Baumgaertner
Alex joined the Kaufman group as a postdoctoral researcher after completing his PhD in the group of Prof. Tilman Esslinger at ETH Zurich, where he explored topological and dissipative phenomena in a degenerate rubidium Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to ultrahigh-finesse cavity modes. His passion for tabletop AMO experiments began during his undergraduate studies at the University of Heidelberg, where he worked in the lab of Prof. Markus Oberthaler on generating arbitrary 1D optical potentials with acousto-optical devices for experiments with a degenerate 1D Bose gas. This experience led him to develop an interest in neutral atoms in optical tweezers, ultimately bringing him to Caltech for his Master’s thesis with Prof. Manuel Endres, where he was first introduced to alkaline-earth atoms in optical tweezers.
As a postdoc, Alex is exploring various research directions with the Ytterbium tweezer experiment in the Kaufman lab, including efforts toward demonstrating repeated quantum error correction and realizing quantum simulations of exotic spin models.
The Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) program supports university-based centers and institutes where the collective efforts of a larger group of individuals can enable transformational advances in the most promising research areas. The program is designed to foster major breakthroughs at the intellectual frontiers of physics by providing needed resources such as combinations of talents, skills, disciplines, and/or specialized infrastructure, not usually available to individual investigators or small groups, in an environment in which the collective efforts of the larger group can be shown to be seminal to promoting significant progress in the science and the education of students. PFCs also include creative, substantive activities aimed at enhancing education, broadening participation of traditionally underrepresented groups, and outreach to the scientific community and general public.