Abstract
As quantum-driven processes and properties start to shape the future of technology, quantum simulations appear as a crucial piece of the puzzle, acting both as building blocks and catalysts for the improvement of the understanding of unique quantum features. In essence, they can be understood as a class of prototype experiments that allow a study of quantum properties in a controllable environment. In this context, quantum fluids of light are one of the strongest candidates for this role as coherent behavior is easily accessible and not hidden by detrimental thermal noise usually present in more common quantum systems. In this work we explore the underlying theory of quantum fluids of light in propagating geometries through the hydrodynamic interpretation of light, where photons behave as interacting particles in the presence of a nonlinear medium. Exploiting the highly controllable optical properties of atomic systems and their enhanced nonlinear properties related to quantum coherence phenomena, we discuss how they can be used to set a tunable platform for quantum simulations. As examples, we demonstrate a series of quantum features of this light fluid in the form of superfluidic-like behaviors, ranging from the more common and experimentally confirmed suppressed scattering, drag-force cancellation and Bogoliubov-like dispersion relation for the elementary excitations, to other interesting phenomena yet to be explored, such as the case of persistent currents.

Abstract
Although the quantum theory of the optical response of individual atoms to coherent light with frequencies close to electronic transitions and the fluid equations for a gas are well known and understood from first principles, they are developed independently of each other and therefore cannot be applied directly to describe many of the quantum collective and transport phenomena that occur in cold atomic gases, especially in what regards their interaction with optical pulses and beams. Few attempts have been made to derive a consistent formalism and theory that are capable to model this type of systems, and those which exist rely on the adaptation of several ad-hoc hypothesis and simplifications, such as space and time dependent density operators. In this paper we provide the theoretical foundations and establish a formalism capable of paving the way for the development of new simulation tools and to explore new problems in nonlinear optics out of equilibrium.

Abstract
This paper reports the development of a numerical module for the HiLight simulation platform dedicated to the propagation of light in nonlocal nonlinear optical media and the adaptions implemented for it to be used as a numerical test-bed to evaluate the impact of new extensions of the Theory of General Relativity in the dynamics of a N-body system. The phenomenology of light in nonlocal and nonlinear media is very rich and can be described by a multitude of effective models, with different levels of detail and approximations, which coincide with few or no differences with those found in many other fields of physics. In particular, nonlocal extensions of the Generalized Nonlinear Schrodinger equation (also known as the generalized Schrodinger-Newton system) constitute a wide class of physical models that can be found in both optics and in the studies of alternative theories for gravity. Therefore, numerical solvers developed for the former can be adapted to address the later. Indeed, this paper discusses the adaptation of a numerical solver of the generalized Schrodinger-Newton system based on GPGPU supercomputing, initially developed to investigate the properties of light in exotic nonlocal media, to tackle the dynamics of large distributions of matter whose interaction is governed by extensions of the Theory of General Relativity, namely those based on non-minimal coupling between curvature and matter. This paper analysis the structure of the resulting simulation module, its performance and validation tests.

Abstract
This paper proposes the use of nematic liquid crystals as tunable setups to implement optical analogues of physical systems and phenomena that are hard or even impossible to study experimentally under controlled conditions. Optical analogues share the same physical model with the systems that they emulate and can be understood as a form of physical simulations or optical computation. However, their success relies not only on the existence of media with optical properties capable of emulating the models associated with the original system as they interact with light, but also on the possibility of being able to tune those properties in order to cover the multitude of conditions or range of parameters. In particular, the Schrodinger-Newton model is a good target for this kind of studies as it can describe a plethora of different phenomena in physics and can be implemented in the laboratory using optical analogues, usually using thermo-optical materials. However, such materials have limitations, and in this work we propose nematic liquid crystals as a more advantageous alternative. We discuss how nematic liquid crystals can be used as a tunable support medium for optical analogues of superfluids by analyzing the dispersion relation of light under specific conditions and using numerical simulations based on GPGPU supercomputing to verify our findings. Extending on this, we explore more direct manifestations of superfluid effects in nematic liquid crystals, such as drag-force cancellation in the superfluid regime and the possibility of creating a roton-minimum in the dispersion relation.

Abstract
We present the design, fabrication and optical characterization of functional metamaterials for optical sensing of Hydrogen based on inexpensive self-assembly processes of metallic nanowires integrated in nanoporous alumina templates([37-42]). The optical properties of these materials strongly depend on the environmental concentration or partial pressure of hydrogen and can be used to develop fully optical sensors that reduce the danger of explosion. Optical metamaterials are artificial media, usually combining metallic and dielectric sub-wavelength structures, that exhibit optical properties that cannot be found in naturally occurring materials. Among these, functional metamaterials offer the added possibility of altering or controlling these properties externally after fabrication, in our case by contact with a hydrogen rich atmosphere. This dependency can be used to design([43-45]) and develop optical sensors that respond to this gas or to chemical compounds that contain or release hydrogen. In this paper we present some designs for hydrogen functional metamaterials and discuss the main parameters relevant in the optimization of their response.

Abstract
We report on the development of numerical module for the HiLight simulation platform based on GPGPU supercomputing to solve a system of coupled fields governed by the Generalized Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation with local and/or nonlocal nonlinearities. This models plays an important role in describing a plethora of different phenomena in various areas of physics. In optics, this model was initially used to describe the propagation of light through local and/or nonlocal systems under the paraxial approximation, but more recently it has been extensively used as a support model to develop optical analogues. However, establishing the relation between the original system and the analogue, as well as, between their model and the actual experimental setup is not an easy task. First and foremost because in most cases the governing equations are nonintegrable, preventing from obtaining analytical solutions and hindering the optimization of the experiments. Alternatively, despite numerical methods not providing exact solutions, they allow to test different experimental scenarios and provide a better insight to what to expect in an actual experiment, while giving access to all the variables of the optical system being simulated. However, the numerical solution of a system of N-coupled Schrodinger fields in systems with two or three spatial dimensions requires massive computation resources, and must employ advanced supercomputing and parallelization techniques, such as GPGPU. This paper focuses on the numerical aspects behind this challenge, describing the structure of our simulation module, its performance and the tests performed.