Gil Refael

Professor Gil Refael is the Taylor W. Lawrence Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology, affiliated with the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. His research focuses on novel quantum phenomena, including quantum computing platforms, topological materials, and driven quantum systems. He holds a B.S. and M.S. from Tel Aviv University (1997–1998) and a Ph.D. from Harvard University (2003).

• Executive Officer: Caltech Physics Department (2014–2020)

His research interests span quantum materials, Floquet engineering, and many-body localization. Recent work explores topological phases in twisted bilayer graphene, ultrafast control of magnetism, and quantum error correction using bosonic qubits. He leads a research group with students and postdocs investigating topics like hyperbolic phonon-polaritons and photoinduced superconductivity.

Grants & Funding: Supported by the Packard Foundation, Sloan Foundation, Simons Foundation, NSF, and AFOSR. Advises students such as Christopher Yang and Liam O’Brien, with notable alumni including Paraj Titum (Applied Physics Labs) and Karthik Seetharam (Psi-Quantum).

Labs/Teams: Active in the Condensed Matter Physics group at Caltech, contributing to the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter.