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Monika Schleier-Smith

American physicist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Monika Schleier-Smith is an American experimental physicist studying many-body quantum physics by precisely assembling systems of ultracold atoms. Her research helps connect the world of theoretical and experimental physics.[2] These atomic, molecular, and optical physics (AMO) engineered systems have applications in quantum sensing, coherent control, and quantum computing.[3] Schleier-Smith is an associate professor of physics at Stanford University,[4] a MacArthur Fellow,[5] a Sloan Research Fellow,[1] and a National Science Foundation CAREER Award recipient.[6] Schleier-Smith also serves on the board of directors for the Hertz Foundation[7] and also works to improve education through speaking and serving on panels.[8]

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Early life

Schleier-Smith grew up in the Alexandria, Virginia area. Her mother holds a Ph.D. in linguistics, and her father died when she was a baby.[9] She has an older brother.[10] Schleier-Smith attended Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology,[10] where she had an opportunity to conduct nanotechnology research at the MITRE Corporation.[10]

Schleier-Smith completed her undergraduate studies at Harvard University, where she received a B.A. in Chemistry and Physics and (secondarily) Mathematics in 2005.[1][11]

Schleier-Smith pursued graduate studies at MIT on a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and under the supervision of Vladan Vuletić .[1] At MIT, she earned a Ph.D. in physics in 2011,[11] and her doctoral thesis introduced a quantum-enhanced atomic clock[12] and was recognized by the Hertz Foundation with a Doctoral Thesis Prize.[7] She also received the Stroock-Hertz Fellowship, named in honor of mathematician and MIT professor Daniel W. Stroock.[13]

From 2011 to 2013, Schleier-Smith conducted postdoctoral research at Ludwig Maximilian University with Professor Immanuel Bloch's group at Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics.[14][11]

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Career

In the fall of 2013, Schleier-Smith joined the Stanford faculty, where she is currently an associate professor in the Department of Physics.[11] The Schleier-Smith Lab exploits precise hybrid light-matter interactions to demonstrate engineered dynamics in cold atom systems. According to Schleier-Smith, "Hybrid systems are likely to harbor surprises that will fuel quantum science for decades to come".[15] An important regime under investigation is the entanglement frontier.[16]

In 2020, Schleier-Smith was named a MacArthur Fellow, for her quantum technology research, and received an unrestricted stipend of $625,000.[5][9][11][17]

In 2024, she was named one of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's Experimental Physics Investigators, and received a five-year, $1.25 million grant for her research at Stanford.[18][19]

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Personal

During her years at Harvard and MIT, Schleier-Smith completed the Boston Marathon six times.[9][20]

Recognition and awards

  • Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2014)
  • AFOSR Young Investigator Award, Air Force Office of Scientific Research (2014)
  • Hellman Fellowship, Hellman Fellows Fund (2015)
  • Cottrell Scholar Award, Research Corporation (2017)
  • NSF Career Award, National Science Foundation (2018)
  • Listed as top 10 scientists to watch by Science News Journal (2019)[21]
  • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), Department of Defense (2019)[22]
  • MacArthur Fellowship, MacArthur Foundation (2020)[5]
  • I.I Rabi Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, American Physical Society (2021)[23]
  • Fellow of the American Physical Society (2021)[24]
  • Benjamin Franklin NextGen Award (2024)[25]
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Publications

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Her recent publications include:[26]

  • Rudelis A, Hu B, Sinclair J, Bytyqi E, Schwartzman A, Brenes R, Kadosh Zhitomirsky T, Schleier-Smith M, Vuletić V. Degradation of TaO / SiO dielectric cavity mirrors in ultra-high vacuum. Optics Express. 31: 39670-39680. PMID 38041283 DOI: 10.1364/OE.504858
  • Hines JA, Rajagopal SV, Moreau GL, Wahrman MD, Lewis NA, Marković O, Schleier-Smith M. Spin Squeezing by Rydberg Dressing in an Array of Atomic Ensembles. Physical Review Letters. 131: 063401. PMID 37625064 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.063401
  • Schleier-Smith M. Solving a puzzle with atomic qubits. Science. 376: 1155-1156. PMID 35679424 DOI: 10.1126/science.abq3754
  • Davis EJ, Periwal A, Cooper ES, Bentsen G, Evered SJ, Van Kirk K, Schleier-Smith MH. Protecting Spin Coherence in a Tunable Heisenberg Model. Physical Review Letters. 125: 060402. PMID 32845652 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.060402
  • Borish V, Marković O, Hines JA, Rajagopal SV, Schleier-Smith M. Transverse-Field Ising Dynamics in a Rydberg-Dressed Atomic Gas. Physical Review Letters. 124: 063601. PMID 32109106 DOI: 10.1103/Physrevlett.124.063601
  • Bentsen G, Hashizume T, Buyskikh AS, Davis EJ, Daley AJ, Gubser SS, Schleier-Smith M. Treelike Interactions and Fast Scrambling with Cold Atoms. Physical Review Letters. 123: 130601. PMID 31697527 DOI: 10.1103/Physrevlett.123.130601
  • Davis EJ, Bentsen G, Homeier L, Li T, Schleier-Smith MH. Photon-Mediated Spin-Exchange Dynamics of Spin-1 Atoms. Physical Review Letters. 122: 010405. PMID 31012698 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.010405
  • Bentsen G, Potirniche I, Bulchandani VB, Scaffidi T, Cao X, Qi X, Schleier-Smith M, Altman E. Integrable and Chaotic Dynamics of Spins Coupled to an Optical Cavity Physical Review X. 9. DOI: 10.1103/Physrevx.9.041011
  • Marino J, Shchadilova YE, Schleier-Smith M, Demler EA. Spectrum, Landau–Zener theory and driven-dissipative dynamics of a staircase of photons New Journal of Physics. 21: 013009. DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/Aaf825
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References

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