Research

Research interests

I am interested in quantum spin systems and their applications to quantum information theory, with a focus on the use of functional analysis and operator algebraic techniques. I primarily study of quantum spin systems with topological order, and how one can obtain a full understanding of the (quasi)particle excitations of such systems. The properties of these excitations can be described by tensor categories, and a substantial part of my work is related to how one can obtain this tensor category by studying certain representations of the C*-algebra of quasi-local observables. An important question we have been working on recently is how stable this structure is with respect to perturbations of the underlying dynamics defining the system, which also is relevant in the classification of topological phases. I have also been working on applying some operator-algebraic techniques to study quantum information.

Funding

I have been awarded the following grants:

I have also been a team member on the following projects:

Academic background

Jan 2020 –Lecturer, Cardiff University
Nov 2018 – Dec 2019Postdoc, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
 In the group of David Pérez García
Sept 2015 – Oct 2018Postdoc, UC Davis & RWTH Aachen
 With Bruno Nachtergaele and Barbara Terhal
 (Marie Curie Individual Fellowship)
Apr 2012 – Aug 2015Postdoc, Leibniz University Hannover
 With Tobias Osborne and Reinhard Werner
 (Two years as Rubicon fellow)
Oct 2007 – May 2012PhD, Rabdboud University Nijmegen
 Supervisors: Michael Müger and Klaas Landsman
 Thesis: Anyons in infinite quantum systems: QFT in d=2+1 and the toric code
Sept 2001 – Aug 2007BSc. and MSc. Mathematics & Physics, Utrecht University
 MSc. Thesis: Four-point functions of N=4 SYM4 in the AdS/CFT correspondence (Supervisor: Gleb Arutyunov)
 BSc. Thesis: Cartesian closed subcategories of Top (Supervisor: Jaap van Oosten)