Dr. Philip R. Johnson:    Home
Assistant Professor of Physics American University Department of Computer Science, Audio Technology, and Physics 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20016-8058 Work: (202) 885-2761 pjohnson@american.edu
	I have an active theoretical and computational research program studying a variety of beautiful quantum systems. I am interested in both fundamental questions (for example, is quantum mechanics the right description of our universe at all scales, from the microscopic to the cosmological?) and more applied questions (for example, how exactly do we control quantum mechanical systems?). If you are a student interested in research or studying physics, contact me! I have lots of ideas for exciting undergraduate research projects.
	Recent simulation of the wavefunction of two atoms in a double-well optical lattice. Prediction based on my simulations have been recently verified experimentally by the Laser Cooling and Trapping Group at NIST, Gaithersburg (11/9/06). Representation of an optical lattice quantum computer. Each atom (blue spheres) is a qubit. The potential wells which hold and manipulate the atoms are created by interfering laser beams.	Research My research includes building computer simulations of a number of important quantum systems including ultracold atoms in optical lattices (part of an effort to control quantum matter-waves and to develop a neutral atom quantum computer) and superconducting qubits (the prototype elements of a solid-state quantum computer). I am also interested in general questions relating to quantum information science, the new field bringing together ideas from quantum physics, information theory, mathematics, computer science, material science, electrical engineering, and more. Finally, I am working on a number of related projects, including topics in cosmology (e.g. the quantum dynamics of dark energy), relativistic particle physics (e.g. worldline quantization and the dynamics of relativistic particles in classical and quantum fields), the emergence of the classical world (e.g. decoherence and quantum open systems), and the Bose Einstein condensation of magnons in magnetic nanoparticles. Web links to most of my papers can be found here. Collaborations and Affiliations My research includes collaborations with colleagues at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), the new institute bringing together the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the University of Maryland, College Park, and the Laboratory for Physical Sciences. I am an intermittent staff physicist at NIST and a visiting assistant professor of physics at the University of Maryland. I am also a member of the NIST Quantum Information Program, and I actively collaborate with Bill Phillips’ (1997 Physics Nobel Prize) experimental Laser Cooling and Trapping Group, working on Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) physics, optical lattice physics, and neutral atom quantum computing. Finally, I have collaborations with the Superconducting Quantum Computing Group (SQC), the Dynamical Systems and Accelerator Theory Group (DSAT), and the Gravitation and General Relativity Theory Group at the University of Maryland, Department of Physics. (A description of some of my research with the SQC group can be seen here). History In the fall of 2006 I moved to American University from NIST in Gaithersburg, MD where I was a National Research Council (NRC) Postdoctoral Fellow in the Quantum Processes Group of the Atomic Physics Division. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Maryland working with the Gravitation and General Relativity Theory Group on problems at the intersection of gravitation, quantum mechanics, field theory, and statistical mechanics. Click here