Ana Maria Rey,听a theoretical physicist and a fellow of JILA, a joint institute of the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. (Photo by Casey A. Cass/University of Colorado)
Faculty Spotlight
Ana Maria Rey:听JILA Fellow; NIST Fellow;听Associate Professor Adjoint of Physics; CUbit Quantum Initiative听
Ana Maria Rey joined the University of Colorado Boulder in 2008 and became a JILA Fellow in 2012.听As a theoretical physicist, she works across the disciplines of atomic, molecular, optical and condensed-matter physics. With the goal of using mathematical models to describe the complex behavior of nature, Professor Rey鈥檚 research on ultracold optical-lattice systems (a crisscrossing set of laser beams) is contributing to advances in quantum simulation, quantum metrology听and quantum information.听
Widely respected as a mentor for young scientists, Professor Rey leads a听.听
Research interests and the Rey Laboratory
Rey鈥檚 research is focused on controlling and manipulating atomic and molecular systems and using them to engineer correlated quantum phases such as superfluids, insulators, quantum magnets, and topological matter via equilibrium and non-equilibrium processes. Additionally, she is interested in studying how to generate and manipulate entanglement in quantum systems for use in quantum information processing and precision measurements.
Education
Rey earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree in physics from Universidad de los Andes in Bogot谩, Colombia. She earned her PhD from the University of Maryland in College Park.听
Quotable and notable
In 2013, she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their research careers. That year, she also won a MacArthur Fellowship, or 鈥淕enius Grant.鈥� She is one of only nine faculty members on campus to be so honored.听
BREAKING: In June 2019,听听the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists, which aim to help young scientists solve the world鈥檚 鈥済reatest scientific and technological challenges.鈥澨�
鈥淎ll my research has been inspired by a close collaboration with experimental groups,鈥澨齊ey said. 鈥淚n particular, the work done at Jun Ye's, James Thompson's and John Bollinger's labs have been the driving force for my research. Also all the successful developments in my group have been possible thanks to the fantastic group of postdocs and graduate students who have worked very hard to accomplish our research goals. They are responsible for all the milestones achieved in my group. I owe all of them so much. I am really grateful and hope that they consider this award as a recognition to their work.鈥澨�
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