I actively engage in the study of quantum mechanics of large ensembles of particles in condensed systems, collectively refered to as quantum matter. This includes quantum materials composed of atomic, molecular or organic constituents, chemical systems such as molecules, and cold atomic or molecular gases. I use first-principle modeling of experiments as a starting point, which often requires _ab initio_ methods to characterize the system's electronic structure. This is combined with many-body approaches to study emergent quantum states. My goal is to discover new emergent quantum behavior in fundamental models of correlated systems and in technologically promising platforms.
Using field theoretic and numerical approaches, I investigate the non-equilibrium and time-resolved spectroscopy of large, complex systems, including correlated electron-phonon solids, Rydberg gases, disordered systems and optically pumped condensed-phase platforms. This program aims to reveal critical information about the excited-state structure and out-of-equilibrium transient behavior in experiment.
I am interested in understanding the manifestations of quantum interactions as transitions in physical observables in experiment. This includes quantum phase transitions and polaron transitions. The former involves the cooperative behavior of a large collection of particles driven by quantum correlations. The latter refers to situations in which a polaronic quasiparticle exhibits a transition as a function of the coupling strength at which point two energy levels cross, or, more interestingly, the ground state changes character abruptly. Besides their importance to foundational theory, these transitions often serve as an attractor to other emergent behavior. For example, superconductivity emergent near a ferroelectric-paraelectric transition in STO represents one class of such problems.