People

Matteo Mitrano

Matteo Mitrano is an experimental condensed matter physicist. He received his PhD in 2015 for his work at the Max-Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg (Germany) and then continued his research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA) as a Feodor Lynen postdoctoral fellow funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Since 2020, he joined the Department of Physics at Harvard University (USA) as Assistant Professor of Physics. His research focuses on investigating fundamental problems in quantum materials and on controlling their nonequilibrium properties by using advanced ultrafast optical and scattering probes both in his laboratory and at large-scale facilities (e.g. free electron lasers). In recognition of his research, he has been awarded the 2019 LCLS Young Investigator Award of the SLAC National Accelerator laboratory, the 2021 PRISM prize of the Italian National Research Council, the 2022 Early Career Award by the U.S. Department of Energy, and the 2024 IUPAP Early Career Award for Structural Dynamics.

Stephen Clark

Stephen Clark is a theoretical physicist. He began his academic journey at Bristol completing a MSci in Physics where he discovered a passion for quantum theory and entanglement working under Prof Sandu Popescu. After earning a Masters from Cambridge, he completed a DPhil (PhD) at Oxford with Prof Dieter Jaksch, applying tensor network methods to understand the dynamics of cold atoms in optical lattices. He continued to develop these techniques holding two research fellowships at Keble College, Oxford and joint positions at other institutions: one with the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg, where he began a highly fruitful collaboration with Prof Andrea Cavalleri’s group modelling various novel effects in quantum materials subjected to ultra-fast optical excitation; and one with the Centre for Quantum Technologies in Singapore where he studied quantum technologies like optically driven coupled resonator arrays and ion-traps. In 2015 Stephen joined Bath as a Lecturer and returned to Bristol in 2018 where he is now Professor of Theoretical Physics.

Dmitri N. Basov

Dmitri N. Basov (PhD 1991) is a Higgins Professor and Chair of the Department of Physics at Columbia University [http://infrared.cni.columbia.edu], the Director of the DOE Energy Frontiers Research Center on Programmable Quantum Materials (since 2018), and co-director of the Max Planck Society – New York Center for Nonequilibrium Quantum Phenomena (2018–2030). He previously served as Professor (1997–2016) and Chair (2010–2015) of Physics at the University of California San Diego. Research interests include the physics of quantum materials, superconductivity, two-dimensional materials, and infrared nano-optics. Prizes and recognitions include the Sloan Fellowship (1999), Genzel Prize (2014), Humboldt Research Award (2009), Frank Isakson Prize from the American Physical Society (2012), Moore Investigator (2014, 2020), K.J. Button Prize (2019), Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (U.S. Department of Defense, 2019), and election to the National Academy of Sciences (2020).

Annabelle Bohrdt

Annabelle Bohrdt is a theoretical physicist aiming for a microscopic understanding of strongly correlated quantum systems by developing new analysis tools. In her research, she combines numerical methods, intuitive physical pictures, close collaboration with quantum simulation experiments, and machine learning techniques. She obtained her doctoral degree from Technical University Munich (Germany). During her PhD, Annabelle spent two years as an exchange student in the group of Eugene Demler at Harvard. From 2021 to 2023, she was an independent ITAMP postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. From 2023 to 2025, she was a professor for theoretical physics at the University of Regensburg, Germany. In 2025, she joined the faculty of LMU Munich, Germany. 

Andrea Caviglia

Andrea Caviglia is a Professor at the Department of Quantum Matter Physics, University of Geneva, Switzerland, where he leads the Laboratory for Designer Quantum Materials. His research is devoted to understanding and controlling fundamental new properties of matter arising from quantum principles. His laboratory combines atomic-scale synthesis of quantum materials with advanced light sources to engineer material properties in and out of equilibrium. These experimental innovations have enabled several discoveries, including light-induced coherent spin-wave transport in antiferromagnets, light control of magnetic order, and ultrafast strain engineering in correlated oxides. Caviglia has also contributed to the unveiling of emergent phenomena in quantum materials engineered at the atomic scale, including electronic and topological reconstructions, spin-orbital quantum states, quantum oscillations, and superconductivity at oxide interfaces.

Markus Greiner

Markus Greiner is a Professor of Physics at Harvard University and a pioneer in the field of experimental atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics and quantum science. Renowned for pioneering work in quantum simulation, his research explores ultracold atoms in optical lattices to study strongly correlated quantum systems and Hubbard models—key to understanding high-temperature superconductivity and other emergent quantum phenomena.

Greiner earned his Ph.D. from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he realized a quantum phase transition from a superfluid to a Mott insulator. He continued his postdoctoral research at JILA in the group of Deborah Jin at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he contributed to the realization of the first fermionic condensates. In 2005, he joined the Harvard faculty.

At Harvard, Greiner’s group pioneered quantum gas microscopy, achieving single-atom resolution for imaging and manipulating ultracold atoms in optical lattices. This enabled quantum control at the level of individual particles, opening new frontiers in the study of strongly correlated quantum systems. He has explored phenomena including antiferromagnetism in the Fermi-Hubbard model, quantum thermalization, entanglement entropy, many-body localization, fractional quantum Hall states, Nagaoka magnetism, and dipolar quantum solids.

He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the MacArthur Fellowship and the I. I. Rabi Prize from the American Physical Society. Greiner is also engaged in mentoring young physicists and contributing to public science outreach through museum exhibitions and collaborations with artists.

