JOB DESCRIPTION
POST TITLE:
Research Assistant
DEPARTMENT:
Department of Physics
SUB-DEPARTMENT:
POST RESPONSIBLE TO:
Dr Marzena Szymanska
POST RESPONSIBLE FOR:
SALARY IN THE RANGE:
FA5 £23,811 - £26,779 pa
REFERENCE NUMBER:
CLOSING DATE:
4TH JUNE 2012
INTERVIEW DATE:
JOB PURPOSE:
Study of superfluid properties of strongly coupled light-matter systems, which are out of equilibrium
e.g. exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Contribution to the development of the theory of superfluidity in non-equilibrium solid-state
structures.
2. Analytical calculations using non-equilibrium field theoretical techniques (Keldysh path integrals and
Greens functions).
3. Modelling and simulations using existing numerical codes and developing new routines and codes.
4. Close interactions with experimental project partners in Madrid (UAM) and Lecce (CNR NANO).
5. Preparation of reports and manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
6. Presentation of research findings at national / international conferences.
7. Participation in planning follow-on work, and in the preparation of funding proposals.
8. Working within a larger research team
9. Taking an active role within the wider research group, participating in group meetings, attending
seminars and assisting with the supervision of research students.
10. Maintaining a current knowledge of the literature on light-matter systems and in particular
semiconductor microcavities and polaritons, as well as on superfluidity and other coherent phenomena
relevant to the proposed research.
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Version 13.1 Human Resources, March 2012
PERSON SPECIFICATION
POST TITLE:
Research Assistant
DEPARTMENT: Department of Physics
The Person Specification focuses on the knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications required to undertake the role
effectively.
REQUIREMENTS
The post holder must be able
to demonstrate:
ESSENTIAL (E) or
DESIRABLE (D)
REQUIREMENTS
MEASURED BY:
a) Application Form
b) Test/Exercise
c) Interview
d) Presentation
About to attain a PhD or equivalent in a relevant
scientific discipline (e.g. physics, mathematics,
engineering).
E
a)
Background in theoretical condensed matter physics and
scientific computing.
D
a)
An emerging track record of publications in relevant
peer-reviewed journals.
D
a)
Experience in mathematical techniques for dynamical
and non-equilibrium systems.
D
a), c), d)
Experience of developing / modifying scientific codes.
D
a), c)
Ability to effectively communicate research through
verbal and written presentation.
E
a), d)
Some background knowledge of semiconductor
microcavities, strong light-matter coupling and
superfluidity.
D
a), c)
Willingness to learn and implement analytical and
computational techniques and methodologies.
E
c)
Ability to work independently and as part of a larger
research team.
E
c)
Willingness to travel for overseas collaborative visits,
and to present research at international conferences.
E
c)
Strong mathematical and numerical literacy.
E
c), d)
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Version 13.1 Human Resources, March 2012
JOB DESCRIPTION
POST TITLE:
Research Fellow
DEPARTMENT:
Department of Physics
SUB-DEPARTMENT:
POST RESPONSIBLE TO:
Dr Marzena Szymanska
POST RESPONSIBLE FOR:
SALARY IN THE RANGE:
FA6 £27,578 to £35,938 pa
REFERENCE NUMBER:
CLOSING DATE:
4TH JUNE 2012
INTERVIEW DATE:
JOB PURPOSE:
Study of superfluid properties of strongly coupled light-matter systems, which are out of equilibrium
e.g. exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Contribution to the development of the theory of superfluidity in non-equilibrium solid-state
structures.
2. Analytical calculations using non-equilibrium field theoretical techniques (Keldysh path integrals and
Greens functions).
3. Modelling and simulations using existing numerical codes and developing new routines and codes.
4. Close interactions with experimental project partners in Madrid (UAM) and Lecce (CNR NANO).
5. Preparation of reports and manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
6. Presentation of research findings at national / international conferences.
7. Participation in planning follow-on work, and in the preparation of funding proposals.
8. Working within a larger research team
9. Taking an active role within the wider research group, participating in group meetings, attending
seminars and assisting with the supervision of research students.
10. Maintaining a current knowledge of the literature on light-matter systems and in particular
semiconductor microcavities and polaritons, as well as on superfluidity and other coherent phenomena
relevant to the proposed research.
Page 3 of 9
Version 13.1 Human Resources, March 2012
PERSON SPECIFICATION
POST TITLE:
Research Fellow
DEPARTMENT: Department of Physics
The Person Specification focuses on the knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications required to undertake the role
effectively.
