TCM
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Max McGinley

Dr Max McGinley

Dr Max McGinley

Fellow of Trinity College

Office: 505 Mott Bld
Phone: +44(0)1223 3 37380
Email: mm2025 @ cam.ac.uk
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TCM Group, Cavendish Laboratory
19 JJ Thomson Avenue,
Cambridge, CB3 0HE UK.

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Research

I'm broadly interested in the non-equilibrium dynamics of many-body quantum systems. Particular research interests include (see references below):

Much of my research is motivated by the development of new experimental platforms where quantum many-body dynamics can be controlled in various ways, such as NISQ devices like superconducting quantum computers, and arrays of Rydberg atoms in optical tweezers.

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In Plain English

Generally speaking, `topology' is a branch of mathematics which is concerned with quantities that do not change when the system is smoothly deformed. For example, if you try to stretch and bend a doughnut shape without tearing the shape or gluing parts together, there will always be a hole in the middle, which makes it topologically different from a sphere

Similarly, physical systems can have features which do not change when we deform them. These features will naturally be highly robust to any imperfections that naturally arise in the real world, which makes them both theoretically interesting, and potentially practically useful. In my research, I ask whether these topological features can appear in systems which are dynamic, i.e. time-dependent, and what happens when we drive such systes externally.