Prof. Dr. Peter P. Orth

About me

I am a theoretical condensed matter physicist working on understanding and predicting electronic properties of quantum materials. I place an emphasis on exploring their nonlinear response and nonequilibrium dynamics. My research interests span from correlated phenomena such as frustrated magnetism and unconventional superconductivity to magnetic topological phases and light-driven materials. To address these questions, I employ analytical field theory methods and develop quantum computing algorithms with a focus on implementations on current noisy intermediate-scale quantum hardware.

From 2021-2023, I have served as the deputy director of the U.S. Department of Energy EFRC "Center for the Advancement of Topological Semimetals", where I have focused on finding new ways to realize desired electronic band topologies by controlling magnetic order. Since 2021, I have been a co-leader in the quantum algorithm thrust of the DOE National Quantum Initiative Center on "Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems", where I develop and implement quantum computing algorithms for many-body systems.

Articles on arXiv
Google Scholar Profile
Github Profile

Short Bio

2023 - Present: Professor at Saarland University
2023 - Present: Affiliate Professor at Iowa State University
2023 - Present: Contributor at Ames National Laboratory
01/2023 - 05/2023 : Visiting Scholar in the Department of Physics at Harvard University 
2021 - 2022: Associate Professor at Iowa State University
2017 - 2022: Scientist at Ames National Laboratory
2016 - 2021: Assistant Professor at Iowa State University
2015 - 2016: Postdoc at University of Minnesota with Prof. Rafael Fernandes
2012 - 2015: Head of independent Young Investigator Group at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
2011 - 2015: Postdoc at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) with Prof. Joerg Schmalian
2011: Ph.D. at Yale University, advisor Prof. Karyn Le Hur. Title "Dissipative dynamics and novel quantum phases in strongly correlated cold-atom mixtures"
2007: Diploma in Physics and Otto-Haxel Prize for Best Diploma at Heidelberg University, Germany. Title "Negative Refraction in dense atomic gases" (supervised by Prof. Dr. C. H. Keitel and Prof. Dr. J. Evers, Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics)

Honors and Awards

  • 2022: Kavli Fellow
  • 2022: Early Achievement in Research Award of Iowa State University 
  • 2022: Early Achievement in Teaching Award of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS), Iowa State University
  • 2021: Most Valuable Instructor Award for Undergraduate Physics at Iowa State University
  • 2020: Cottrell Scholarship Award
  • 2007: Otto-Haxel-Prize for the best diploma thesis in Physics at Universität Heidelberg, Germany

Selected Publications

  • Thaís V. Trevisan, Pablo Villar Arribi, Olle Heinonen, Robert-Jan Slager, Peter P. Orth
    Bicircular light tuning of magnetic symmetry and topology in Dirac semimetal Cd3As2
    Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 066602 (2022). 

  • Noah F. Berthusen, Thaís V. Trevisan, Thomas Iadecola, Peter P. Orth
    Quantum dynamics simulations beyond the coherence time on noisy intermediate-scale quantum hardware by variational Trotter compression
    Phys. Rev. Research 4, 023097 (2022).

  • Yong-Xin Yao, Niladri Gomes, Feng Zhang, Thomas Iadecola, Cai-Zhuang Wang, Kai-Ming Ho, Peter P. Orth
    Adaptive Variational Quantum Dynamics Simulations
    PRX Quantum 2, 030307 (2021).

  • Rafael M. Fernandes, Peter P. Orth, Jörg Schmalian
    Intertwined vestigial order in quantum materials: nematicity and beyond
    Annu. Rev. Cond. Mat. Phys. 10, 133 (2019).

  • Peter P. Orth, Premala Chandra, Piers Coleman, Jörg Schmalian
    Emergent critical phase and Ricci flow in a 2D frustrated Heisenberg model
    Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 237205 (2012).

 

All publications

Research grants