Eduardo H Fradkin

Eduardo H Fradkin
Eduardo H Fradkin

Primary Research Area

  • Condensed Matter Physics
Donald Biggar Willett Professor in Engineering and Director of ICMT
(217) 333-4409
2119 Engineering Sciences Building

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Education

  • Ph.D. - Physics, Stanford University, 1979
  • B.S. - Physics (Licenciado), University of Buenos Aires Argentina, 1974

Biography

Professor Eduardo Fradkin is a Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Physics and a Center for Advanced Study Professor at the University of Illinois. He is the current Director of the Institute for Condensed matter Theory. He received his Licenciado (Master's) degree in physics from Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) and his PhD in physics from Stanford University in 1979. He came to the University of Illinois in 1979 as a postdoctoral research associate, and became an assistant professor of physics at Illinois in 1981. He was promoted to associate professor in 1984, and became a full professor in 1989. Professor Fradkin is an internationally recognized leader in theoretical physics, who has contributed to many problems at the interface between quantum field theory (QFT) and condensed matter physics (CMP). Eduardo is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and member of the National Academy of Sciences.

In his early work, he pioneered the use of concepts from CMP and statistical physics, such as order parameters and phase diagrams, to problems of QFT and high energy physics, in particular to the non-perturbative behavior of gauge theories. Perhaps his most important result in this area was the proof that when matter fields carry the fundamental unit of charge, the Higgs and confinement phases of gauge theories are smoothly connected to each other and are as different as a liquid is from a gas. This result remains one of the cornerstones of our understanding of the phases of gauge theories and represents a lasting contribution to elementary particle physics.

Professor Fradkin's unique perspective has allowed him to invoke and apply results from QFT to CMP. He was one of the first theorists to use gauge theory concepts in the theory of spin glasses and to use concepts of chaos and non-linear systems in equilibrium statistical mechanics of frustrated systems. Professor Fradkin has pioneered the application of QFT methods to the physics of correlated disordered electronic systems and the quantum stability of the spontaneously dimerized state of polyacetylene.

Professor Fradkin also pioneered the use of Dirac fermions for CMP problems, particularly in two space dimensions. A prime example is his work on Dirac fermions on random fields (which he began with former graduate student Dr. Matthew Fisher), which is now regarded as the universality class of the transition between quantum Hall plateaus in the integer Hall effect. This work is also important for the description of quasiparticles in disordered d-wave superconductors. He also applied, quite early on, these ideas to the physics of what nowadays are known as topological insulators, showing that in the presence of lattice topological defects, these systems exhibit a non-trivial electronic spectrum with a parity anomaly.

A major achievement of Professor Fradkin's recent research has been the development, in collaboration with former graduate student Dr. Ana López, of the fermion Chern-Simons field theory of the fractional quantum Hall effect. This theory has played a central role in the current research effort in this exciting problem in CMP. Professor Fradkin and his collaborators have extended this theory to the more challenging problem of the non-Abelian quantum Hall states and developed a theory of a non-Abelian interferometer to study the unusual properties of the vortices of these quantum fluids. This approach is one of the possible directions for the development of a topological qubit.

More recently Professor Fradkin and his collaborators introduced the notion of electronic liquid crystal states, which are phases of quantum fermionic strongly correlated systems exhibiting properties akin to those of classical complex fluids. These ideas play a crucial role in the current understanding of the pseudogap regime of high temperature superconductors. More recently, this approach led to Fradkin and coworkers to develop the concept of Intertwined Orders and to the proposal of a novel superconducting state, the Pair density Wave, may be the prime competitor of d-wave superconductivity.

Fradkin and his graduate student Hart Goldman developed a loop model approach which provides a heuristic derivation of the web of dualities that relate multiple theories of interest in condensed matter and high energy physics.

Academic Positions

  • Center for Advanced Study Professor of Physics
  • Donald Biggar Willett Professor in Engineering, 2015-present
  • Professor, University of Illinois, 1989-Present
  • Associate Professor, University of Illinois, 1984-89
  • Assistant Professor, University of Illinois, 1981-84
  • Visiting Res. Asst. Prof., University of Illinois, 1980-81
  • Research Associate, University of Illinois, 1979-80

Other Professional Employment

  • Member of the Scientific Council and Steering Committee of the South American Institute for Fundamental Research (ICTP-SAIFR), Sao Paulo, Brazil, since November 2017.
  • Member of the Board of Editors of the Annual Reviews of Condensed Matter Physics
  • Simons Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of California Santa Barbara, CA (September 2-17, 2014, and April 6- May 1, 2015).
  • Member of the International Scientific Board of the International Center for Advanced Studies (Buenos Aires, Argentina), since 2015.
  • Visiting Professor, Department of Physics, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 2006, July 2010, June 2013.
  • Director, Institute for Condensed Matter Theory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (since Spring 2011)
  • Member of the Board of Scientific Directors of the Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment (JSTAT) (since 2011)
  • Visiting Professor, Department of Physics, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 2010.
  • Program Organizer and Visiting Scientist, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, Summer 2009.
  • Member of the Scientific Advisory Board Committee of the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  • Visiting Scientist at the Program on Frontiers in Quantum Computation at the Princeton Center for Theoretical Physics, February 2008.

