Nicole Yunger Halpern

Nicole Yunger Halpern is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland’s Department of Physics and Institute for Physical Science and Technology (IPST). She is also a NIST physicist, JQI affiliate, and QuICS Fellow. Her research, termed "quantum steampunk," merges quantum information theory with 19th-century thermodynamics to address modern scientific challenges.

• Education:
  • B.Sc., Dartmouth College (covaledictorian)
  • M.Sc., Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
  • Ph.D., California Institute of Technology (supervised by John Preskill)

Her work spans atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics; condensed matter; chemistry; high-energy physics; and biophysics. Publications highlight quantum thermodynamics, phase estimation, and complexity theories.

Recent Research Trends: Articles (2025–2024) explore topics like non-Abelian symmetry, quantum scrambling, and autonomous quantum machines, reflecting interdisciplinary applications from lattice gauge theories to superconducting qubits.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Ilya Prigogine Prize for thermodynamics dissertation
  • ASPIRE Young Researcher Award (US nominee)

She contributes to the Maryland Quantum-Thermodynamics Hub, funded by a $2 million Templeton Foundation grant, and leads the Quantum-Steampunk Laboratory.