Eduardo Ibarra García Padilla
Eduardo Ibarra García Padilla, assistant professor of physics, is interested in problems that require ingenuity and modeling to study the diverse properties of materials that arise from the behavior of electrons in a lattice. His research focuses on computational Quantum Many-Body (QMB) Physics. QMB physics aims to understand the collective behavior of a large number of interacting quantum particles. These interactions can create entirely new kinds of matter and display behaviors that you’d never see with just one particle. One of the most exciting frontiers in this field is called quantum simulation. In a quantum simulator, ultra cold atoms (which have been cooled down close to absolute zero via optical techniques) are trapped in an optical lattice (a standing wave made out of light). When atoms are trapped in the lattice they are well described by models used in condensed matter physics to understand the physics of real materials. The degree of control these experiments have over many parameters provides a unique opportunity to explore states of matter with a high degree of precision, which in turn allow us to thoroughly test the theoretical models we use to describe them. In our group at HMC, we develop and apply different numerical methods for studying the physics of quantum simulations of systems where electrons interact strongly and approximate methods fail so powerful computational tools are needed. Prof. Ibarra received his master’s degree and PhD (atomic, molecular, optical, and condensed matter physics) from Rice University and his bachelor’s degree (physics) from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria.
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