Eva-Maria Graefe

Dr. Eva-Maria Graefe is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London. She specializes in quantum dynamics, focusing on the interplay between quantum and classical systems, particularly chaos and dissipation in non-Hermitian systems. Her research explores foundational questions such as how quantum motion relates to macroscopic physical laws and how dissipation can be engineered to control quantum behavior.

Education: She earned her PhD in theoretical quantum physics from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, followed by a postdoctoral position at the University of Bristol’s mathematical physics group. She joined Imperial College in 2010 as a Junior Research Fellow.

Research Interests: Her work spans non-Hermitian quantum systems (e.g., PT-symmetric models), quantum chaos, semiclassical quantization, and Bose-Hubbard systems. She investigates exceptional points, Landau-Zener transitions, and the dynamics of open quantum systems with losses or gain. Her group is supported by the Royal Society and an ERC Starting Grant.

Scientific Contributions: Notable achievements include studies on Husimi distributions in non-Hermitian systems, quantum-jump dynamics, and the semiclassical analysis of Bloch oscillations in dissipative lattices.

Teaching & Outreach: She teaches quantum mechanics to undergraduates and Master’s students and engages in outreach to inspire high school students. She mentors a research group of PhD and Master’s students.

Labs/Teams: Her lab focuses on theoretical and computational studies of quantum dynamics, supported by advanced grants and collaborations within Imperial’s Faculty of Natural Sciences.