatible group IV materials. The success of this project could be a decisive step in the integration of silicon-based light sources in modern semiconductor components.

This project focuses on mathematics and financial economics. The finance part is concerned with robust empirical features that can be observed universally across various financial markets, share classes, and, in particular, over time. The mathematics part deals with universally occurring model classes and probabilistic properties which unite phenomena that, at first glance, often seem unrelated. The goal is to develop a probabilistic framework that allows universal phenomena to be studied using universal mathematical methods.

The rise of Genghis Khan and the expansion of the Mongol Empire in western Eurasia in the 13th century had a dramatic impact on the Islamic world. The Mongols are generally regarded as unstoppable nomadic warriors. This project starts from the hypothesis that the interaction of the nomadic rulers with resident elites went so far as to initiate a process of vigorous mutual cultural borrowing. The project will also develop two openly accessible digital databases.

The word glass is usually associated with glass for windows. However, metals can also form a glass. They have very attractive properties, but, like window glass, they can break catastrophically. In this project, metallic glasses are produced with specifically arranged nanocrystals. This makes it possible to develop new materials that are extremely hard but do not break catastrophically. This previously unachieved combination of properties is fundamental for the future development of highperformance materials.

Time-frequency analysis studies various phenomena of the domains of time and frequency simultaneously. It is a broad field that comprises not only many areas of mathematics, but also acoustics, wireless communication, statistical data analysis, and mathematical physics. The limits within which simultaneous time-frequency analysis is possible are determined by the uncertainty principle. The project deals with problems in which the uncertainty limit is reached.

In his project, Richard Wilhelm studies surfaces on the atomic scale. They are irradiated by bright laser flashes and bombarded almost simultaneously with pulses of charged particles. This is made possible by an ultrafast ion source which can fire high-energy charged atoms at a material sample. This project is the world’s first ion scattering experiment in which the time sequences can be observed with such precision. This enables us to make specific changes to material properties using customized pulses.