Vishveshwara receives 2012 Simons Fellowship in Theoretical Physics

Associate Professor of Physics Smitha Vishveshwara will receive an inaugural Simons Foundation Fellowship in Theoretical Physics for the 2012/13 academic year. 

The 27 scholars chosen in this first-ever nationwide competition were selected by rigorous peer review on the basis of their proposed research plan. A condensed matter theorist, Vishveshwara will use the fellowship to study topological aspects and quantum dynamics of strongly correlated systems. She has previously made pioneering contributions to our understanding of the quantum-mechanical behavior of both solid-state materials and cold atomic gases.

After completing her PhD in theoretical physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Vishveshwara served as a postdoctoral research associate with Paul Goldbart and Tony Leggett at Illinois from 2002 to 2005, working on tunneling and fractional statistics in quantum Hall systems, Aharonov-Bohm effects in carbon nanotubes, entanglement in spin chairs and critical dynamics in charged superconductors. She joined the department as an assistant professor in August 2005.

She has previously been recognized with a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award (2007), as a University of Illinois Center for Advanced Studies Beckman Fellow (2009-2010), and as an NSF American Competitiveness and Innovation Fellow (2010).

The Simons Foundation is a private organization whose primary mission is to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the physical sciences.
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Contact: Smitha Vishveshwara, Department of Physics, 217/333-4370.

Writer: Celia M. Elliott, Department of Physics, 217/244-7725.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.