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Computational quantum transport for extremely large systems


Thesis topic details

General information

Organisation

The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) is a key player in research, development and innovation in four main areas :
• defence and security,
• nuclear energy (fission and fusion),
• technological research for industry,
• fundamental research in the physical sciences and life sciences.

Drawing on its widely acknowledged expertise, and thanks to its 16000 technicians, engineers, researchers and staff, the CEA actively participates in collaborative projects with a large number of academic and industrial partners.

The CEA is established in ten centers spread throughout France
  

Reference

SL-DRF-25-0963  

Direction

DRF

Thesis topic details

Category

Theoretical physics

Thesis topics

Computational quantum transport for extremely large systems

Contract

Thèse

Job description

Quantum transport is the study of how electrons propagate through conductors while retaining their wave-like coherence. It explains phenomena related to the wave nature of electrons such as conductance quantization, Aharonov-Bohm effect, weak localization, universal conductance fluctuations, and many others. Computational quantum transport is almost as old as the associated theory, however the existing approaches struggle with system sizes large enough to describe relevant experiments, especially in three dimensions. In this PhD project, we will build on a recent breakthrough in quantum-inspired approaches (https://scipost.org/SciPostPhys.18.3.104) to develop quantum transport methods that scale well beyond existing ones. Our working hypothesis is that the scattering wave function at the core of quantum transport theory can be strongly compressed using a tensor network representation. This approach is analogous to that taken for the quantum many-body problem in the density matrix renormalization group framework. In a second stage, we will apply this method in 2D to various difficult problems related to graphene-based electronic interferometers and in 3D to topological materials. This project requires good mathematical skills and experience with scientific programming. The work will involve theoretical as well as numeric aspects.

University / doctoral school

Ecole Doctorale de Physique de Grenoble (EdPHYS)
Université Grenoble Alpes

Thesis topic location

Site

Grenoble

Requester

Position start date

01/11/2025

Person to be contacted by the applicant

GROTH Christoph christoph.groth@cea.fr
CEA
DRF/IRIG//PHELIQS
PHELIQS-IRIG-CEA
17 rue des Martyrs
38054 Grenoble CEDEX 9
04 38 78 33 81

Tutor / Responsible thesis director

WAINTAL Xavier xavier.waintal@cea.fr
CEA
DRF/INAC/PHELIQS/GT
CEA - Bât C5
17 rue des Martyrs
38054 GRENOBLE Cedex 9
0438780327

En savoir plus


https://www.pheliqs.fr/Pages/GT/Presentation.aspx
https://tensor4all.org/