Atomic physicist secures up to $2 million to advance curiosity-driven research in quantum science
Atomic physicist and Department of Physics professor David Weld has been selected as one of eight distinguished mid-career faculty for Caltech’s 2026 National Brown Investigator Awards. Weld, who studies quantum dynamical phenomena using ultracold quantum degenerate gases, will receive up to $2 million over five years to advance his curiosity-driven research.
With the funding, Weld will explore optical systems assembled from ultracold atoms, creating components such as lenses and mirrors that are themselves fully quantum mechanical objects. The work opens new directions in what Weld describes as “doubly-quantum” optics, using tunable, entangled optical elements at extraordinarily small scales.
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