I’m a theoretical physicist working in the field of quantum condensed matter, statistical physics and quantum simulations of atomic and quantum optical systems.
I obtained my PhD in 2010 at SISSA, Trieste where I studied non equilibrium dynamics of correlated electron systems under the supervision of Pr. Michele Fabrizio. I was then a postdoctoral fellow at the Princeton Center For Theoretical Science and at Columbia University, where I started working on interacting quantum light-matter systems and driven-dissipative quantum many body physics. Since 2014 I work for the CNRS as a research scientist, first at the Institut de Physique Théorique (IPhT) of CEA-Saclay and starting from 2019 as a jeune equipe principal investigator at the Institute of Physics at College de France (IPCdF).
Research topic
The aim of my research is to understand novel emerging phenomena of strongly interacting quantum matter in regimes far away from thermal equilibrium.
Quantum Mechanics together with the Principles of Equilibrium Thermodynamics form the two building blocks of our modern understanding of condensed matter systems and their interaction with experimental probes, often sufficiently weak to probe only small deviations from thermal equilibrium.
A fundamental question is whether novel quantum many body phenomena, genuinely different from their thermal low-temperature counterpart, can possibly emerge far away from equilibrium.
Of exquisite theoretical interest until the recent past, this issue has become an extremely active field of research due to the enormous progress achieved in the last two decades in preparing, controlling and probing with high fidelity strongly interacting quantum many body systems in different non-equilibrium regimes.
The variety of physical settings that have allowed this revolution is extremely wide. Examples include systems as different as ultracold atomic quantum gases, strongly non-linear hybrid light-matter cavity QED systems or correlated electrons under ultra-fast optical excitations.
Motivated by these experimental developments the IPFC Theory of Non-Equilibrium Quantum Matter group addresses fundamental theoretical questions at the interface between quantum statistical physics, condensed matter, atomic physics and quantum optics. Our activity will evolve around few central themes, including:
1) Dynamics of Closed Quantum Many Body Systems, their approach to Thermal Equilibrium and the emergence of robust mechanisms for Ergodicity Breakdown, such as Kinetic Constraints or Quenched Random Disorder.
2) Universal properties of Dissipative Quantum Phase Transitions and their realisations in quantum simulators based on superconducting CQED circuits.
3) Engineering of Novel States of Quantum Matter by means of coupling to Classical and Quantum light.
