I work on building and manipulating controllable quantum systems to understand how symmetry, geometry, and gauge fields shape the dynamics of matter. My work moves along a the following thread: start from a single-particle system, add synthetic fields to sculpt it, and then push into the many-body regimes where exciting new phenomena emerge.

At Imperial (2025–Present)

In 2025, I joined the Centre for Cold Matter at Imperial College London (Blackett Laboratory) in Prof. Mike Tarbutt’s group. The immediate target is a platform to study Rb–CaF collisions at ultralow energies and to search for atom-molecule Feshbach resonances. One of the longer-term aims is the exploration of dipolar Bose–Einstein condensate of CaF via shielding and/or sympathetic cooling with Rb.

At Cambridge (2021–2025)

Postdoctoral researcher in the AMOP group at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, with Prof. Ulrich Schneider. We built and exploited triangular, honeycomb, and kagome optical lattices to study frustration, flat-band physics, and controlled band dynamics in ultracold bosonic gases.

Focus areas
  • Lattice engineering & calibration: phase-stable multi-beam geometries; fast lattice-depth calibration (Kapitza–Dirac diffraction, parametric heating); band mapping and Bloch-oscillation benchmarks
  • Frustration in triangular lattices: preparation and thermodynamics in frustrated Hubbard regimes; quenches to negative-curvature regions; momentum-space signatures of frustration and domain formation
  • Kagome flat-band physics: protocols to load and hold atoms in the highest (flat) band
  • Euler class in optical lattices: band-engineering/dynamics on a phase-stable kagome platform aimed at probing Euler classes in an optical kagome lattice
Selected outcomes
  • Built and commissioned triangular, honeycomb, & kagome optical lattices with stable phase control and reproducible band calibration
  • Demonstrated and characterized frustrated bosonic dynamics in the triangular geometry — see Preprint of Triangular Lattice paper
  • Developed high-fidelity loading pathways to the kagome flat band and established experimental signatures of flat-band occupancy
  • Established the experimental ingredients (phase control, band-swap timing, state readout) for future studies of Euler class in a kagome lattice

PhD (NTU Singapore, 2016–2021): Synthetic non-Abelian gauge fields

PhD with Prof. David Wilkowski (Nanyang Technological University / Center for Quantum Technology, Singapore). We engineered tripod dark-state couplings in $^{87}\mathrm{Sr}$ to realize synthetic non-Abelian gauge fields and the ensuing wave-packet dynamics—including Zitterbewegung-like motion—connecting them to atomtronic transport (a neutral-atom Datta–Das analogue). This hinges on carefully prepared sub-recoil, phase-coherent atomic states.

Focus areas
  • Preparation to the sub-recoil regime: crossed-ODT loading and evaporation to a degenerate Fermi gas of $^{87}\mathrm{Sr}$ (tens of nK, quantified $T/T_F = 0.21(4)$); finite-temperature effects on gauge-field dynamics
  • Tripod non-Abelian fields: design/calibration of resonant tripod schemes (adiabatic dark states, Rabi balance, pulse timing) yielding spin–momentum locking and non-commuting gauge potentials
  • Wave-packet control & atomtronics: launching/rotating pseudospin wave packets; gate-like control of coherent spin rotation and momentum-resolved outputs in a Datta–Das analogue
Selected outcomes
  • Finite-$T$ groundwork: cooling pathway and sub-recoil conditions enabling coherent gauge-field dynamics; quantified damping vs. degeneracy
    — see Quantum Electron. 52, 532 and Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 130402
  • Wave-packet dynamics in a non-Abelian field: coherent spin–orbit evolution and Zitterbewegung-like oscillations in a degenerate $^{87}\mathrm{Sr}$ gas
    — Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 130402
  • Atomtronic Datta–Das (neutral atoms): gate-tunable pseudospin rotation with momentum-separated outputs and high reversibility
    — Phys. Rev. Research 4, 033180

Earlier work (Up to 2016): Topology, Light, and Antenna Design

I began on the theory side with Prof. Ivan Iorsh, Prof. Pavel Belov, and Prof. Ivan Shelykh at the ITMO University (St. Petersburg, Russia), using simple models to ponder how light and geometry can reshape band structures and the protected modes. This included Floquet/topological control in solids, quantum rings/polariton lattices, and all-dielectric nanophotonics.

Focus areas
  • Floquet/topological control: off-resonant, linearly polarized driving to reversibly tune normal $\leftrightarrow$ topological phases and edge-state properties while preserving $\mathcal{T}$ symmetry
  • Quantum rings & polariton lattices: optically controlled periodic chains of rings with light-tunable gaps and dispersions
  • All-dielectric resonators & Raman: Green-function view of Raman enhancement in high-index Mie resonators and links to Purcell factor / density of states
Selected outcomes