Bio

I'm a Postdoc in the Theory for Condensed Matter (TCM) department at the University of Cambridge. Previously I was a PhD student (Oct 2020-Dec 2024) at the Max Planck institute for the physics of complex systems in Dresden, Germany. 

Email: nc553@cam dot ac dot uk

Research:

I work broadly in condensed matter theory, my projects have involved themes of quantum transport, quantum and classical many-body dynamics in constrained systems and correlated electronic phenomena in quantum Hall physics.  I have also developed a recent interest in quantum computing, in the theory of protected qubits.

Selected original contributions (most recent first):

1. A simple route to asymptotic subdiffusion in 2d (fractional diffusion) without disorder or higher-form symmetries, and possibly a new growth conjecture related to loop-erased random walks. See here.

2. A qubit architecture protected from depolarization and dephasing, with toy model Hamiltonians and reasonable hardware requirements - the entanglemon.  See here.

3. Presence of, and sharp spectral signatures for, intereference induced ("quantum")  disorder-free localization in two dimensional U(1) lattice gauge theories. See here and here.

4. Anisotropic entanglement order in textured multicomponent Wigner crystals. See here.

5. Magnon scattering in quantum Hall heterojunctions as a probe of real space topology and skyrmion crystals. See here.

6. Electron-gauge (antisymmetric acoustic) phonon coupling as a dominant mechanism of scattering in the normal state of twisted bilayer graphene. See here.

What am I currently thinking about?

1. Dynamics in interacting non-reciprocal classical spin models.

2. Connections between topological order and Schramm-Loewner evolution.

3. Superconducting circuit models for entanglemon qubits.

4. Possible mechanisms of superconductivity involving non-commutative geometry.

5. Constrained quantum dynamics and quantum advantage

Non-academic interests:

Besides physics I am also extremely passionate about sports (especially Football - huge Cristiano Ronaldo fan, and Tennis - huge Nadal fan), travel, politics and food.