Funding type:
Tuition fee.
Stipend.
Fully funded PhD scholarship for 3.5 years to support a UK or international student.
Award details
The emergence of irreversible macroscopic behaviour from reversible microscopic laws is one of the most fascinating paradoxes of statistical physics. Understanding how this occurs in interacting systems is very difficult because of the exponential complexity of generic quantum many-body states. Tensor network methods are a powerful theoretical tool to represent and simulate these complex quantum states, yet they struggle to describe chaotic quantum dynamics at long times.
Recently, new approaches to quantum dynamics have been developed, which are based on the quantum process tensor: a quantum state that represents multiple points in time, rather than in space. The process tensor is a powerful conceptual and theoretical tool with applications ranging from open quantum systems and condensed-matter physics to quantum gravity. However, despite recent progress, many open questions remain about the applications of process tensors in quantum many-body physics, their information-theoretic properties, and methods to numerically construct and manipulate them.
The goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the process tensors generated by interacting quantum many-body dynamics. What is the typical structure of classical and quantum temporal correlations? When and how can process tensors be efficiently constructed? How are their properties reflected in nonequilibrium phenomena such as energy transport, dynamical phase transitions, and information scrambling? Answering these questions could lead to deep insights into irreversibility, quantum chaos, and the emergence of the classical world, as well powerful new classical or quantum algorithms.
At the start of the project, we will explore the spatio-temporal structure of quantum information in simple, analytically tractable models of chaotic and integrable quantum processes. From there, you will have significant freedom to shape the project's direction, depending on your skills and interests. Future work could involve deriving analytical bounds on quantum and classical temporal correlations, developing new tensor-network simulation methods, or devising experimental proposals to detect irreversibility in quantum processes.
This project will be conducted in collaboration with other members of the Theory of Controlled Quantum Systems (ToCQS) group in the Department of Physics at King's College London. The group is located at the Strand Campus of King’s, right in the heart of the UK’s vibrant and multicultural capital. The research environment is outstanding, with the Strand Campus being home to many other active research groups in non-equilibrium physics – both in the Physics and Mathematics departments – and with regular seminars and visits by researchers from around the world.
References
S. Milz & K. Modi, PRX Quantum 2, 030201 (2021) P. O'DonovanN. Dowling, K. Modi & M. T. Mitchison, arXiv:2502.13930
Award value
Stipend: stipend of approximately £22,000 p.a. with possible inflationary increases after the first year.
Tuition fees: Funding is available for 3.5 years and covers tuition fees at the level set for UK/EU students. This position is open to applicants of all nationalities.
Eligibility criteria
Open to applicants of all nationalities.
Applicants should fulfil the criteria to be accepted as a PGR student in the Department of Physics at KCL.
Application process
To be considered for the position candidates must apply via King’s Apply online application system. Details are available at https://www.kcl.ac.uk/physics/postgraduate/research-degrees.
Please indicate your desired supervisor as Mark Mitchison and quote the Photonics and Nanotechnology group in your application and all correspondence. Please quote 836 as the Funding Code.
Candidates should hold, or expect to gain, a first-class or upper second-class degree in Physics or a related field. The selection process will involve a pre-selection on documents, if selected this will be followed by an invitation to an interview. If successful at the interview, an offer will be provided in due time.
Diversity begets creativity, and we are striving to build a diverse team of researchers to find creative solutions to some of the most exciting and challenging problems in non-equilibrium physics. Women and other members of minoritised groups within physics are therefore strongly encouraged to apply.
Our group, and the wider Department of Physics at King’s, are committed to ensuring an inclusive and supportive working environment for all: see https://www.kcl.ac.uk/physics/about/diversity-inclusion
Contact Details
If you require support with the application process please contact physics-pgr@kcl.ac.uk