Steven Girvin

Steve Girvin is the Deputy Provost for Science & Technology and Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics & Applied Physics. His research focuses on theoretical studies of collective quantum behavior in many particle systems. His particular interests include the fractional quantum Hall effect, quantum phase transitions such as the superconductor-insulator transition and collective phenomena in cold atomic gases and optical lattices. Since moving to Yale he has developed an interest in quantum optics and quantum computation. He is currently working closely with his experimentalist colleagues Robert Schoelkopf and Michel Devoret on developing ‘circuit QED’, a new paradigm of quantum optics and quantum computation using superconducting electrical circuits. He also recently began working with his experimentalist colleague Jack Harris who is using the radiation pressure of light to cool mechanical objects down towards their quantum ground state.