Summary of Research
I am broadly interested in quantum many-body dynamics, specifically systems which violate the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis (ETH). Many-body localization (MBL) is conjectured to arise in interacting systems with strong quenched disorder. If it exists, MBL would be the only known stable phase of matter which violates the ETH. Because it remains permanently out of equilibrium, its existence could allow for novel quantum orders at finite temperatures which are impossible for systems in thermodynamic equilibrium. Unfortunately, the existence of MBL has been contested due to the finite-size effects which plague numerical simulations of MBL. I've been interested in understanding how localization destabilizes as one approaches the thermodynamic limit due to the presence of resonances, whose proliferation eventually destroys localization.
Publications
Jiang, J. K., Surace, F. M., & Motrunich, O. I. (2025). Quasiconservation Laws and Suppressed Transport in Weakly Interacting Localized Models. Phys. Rev. B 112, 184201, https://doi.org/10.1103/shj5-bvs3
Awards
APS Virtual March Meeting Top Presenter (2023)
Smith College Highest Honors for Thesis Titled: "A Search for Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions in Quantum Systems" (2023)
Smith College Physics Department Adelaide Wilcox Bull Paganelli '30 Prize (2023)
Smith College Mathematics Department Ann Kirsten Pokora Prize Prize (2023)
Smith College Physics Department Frank A. Waterman Prize (2023)
Sigma Xi (2023)
California Institute of Technology Applied Physics Departmental Fellowship (2023)
TREND REU Third Best Overall Project (2022)
Smith College Mathematics Department Suzan Rose Benedict Prize (2021)
Smith College Arthur Ellis Hamm Prize (2020)
Dean's List (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)