LERMA UMR8112

Quantum walks (QWs) have been first considered by Feynman in the 1940's and later introduced systematically in the 1990's in the context of quantum information. These discrete automata are a universal quantum computation tool and their first experimental realisation is less than 10 years old (2009).

I will present some of the research conducted at the LERMA since 2012. I will explain that QWs can be viewed as models of Dirac fermions (electrons etc.) interacting with gauge fields like EM fields and gravitation and that QWs can be used to build self-consistent many body theories. These results pave the way towards new numerical simulations and laboratory experiments modelling astrophysical and cosmological relativistic quantum plasmas through QWs.

Star-forming regions present rich infrared and millimeter spectra emitted by the gas exposed to the feedback of young stars. This emission is increasingly used to study the star formation cycle in other galaxies, but results from a complex interplay of physical and chemical processes : chemistry in the gas and on grain surfaces, (de)excitation processes of the atoms and molecules, heating and cooling balance,... Its understanding thus requires detailed astrochemical models that include the couplings between these processes. In this talk, I will present several examples where new modeling approaches of specific processes and their couplings proved crucial to solve persistent observational riddles : from the driving role of UV irradiation in the dynamics of photodissociation regions (PDR) to the efficient reformation of molecular hydrogen in these regions.