Vaibhav Sharma, Postdoctoral Fellow in Physics
                              Rice University

Brief Bio and Research Interest

I am a Smalley-Curl Institute postdoctoral fellow supported by a J Evans Attwell-Welch fellowship. My research is in theoretical physics, studying phenomena relevant for current quantum computers and quantum simulators. I enjoy translating numerical and mathematical insights into physical intuition that can drive the development of future quantum hardware. I use both analytical and numerical calculations (such as tensor-networks, exact diagonalization) to model experimentally realizable quantum systems. Currently, I am interested in understanding quantum many-body dynamics and light-matter interactions from the lens of multipartite entanglement. 

My research in non-technical language

I am a theoretical physics researcher. This means that I do mathematical calculations (typically on a computer) to understand the physics of a system. I study systems where the individual particles or constituents are best described by the laws of quantum mechanics as opposed to Newton's laws of motion. As an example, I often study the behavior of a collection of atoms that have been cooled down to almost absolute zero temperature. At these temperatures, the ultracold atoms behave more like waves rather than particles.

Although we can often easily understand the quantum mechanical behavior of a single atom easily using the Schrodinger equation, the situation changes once we have a collection of such atoms that also interact with each other.  The underlying behavior of these systems becomes markedly different and very difficult to predict with just the understanding of single particle behavior. In my research, I try to understand the physics of such many-body (collection of particles) systems. I use analytical and numerical calculations to come with simple explanations of the exotic phenomena that can occur in such systems. 

As an example, I studied how a collection of ultracold atoms behave when they are spun around. I give a simple explanation in this three minute video as part of  the 2022 Cornell three minute thesis competition.