The optical spectroscopy lab at the van der Waals - Zeeman institute for experimental physics at the University of Amsterdam offers a postdoctoral fellowship for the duration of 2 years in close collaboration with the newly established QuSoft research center for quantum software.

Strongly correlated electron materials and their many exotic properties have captivated the condensed matter community for the past 30 years. Advances in our understanding of these materials have been made in some cases, but a general framework for their study remains elusive. In recent years, the theoretical community has pushed the development of several new techniques to tackle the problem of many interacting degrees of freedom that characterizes these systems. One of these approaches is the so-called AdS/CFT duality [1] which makes use of the machinery of string theory to solve problems in condensed matter physics, while a second approach uses concepts borrowed from quantum information theory [2].

These theoretical techniques have now reached a level of maturity where they can be held to an experimental test. The QMA cluster is working at the forefront of this endeavour and is in search of experienced young researchers eager to take part.

The successful applicant will become a member of the QuSoft research community and is expected to become the driving force behind a new research effort that will explore the application of concepts from quantum information theory to the experimental investigation of highly entangled states in strongly correlated electron systems. He/she is expected to benefit from close collaborations with researchers from a variety of disciplines (computational physics, mathematics and information science) to aid in this effort.

[1] Holographic Duality in Condensed Matter, J. Zaanen, Yan Liu, Ya-Wen Sun, K. Schalm Cambridge University Press (2015)

[2] Quantum Information Meets Quantum Matter, B. Zeng, X. Chen, D.-L. Zhou, X.-G Wen, arXiv:1508.02595 (2015).

Candidates should have a strong background in (experimental) strongly correlated electron physics. Preference will be given to candidates with experience in optical spectroscopy or experience with closely related spectroscopic techniques such as ARPES or STM.

The appointment will be for the duration of two years. The monthly gross salary will range between €3,111 and € 4,084 (scale 10 according to the Collective Employment Agreement of the Dutch Universities) based on a full-time appointment. We offer a pension scheme, a holiday allowance of 8% per year, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% and flexible employment conditions. Conditions are based on the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. Favourable tax agreements may apply to non-Dutch applicants.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

Institute of Physics

The optical spectroscopy lab, led by Dr. Erik van Heumen, resides at the van der Waals - Zeeman institute for experimental physics at the University of Amsterdam. The lab is part of the Quantum Matter Amsterdam (QMA) research cluster. The current research of the QMA cluster focusses on oxide materials and interfaces, topological insulators and high temperature or topological superconductors. The QMA cluster has access to a wide range of characterization, transport and spectroscopic tools and includes a crystal growth facility.

http://iop.uva.nl/