Cyrus Umrigar

Cyrus Umrigar serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Physics Department at Cornell University since 2004, maintaining continuous association with Cornell since 1981 through roles including Post-doctoral Associate (1981-84) and Senior Research Associate (1992-2007).

His academic credentials include:

• B.Sc. in Physics and Mathematics from Bombay University (1972)
• M.Sc. in Physics from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (1974)
• Ph.D. in Physics from Northwestern University (1980)

Umrigar's research centers on Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics using Quantum Monte Carlo methodologies to solve electronic correlation problems. His work spans quantum dots under magnetic fields, high-pressure semiconductor phases, defects, and transition metal-ligand spin states. He pioneered advancements in trial wave functions, parameter optimization, imaginary-time propagators, nuclear force calculations, excited-state energy evaluation, Fermion sign problem mitigation, and semistochastic projection techniques.

His notable recognitions include:

• Fellow of the American Physical Society
• Member-at-large for APS Division of Computational Physics (2006-2009)
• Long-standing program committee membership for Electronic Structure Methods Workshop (1990-present)

Umrigar mentors graduate students Matt Otten and Mingtong Han while leading international collaborations with Princeton University (Garnet Chan), University of Paris, Duke, University of Rhode Island, Twente Universiteit, University of Basel, University of Erlangen, and SISSA Trieste. He directs development of the CHAMP (Cornell-Holland Abinitio Materials Package) software used globally for materials simulations.

The CHAMP computational framework integrates his methodological innovations and serves as a cornerstone for cross-institutional quantum Monte Carlo research initiatives.