Abstract
The level of experimental control and the detailed theoretical understanding of matter wave physics have led to a renaissance of experiments testing the very foundations of quantum mechanics and general relativity, as well as to applications in metrology. A variety of interferometric quantum sensors surpasses, or will surpass, the limits of their classical counterparts, for instance in the measurement of frequency and time or forces such as accelerations due to rotation and gravity with applications in basic science, navigation and the search for natural resources. The collection of original articles published in this focus issue of New Journal of Physics is intended as a snapshot of the current research pursued by a number of leading teams working on the development of new matter wave physics, devices and techniques. A number of contributions also stress the close relation between the historic roots of quantum mechanics and aspects of modern quantum information science which are relevant for matter wave physics.