Entanglement, correlations and coherent manipulations of ultracold Fermi gases

Spin-orbit (SO) coupling leads to many fundamental phenomena in a wide range of quantum systems from nuclear physics, condensed matter physics to atomic physics. For instance, in electronic condensed matter systems spin-orbit coupling can form quantum spin Hall states or topological insulators, which have potential applications in future quantum devices. Recently, SO coupling has been induced in ultracold spinor Bose gases of 87Rb atoms by the so-called synthetic non-Abelian gauge fields. Combined with unprecedented controllability of interactions and geometry in ultracold atoms, this manipulation of SO coupling opens an entirely new paradigm for studying strong correlations of quantum many-body systems under non-Abelian gauge fields.

This project will investigate exotic state of matter in spin-orbit coupled atomic Fermi gases, such as topological superfluids and Majorana fermions, as a platform for topological quantum computation. Particular interest will be given to characterize topological quantum phase transition.

This PhD position will be based in the Theory Group within the Centre for Quantum and Optical Science at Swinburne University of Technology. Our centre is one of three physics research centres at Swinburne, which was placed in the top 75 universities worldwide for Physics research in the 2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). Swinburne is located in Hawthorn, just 8km from the centre of Melbourne.

Details of our research group can be found here: http://www.swin.edu.au/caous/theory, and if you have any questions please contact A/Prof. Hui Hu ([Email Address Removed]).

For this position we are seeking a PhD candidate with a strong Theoretical Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, or Atomic and Molecular Physics background (honours degree or equivalent) and a willingness and ability to find novel exotic states of matter that will bring potential applications in the next generation of quantum technology.

Interested applicants should send a full academic transcript, a short CV and an expression of interest to A/Prof. Hui Hu at [Email Address Removed].