admin – Sofia Qvarfort

Are the proton and electron in a Hydrogen atom entangled? New paper published in NJP

22/10/2020adminUncategorized

Are the proton and electron in a Hydrogen atom entangled? I recently conducted a poll during an online poster session to see if any of the attendees had previously considered this question. To my surprise, not a single physicist answered “Yes”. But in fact, neither had I, until the summer of 2017. Three years later, I’m happy to say that the answer is a resounding yes! In a paper published in New Journal of Physics…

New article published in Physical Review A

08/05/2020adminNew paper

I’m very excited that our paper on Optimal estimation with quantum optomechanical systems in the nonlinear regime has finally been published in Physical Review A.

Postgraduate Women in Physics Workshop, 6th March, Nottingham

17/03/202025/03/2020adminConferences

On the 6th of March, I attended the first Postgraduate Women in Physics workshop, held in Nottingham and brilliantly organised by Lizzie Elmer, Amy Whitney, Emily Tyler, and Hannah Coleman, with support from Dr Clare Burrage. Huge thanks to them and to everyone who made it happen, and I look forwards to future conferences.

A trip through causality in physical theories

23/02/202025/03/2020adminPhysics community, Physics outreach

There are always exciting things happening around UCL. This time around, a bunch of lovely people decided to organise a departmental festival, which they christened PandA (Physics and Astronomy). They day was full of fun science displays, music, talks, and even a play written and performed by the students! My contribution was a 10-minute talk titled “A trip through causality in physical theories”. The talk stems from my interest in the research on indefinite causal…

Workshop on Quantum Sensors for Fundamental Physics

23/02/202025/03/2020adminConferences

Between the 6-10th of January 2020, I attended the first workshop on Quantum Sensors for Fundamental Physics in Durham, UK. It is part of a wider UK-based effort to use the recent advances in quantum technologies for use in fundamental physics. The conference basically encapsulated some of the reasons for why I am interested in studying quantum sensing: The powerful enhancements that we can potentially achieve with quantum sensors are key to searches for new…

New paper published in Journal of Physics A

31/12/201931/12/2019adminNew paper

Our paper titled “Time-evolution of nonlinear optomechanical systems: Interplay of mechanical squeezing and non-Gaussianity” has just been accepted for publication in Journal of Physics A: Theoretical and Mathematical. Here’s a short (technical) summary of the main results. The main result in this paper is the solution of a nonlinear optomechanical system with time-dependent interaction terms and time-dependent mechanical displacement and squeezing terms. With this solution, it is possible to model all kinds of different effects,…

I passed my viva!

15/12/201925/03/2020adminHighlights

In the UK, the process of obtaining a PhD includes submitting a thesis and then passing a viva (an oral examination), where the thesis is defended. This is a private event, as opposed to many other European countries where the defence is public. In the UK, the PhD candidate spends 2-4 hours together with one internal and one external examiner discussing their work, after which they might pass with minor or major corrections (passing without…

Physics and music at Cumberland Lodge

25/11/201925/03/2020adminPhysics community

Between the 15th-17th of November, I joined the undergraduate physics retreat at Cumberland Lodge. The lodge is a stately home that hosts conferences in the beautiful surroundings of Windsor Palace. The retreat featured talks by undergraduate students, PhD student and lecturers, spanning everything from the thermodynamics of chickens to the distillation procedure of tonic water. My task for the retreat was to, together with other students and PhD students, provide some evening entertainment. I wrote…

Outreach day with TechGirls

08/11/201925/03/2020adminPhysics outreach

In 2018, I organised the first joint event with the charity TechGirls, which organises workshops and competitions where young girls can explore topics in STEM. We hosted 25 girls at an open day at UCL as winners of an app design competition arranged by TechGirls. We arranged presentations by Prof Andrew Fisher, Prof Carla Faria and Prof Marzena Szymanska, as well as talks by PhD students on quantum technologies. The day was concluded by a…

2022-08-18: I participated in the 4th Annual Conference by the Nordic Network for Diversity in Physics.

2022-04-04: New paper on the arXiv: Cooling through parametric modulations and phase-preserving quantum measurements.

2022-03-31: Our paper Constraining modified gravity with nonlinear quantum optomechanics was published in New Journal of Physics.

2021-10-25: I participated in Nature’s #WhereIWork with an interview on what it’s like to do physics while being visually impaired.

2021-08-03: New article on the arXiv titled Constraining modified gravity with optomechanical systems.

2021-05-17: It’s official! I am moving to Stockholm University and Nordita as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellow and a Wallenberg Initiative for Networks and Quantum Information (WINQ) Fellow.

2021-04-14: I participated in a panel discussion on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion as part of the Sixth International Conference for Young Quantum Information Scientists.

2021-03-25: Gave an invited seminar on Lie algebra solutions for nonlinear dynamics to the Physics of Quantum Information Technology group at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

2021-03-20: Participated in a Panel Discussion on Hidden Disabilities in Academia organised by St Mary’s University.

2021-03-15: Gave a talk on Hydrogenic entanglement at the APS March Meeting 2021.

2021-02-19: Awarded the Carey Foster Thesis Prize for outstanding postgraduate physics research in Atomic, Molecular, Optical and Positron Physics.

2021-02-18: Paper titled Optimal estimation of time-dependent gravitational fields with quantum optomechanical systems published in Physical Review Research.

2020-11-10: Paper titled Mesoscopic entanglement through central–potential interactions published in Journal of Physics B.

2020-09-21: Paper titled Hydrogenic entanglement published in New Journal of Physics.

2020-09-07: New article on the arXiv titled A master-equation treatment of nonlinear optomechanical systems with optical loss.

2020-08-18: New article on the arXiv titled Optimal estimation of time-dependent gravitational fields with quantum optomechanical systems.

2020-04-28: Attended the virtual conference Bristol Quantum Information Technologies conference as an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion panel member.

2020-03-06: Attended the Postgraduate Women in Physics workshop in Nottingham and was awarded the 1st poster prize for poster titled “Hydrogenic entanglement”.

2020-02-24: New paper on the arXiv titled Hydrogenic entanglement, with Alessio Serafini and Sougato Bose.

2020-02-21: Talk on causality in physical theories for departmental festival day, read more here.

2020-01-31: Paper titled Optimal estimation with quantum optomechanical systems in the nonlinear regime published in Physical Review A.

2020-01-27: Paper titled Time-evolution of nonlinear optomechanical systems: interplay of mechanical squeezing and non-Gaussianity published in Journal of Physics A.

2020-01-09: Attended the Workshop on Quantum Sensors for Fundamental Physics, read more here.

2019-12-23: Paper accepted for publication in Journal of Physics A.

2019-12-13: Passed my PhD viva with minor corrections!

2019-11-25: Joined undergraduate students for a physics retreat at Cumberland Lodge, read more here.

2019-11-08: Outreach day with the charity TechGirls, read more here.