Erhai Zhao

Erhai Zhao is a Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at George Mason University. His research spans both fundamental and applied aspects of quantum many-body physics, with a focus on ultracold quantum gases and topological phases of matter. He leads projects developing advanced numerical methods for strongly correlated systems, including tensor networks and neural network quantum states.

His work on non-Hermitian Hamiltonians and Floquet systems has revealed novel insights into entanglement and topological properties of open quantum systems. Current projects include functional renormalization group algorithms for competing orders and quantum phase transitions in spin and Fermi systems.

Research trends from his publications include:

• Topological phases in non-Hermitian systems
• Floquet engineering of quantum states
• Machine learning applications in condensed matter
• Strongly correlated Fermi gases
• Quantum criticality and Fisher zeros
• Spin-orbit coupling in 2D materials

He is supported by grants from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation, with prior funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Office of Naval Research.