In den letzten zwei Jahrtausenden hat die Menschheit enorme Fortschritte im Verständnis der Bausteine des Universums erzielt. Während die alten Griechen noch dachten, dass "Atome" unteilbar sein, wissen wir heute, dass die kleinsten Bausteine des Universums (Quarks und Leptonen) mindestens 100 Millionen mal kleiner sind als Atome. Die Eigenschaften dieser bekannten Bausteine des Universums sind sehr genau gemessen worden und in einer Theorie namens "Standardmodell" zusammengefasst. Allerdings gibt es viele Rätsel, z.B. warum es so viele fundamentale Teilchen gibt, warum es mehr Materie als Antimaterie gibt und was die "dunkle Materie" ist, aus der 80% der Materie  im Universum besteht. Ich werde insbesondere auf die Rolle von Teilchenbeschleunigern eingehen.

Although quantum theory has been validated experimentally with remarkable precision, numerous fundamental questions about the theory are still open. One of them is whether the theory can be applied to macroscopic systems (such as Schrödinger’s famous cat) and whether it remains valid on cosmological scales. Despite limited progress on these questions in recent decades, there is now cause for optimism. Research in quantum information, driven by applications such as quantum computing and cryptography, has yielded profound theoretical insights and experimental technology that could facilitate testing quantum theory in new ways. In this talk, I will explain what such information-theory-inspired experiments on the foundations of quantum theory may look like.

Controlling and understanding electron correlations in quantum matter presents an outstanding goal in materials engineering. In the past years, new correlated states have been found by carefully stacking and twisting two-dimensional van der Waals materials of different kind. Unique to these stacked structures is the emergence of correlated phases not foreseeable from the single layers alone. Here, we discuss the emergence of Mott-Hubbard, heavy fermion and Hund physics, in Moiré superlattices. We show how to switch between Mott-Hubbard and Hund physics in multiband Moiré systems and elucidate the interplay of (doped) Mott Hubbard and heavy fermion physics in 1T-1H TaS₂ bilayers as well as magic angle twisted bilayer graphene. With the latter system, we illustrate how the formation and ordering of local moments shapes electronic behavior of Moiré quantum materials.