REQUIREMENTS
The post holder must be able
to demonstrate:
ESSENTIAL (E) or
DESIRABLE (D)
REQUIREMENTS
MEASURED BY:
a) Application Form
b) Test/Exercise
c) Interview
d) Presentation
Possess a PhD or equivalent in a relevant scientific
discipline (e.g. physics, mathematics, engineering).
E
a)
Background in theoretical condensed matter physics and
scientific computing.
D
a)
An emerging track record of publications in relevant
peer-reviewed journals.
D
a)
Experience in mathematical techniques for dynamical
and non-equilibrium systems.
D
a), c), d)
Experience of developing / modifying scientific codes.
D
a), c)
Ability to effectively communicate research through
verbal and written presentation.
E
a), d)
Some background knowledge of semiconductor
microcavities, strong light-matter coupling and
superfluidity.
D
a), c)
Willingness to learn and implement analytical and
computational techniques and methodologies.
E
c)
Ability to work independently and as part of a larger
research team.
E
c)
Willingness to travel for overseas collaborative visits,
and to present research at international conferences.
E
c)
Strong mathematical and numerical literacy.
E
c), d)
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Version 13.1 Human Resources, March 2012
FURTHER PARTICULARS
Some details of the EPSRC-funded project that the appointed post-doctoral fellow
will work on are outlined below:
Superfluidity is one of the most remarkable consequences of macroscopic quantum
coherence in interacting condensed matter systems, and manifests itself in a
number of fascinating effects, such as for example dissipationless flow of a
superfluid via obstacles, quantised circulation, and metastable persistent currents.
First observed in liquid Helium in 1937, it is closely related to the phenomena of
Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), and to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS)
collective state of fermions, which is responsible for superconductive behaviour of
some materials.
The phenomenon of macroscopic coherence and superfluidity is not restricted to
systems close to thermodynamic equilibrium, such as liquid Helium,
superconductors and ultra-cold atomic gases. It has also been recently observed in
systems far from equilibrium, where a steady-state is obtained by a dynamical
balance of driving and losses. Semiconductor microcavities currently play a leading
role in the study of non-equilibrium superfluidity. Strong interactions between
confined light and bosonic excitations in the semiconductor (called excitons) lead to
new quasi-particles - microcavity polaritons, in which interactions can be
manipulated externally by changing the driving power and the energy detuning
between photons and excitons, and where the matter component can be accurately
probed by measuring the properties of the emitted light.
An additional advantage of semiconductor microcavities is that the temperatures for
BEC and superfluidity in current experiments are of the order of 10K, and are only
limited by relatively small dipole interactions between excitons and photons in GaAs.
Other materials, such as GaN, have already hosted polariton lasing at room
temperature, and it is now only a question of technological progress in
manufacturing samples of a better quality (less of the inhomogeneous disorder) for
polariton BEC and superfluidity to be realised at room temperature. Quantum
collective effects at such high temperatures are likely to lead to device applications,
for example in quantum storage and computation, and for transporting light-matter
pulses without loss over macroscopic distances.
However, properties which characterise non-equilibrium superfluids in dissipative
and driven quantum systems are fundamentally different compared to superfluids in
thermal equilibrium, and thus we are faced with an exciting opportunity to discover
and explore brand-new physical phenomena. This project is aimed at exploring
novel superfluid properties of non-equilibrium condensates, using polaritons in
semiconductor microcavities. It is a very broad subject since essentially all
phenomena discovered and discussed in the context of equilibrium superfluidity are
likely to be affected by non-equilibrium. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive
theoretical description, and experimental realisation by our project partners, of a
broad range of phenomena connected with superfluid behaviour.
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Version 13.1 Human Resources, March 2012
The Appointed fellow will be based in the Theoretical Physics Group in the
Department of Physics at the University of Warwick. The Group holds regular
research seminars attracting external speakers from around the country and
overseas.
The University of Warwick has recently purchased a 3,000-core compute cluster,
which will be available to the PDRA with a prioritisation of CPU time. Capabilities for
serial task-farm computing are available on campus.
The Department of Physics has doubled in size over the past ten years, and now
consists of some 60 research-active academic staff and a similar number of
research assistants, with strong administrative and technical support. Research in
the department was rated as internationally prominent in the 2008 Research
Assessment Exercise. Strong connections exist with the department of Chemistry,
including the new, shared, Materials and Analytical Sciences building, and with
neighbouring Universities through the Science City Research Alliance, and the
Midlands Physics Alliance.
For further information about the University of Warwick, please visit our website at
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/humanresources/jobsintro/furtherparticulars
For further information about the Department of Physics, please see our website at
(insert link for departmental further particulars).
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Version 13.1 Human Resources, March 2012