Anxiety-related disorders - such as phobias, PTSD, social anxiety, panic disorder - are highly prevalent and pose a great burden on society. First-line treatment for such disorders is exposure therapy (ET), which entails safely exposing patients to the source of their anxiety. Although current ET protocols are generally effective, many patients do not respond to the therapy or experience residual symptoms and relapses. How to optimize many aspects of ET protocols, such as intensity and timing of the exposures, remains uncertain. Moreover, the current research approach of studying the effect of at most few variables using between-group trials, has produced mixed results, despite large efforts. Finding optimized ET protocols is a high-dimensional search problem, with complexly interacting variables. To efficiently search this high-dimensional space, this action will develop a new paradigm for improving ET by utilizing modern artificial intelligence (AI) and biosignal analysis methods. In particular, the new bio-adaptive ET paradigm will make use of latest advances in reinforcement learning algorithms and psychophysiological models. Reinforcement learning will allow intelligently optimizing the exposure procedure, by sequentially learning from each trial and each participant, and psychophysiological models will allow to estimate the participant's anxiety level better than through overt behavior or physiological signals alone. Although aimed at anxiety disorders, the proposed bio-adaptive ET paradigm has the potential to serve as a blueprint for optimizing behavioral therapies in general. This action will allow the fellow to gain valuable knowledge of latest AI techniques, which will put him at the forefront of the emerging discipline of computational psychiatry. Furthermore, the proposed agenda will lay the foundation for innovative translational research that will ultimately benefit patients in the EU and beyond.

We propose the exploration of many-body quantum physics with a new experimental platform, based on the optically levitated and cooled arrays of spherical nanoparticles with strong and controllable interactions. The recent works by the host institution demonstrated the cavity assisted cooling of a single nanoparticle to its motional quantum ground state as well as the simultaneous trapping of two nanoparticles with full control over the interactions between them. In this work we shall extend these results to the multiple particles. This will be on the one hand an important milestone towards achieving the many-body regime and on the other hand, the first observation of the cavity assisted cooling of an array of nanoparticles via coherent light scattering. The realisation of this milestone will enable us to study the system’s non-equilibrium relaxation after precise perturbation protocols. Using the natural isolation from the environment, we shall study the thermalisation of a nearly isolated few-particle quantum system. Depending on the energetic landscape, as well as on the nature and range of interactions, we expect to observe motional pre-thermalisation, or the absence of thermalisation with the onset of the Anderson localisation or the Many-Body Localisation of phonons. Finally, we shall explore the controllable non-reciprocity of the inter-particle interactions by breaking the directional symmetry of the inter-particle forces by conferring to them the direction dependent phases. Combining this with the dissipative nature of these forces, we aim at implementing a specifically tailored non-hermitian Hamiltonian describing the constant intensity waves.

This project will bring Matthew Pelowski to Vienna University to undergo a unique two-way program of knowledge transfer and to conduct an innovative, integrated behavioral/neural study of art perception using causative brain manipulation via TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation). Art is a unique feature of human life. Uncovering how it affects us requires joint expertise in aesthetics, psychology and neuroscience. Employing TMS, we will systematically manipulate three key brain regions (prefrontal, temporal and parietal), while individuals view a selection of art. Cognitive, emotional and evaluative reactions will be recorded via specially designed survey and assessed via a cognitive model which integrates these factors, both of which were created by Dr. Pelowski and which he will introduce to the Vienna group. Simultaneously, Dr. Pelowski will be supported by leading experts in art’s neural study under guidance of host Dr. Leder, and will receive training in TMS. By comparing responses to a control and using Dr. Pelowski's methodology, we will collect a comprehensive within-subject dataset of specific impact of brain regions on art experience. This research will provide the “next step” for clarifying previous cognitive and neurological findings, achieving their integration. It will clarify general questions of brain role in emotion and evaluation. It will also have wide inter-sectoral application to dementia research and art therapy, which will be explored with experts in Leder’s group, and will be a breakthrough to future study of integrated neuroaesthetics and psychology of art. This project will also create a new research direction, expanding from an established center at University of Vienna, continuing a key tradition in empirical aesthetics. It also creates a point of continuing collaboration between Vienna, US and EU, and will further launch the career of Dr. Pelowsk and extend his proficiency to causative brain research.

This proposal aims at the first investigation and utilization of nonlinear interactions between mechanical vibrational modes, i.e phonons. These phonons will be excited, controlled and measured through their interaction with light in optomechanical crystals, which are designed and made by means for nano-fabrication techniques. Optomechanical crystals have shown powerful applications in electronics, as they are resonant at GHz frequencies, commonly used in electronic signal processing. Furthermore, mechanical oscillators, when cooled to few phonons, exhibit quantum mechanical properties, which can be exploited for quantum information processing. Limiting factors for both classical and quantum applications, however, are the high optical absorption and low thermal conductivities of common materials used for optomechanical crystals, such as silicon nitride. Diamond on the other hand has a two-orders of magnitude higher thermal conductivity and better mechanical properties than silicon nitride. These unique features enable the excitation of extremely high phonon intensities and coherent laser-like mechanical oscillations, as recently demonstrated by the outgoing host. While lasers gave birth to the field of nonlinear optics, one of the largest research fields in physics, the high intensity and coherent phonon oscillations in diamond enable for the first time the investigation of nonlinear phonon interactions. The aim of this project is to conduct the first characterization of nonlinear phonon interactions, thereby opening-up the new research-field of Nonlinear Optomechanics. These nonlinear interactions will then be used for novel classical and quantum functionalities. In particular, nonlinear phonon gain and energy transfer between different frequency modes will be investigated with applications in electronics, while nonlinear coupling between frequency modes will enable controllable superposition in phonon quantum states.