Fabian Grusdt

Fabian Grusdt holds a Professorship for Quantum Many-Body Theory at LMU Munich, where his research focuses on quantum simulations of strongly correlated quantum matter with ultracold atoms and photons. His research interests include unconventional superconductivity, topological quantum matter, and lattice gauge theories. His most recent work focuses on fractionalized Fermi liquids and their relation to the stripe and pseudogap phases observed in cuprates.

Grusdt received his PhD from TU Kaiserslautern in 2015, then joined Harvard’s physics department as a Moore Postdoctoral Fellow. After a short postdoc at TU Munich, he started his own research group in 2019 and became a member of Munich’s Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST). In 2020, he received an ERC Starting Grant supporting his work on quantum simulations of the doped Hubbard model.

Silke Paschen

Silke Paschen is an experimental condensed matter physicist, with a research focus on strongly correlated electron systems. After graduating from Graz University of Technology and completing a PhD at EPFL Lausanne, she held research appointments at ETH Zurich, the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Solid State Physics in Dresden, and Nagoya University. Paschen was appointed full professor of physics at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), and since 2017 has held a dual appointment with Rice University.

She is an APS Fellow and recipient of two ERC Advanced Grants. Her research ranges from materials synthesis to advanced physical property measurements under extreme conditions and includes experiments at large facilities and intense collaboration with theory groups. Current topics include quantum criticality, strange metal behavior, and correlation-driven topological phases, with a focus on heavy fermion compounds and related quantum materials. An emerging theme in her work is the use of novel quantum information-inspired tools to probe the peculiar quantum nature of such materials.

For more information: https://www.tuwien.at/phy/ifp/quantum-materials

Subir Sachdev

Subir Sachdev is the Herchel Smith Professor of Physics at Harvard University. He attended school in Bengaluru and IIT Delhi for his freshman year and received his PhD in theoretical physics from Harvard. He has been elected to national academies of science in India and the United States, and the Royal Society in the U.K. His honors include the Dirac Medal from the International Centre for Theoretical Physics and the Lars Onsager Prize from the American Physical Society.

Sachdev has made extensive contributions to the theory of quantum matter and quantum phase transitions. Many of his findings relate to experimental work on the phase diagrams of copper-oxide high-temperature superconductors. His research has also revealed connections between quantum entanglement in condensed matter systems and in black holes, leading to insights into the quantum properties of black holes.

Michael Sentef

Michael Sentef is a Professor of Theoretical Solid State Physics at the University of Bremen, Germany. He received his PhD from the University of Augsburg in 2010 with a thesis on electronic correlations in metals, insulators, and superconductors. Following postdoctoral positions at Stanford University and SLAC (2011–2014), and the University of Bonn (2014–2015), he joined the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter in Hamburg. There, he served as a Group Leader in the Theory Department (2015–2016) and then as an Independent Emmy Noether Group Leader (2016–2022) funded by the DFG. After a brief appointment as Associate Professor at the University of Bristol (2022–2023), he joined the University of Bremen in April 2023.

Sentef is an expert in theoretical modeling and computational physics of light-driven quantum materials. His research spans light-induced phase transitions, Floquet states of matter, and cavity quantum materials, a field he helped pioneer. He recently received an ERC Consolidator Grant on Cavity Quantum Materials and is a co-organizer of the 2025 KITP Program Quantum Optics of Correlated Electron Systems (https://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/activities/qoelectrons25).

Group website: https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/lmcqm

Qimiao Si

Qimiao Si is the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University, where he also serves as Director of the Extreme Quantum Materials Alliance (eQMA). He received his PhD from the University of Chicago and held postdoctoral positions at Rutgers University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Si is a theoretical condensed matter physicist whose work focuses on the strong correlation physics of quantum materials. His major contributions span quantum criticality and strange metallicity, iron- and nickel-based high-temperature superconductivity, correlated topological matter, heavy fermion physics, and the use of quantum entanglement to characterize quantum materials.

He has been recognized as a Sloan Research Fellow and elected Fellow of the British Institute of Physics, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Additional honors include the Humboldt Research Award (2012), Ulam Distinguished Scholar at Los Alamos National Laboratory (2018), and Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (2023). Si also serves on the Board of the Aspen Center for Physics as a General Member.

Yao Wang

Yao Wang is an Assistant Professor at Emory University. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2011 and his PhD from Stanford University in 2017. He then worked at Harvard University as an MPHQ Postdoctoral Fellow. In 2020, he began his independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Clemson University, later serving as the College of Science Dean’s Assistant Professor. Wang moved to Emory University in August 2023.

His research interests include the theoretical and computational study of quantum many-body problems, strongly correlated materials, and quantum simulations. His group explores the experimental correspondence between solid-state materials and quantum science. He is the recipient of a DOE Early Career Award (2022) and an AFOSR Young Investigator Award (2023).

For more infornation: https://quantum.emorychem.science/

Aulden Jones

Aulden Jones is a first-year PhD student and NSF GRFP Fellow researching strongly correlated quantum materials through resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) and ultrafast optical techniques. He earned his undergraduate degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he focused on quantum magnetism under the mentorship of Prof. Martin Mourigal. Now a member of the Mitrano Lab, Jones is excited about the prospect of probing entanglement in quantum materials using advanced spectroscopic tools.