Natalia Perkins

Natalia Perkins is a Professor at the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, and a Hans Fischer Senior Fellow at the Technical University of Munich Institute for Advanced Study (TUM-IAS) since 2022. Her work bridges fundamental theoretical condensed matter physics and quantum magnetism.

Her research explores unconventional quantum phases in correlated electron systems, focusing on quantum spin liquids, topological transitions, and spin-orbit coupling in geometrically frustrated materials. She develops microscopic models to explain phenomena in Kitaev spin liquids and iridates.

• NSF CAREER Award (DMR-1929311)
• U.S. Department of Energy Grant (DE-SC0018056)
• Fellow of the American Physical Society

Her recent work with colleagues like Prof. Johannes Knolle examines fractionalized excitations, vacancy-induced modes, and chiral quantum orders in Kitaev-Γ and Yao-Lee models. She contributes to understanding topological materials and strongly correlated quantum systems, with applications in next-generation quantum technologies.