Erickson Tjoa

Photo credit: Christine Wolf (MPQ)

Self-introduction

I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany, working in the Theory group headed by Ignacio Cirac. 

I did my PhD in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo, also affiliated with Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC). My work was mostly in the contexts of relativity and quantum information (Sep 2019-May 2023), with some shifts towards using a more algebraic framework in quantum field theory. My PhD (and MSc.) advisors were Robert B. Mann and Eduardo Martín-Martínez. I was also a member of Barrio-RQI, a local research group led by Eduardo Martín-Martínez that specializes on research in the so-called relativistic quantum information (RQI).

I did my Bachelor's degree in Physics with second major in Mathematical Sciences at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore from 2013-2017, supported generously by the NTU CN Yang Programme. I also had a great fortune to be part of the then-newly designed interdisciplinary program called NTU-USP. During and before my undergraduate studies, I spent some time doing volunteering work in Singapore, such as providing free mathematics and English tuition for hard-of-hearing middle school students, free alumni tuition for my alma mater in Changkat Changi Secondary School, Singapore for GCE 'O' level Additional Mathematics.

Research interests

My current research interests are applications of quantum information theory to problems in quantum many-body physics, covering topics such as topological phases of matter and tensor network theory. I am also interested in non-equilibrium dynamics of many-body systems and how quantum information perspective can provide cleaner understanding of the physics involved. On the side, sometimes I think about small problems related to quantum field theory in curved spacetimes, such as combining operator-algebraic techniques (C*- and von Neumann algebras) with the particle-detector models.

During my graduate studies (MSc and PhD) my research was at the intersection of general relativity, quantum information, and quantum field theory --- known recently as relativistic quantum information (RQI). My perspective shifted to slightly more QI side of RQI, where relativity plays essential but secondary roles. I started in the field when I was working on the so-called entanglement harvesting protocol, originally intended to better understand entanglement properties of quantum field theory in a more operational language. I also made some contributions towards a greater use of the algebraic approach to QFT in curved spacetimes (commonly known as algebraic QFT). In the latter half of my PhD I was also interested towards a more operator-algebraic approach to quantum information and quantum field theory. I also delved into topics such as quantum clocks and quantum thermodynamics.

Miscellaneous