Professional Registrations

  • Asociación Física Argentina
  • American Physical Society

Research Statement

Professor Fradkin is an internationally recognized leader in theoretical physics, who has contributed to many problems at the interface between quantum field theory (QFT) and condensed matter physics (CMP). He pioneered the use of concepts from CMP and statistical physics, such as order parameters and phase diagrams, to problems of QFT and high energy physics. Perhaps his most important result in this area was the proof that when matter fields carry the fundamental unit of charge, the Higgs and confinement phases of gauge theories are smoothly connected to each other and are as different as a liquid is from a gas. This result remains one of the cornerstones of our understanding of the phases of gauge theories and represents a lasting contribution to elementary particle physics. Professor Fradkin's unique perspective has allowed him to invoke and apply results from QFT to CMP. He was one of the first theorists to use gauge theory concepts in the theory of spin glasses and to use concepts of chaos and non-linear systems in equilibrium statistical mechanics of frustrated systems.

Professor Fradkin has pioneered the application of QFT methods to the physics of correlated disordered electronic systems and the quantum stability of the spontaneously dimerized state of polyacetylene. Professor Fradkin also pioneered the use of Dirac fermions for CMP problems, particularly in two space dimensions. A prime example is his work on Dirac fermions on random fields, which is now regarded as the universality class of the transition between quantum Hall plateaus in the integer Hall effect. This work is also important for the description of quasiparticles in disordered d-wave superconductors. A major achievement of Professor Fradkin's recent research has been the development of the fermion Chern-Simons field theory of the fractional quantum Hall effect. This theory has played a central role in the current research effort in this exciting problem in CMP. He has recently developed a theory of electronic liquid crystal phases in strongly correlated systems and formulated a mechanism of high temperature superconductivity based on this new concept. This theory plays a central role in the interpretation of experiments in these systems of foremost importance. He is also a leader in the theory of topological phases in condensed matter and on the role of quantum entanglement at quantum critical points.

Research Interests

  • Topological phases of matter and the Fractional Quantum Hall effects
  • High temperature superconductors and strongly correlated systems
  • Phase transitions in 2-D systems
  • Electronic properties of disordered systems
  • Statistical mechanics of frustrated and disordered systems
  • Field theoretic problems of condensed matter physics
  • Ph.D. thesis title: Phase transitions in lattice gauge theories
  • Field theoretic problems of condensed matter systems. Statistical mechanics of frustrated and disordered systems. Electronic properties of disordered systems. Phase transitions in 2-D systems. High temperature superconductors, strongly correlated systems & fractional quantum Hall effect. Topological phases of matter.

Books Authored or Co-Authored (Original Editions)

Chapters in Books

  • Eduardo Fradkin. Field Theoretic Aspects of Condensed Matter Physics. Chapter in "Encyclopedia of Condensed Matter Physics 2e", Tapash Chakraborty and Hideo Aoki editors , Volume 1, pages 27-131 (Elsevier) (2024).
  • Eduardo Fradkin. Electronic Liquid Crystal Phases in Strongly Correlated Systems, in Proceedings of the Les Houches Summer School on "Modern theories of correlated electron systems", Les Houches, Haute Savoie, France (May 2009), Daniel C. Cabra, Andreas Honecker, and Pierre Pujol, editors, Lecture Notes in Physics 843, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg (2012),
  • S. A. Kivelson and E. H. Fradkin. How optimal inhomogeneity produces high temperature superconductivity, Chapter 15 in "Treatise of High Temperature Superconductivity", ed. J. R. Schrieffer and J. S. Brooks (Springer-Verlag). (2007).
  • A. López and E. H. Fradkin. Fermionic Chern-Simons field theory for the fractional Hall effect. Composite Fermions in the Quantum Hall Effect. ed. O. Heinonen (World Scientific). (1998).
  • E. H. Fradkin and A. López. Universality in the fractional quantum Hall effect. Low Dimensional Quantium Field Theories for Condensed Matter Physicists. eds. S. Lundgvist et al. (World Scientific). (1995).
  • A. López and E. H. Fradkin. Fractional quantum Hall effect and Chern-Simons gauge theories. Field theoretical methods in condensed matter physics. (The Physical Society of Japan). (1995). Article in Phys. Rev. B 44, 5246 (1991).
  • H. Q. Lin, E. R. Gagliano, D. K. Campbell, E. H. Fradkin, and J. E. Gubernatis. The Phase Diagram of the One-Dimensional Extended Hubbard Model. The Hubbard Model. eds. D. Bairiswyl et al. (Plenum Press). 315-327 (1995).
  • E. H. Fradkin and L. P. Kadanoff. Disorder variables and para-Fermions in two-dimensional statistical mechanics. From Order to Chaos: Essays: Critical, Chaotic and Otherwise. ed. L. P. K. ed. (World Scientific). (1994). Article in Nucl. Phys. B 170 (FS1) (1980 ).
  • E. H. Fradkin. Field theory of the fractional quantum Hall effect. Physical Phenomena at High Magnetic Fields. ed. E. Manousakis (Addison-Wesley: Redwood City). (1992).
  • A. Balatsky and E. H. Fradkin. Singlet quantum Hall effect and Chern-Simons theories. Quantum Hall Effect. M. Stone ed. (World Scientific)). (1992). Article in Phys. Rev. B 43, 10622 (1991) .
  • A. Lopez and E. H. Fradkin. Fractional Quantum Hall Effect and Chern-Simons Gauge Theories. The Physical Society of Japan Phys. Rev. B 44, 5246-5262 (1991).
  • E. H. Fradkin. Anyons for beginners. J. J. Giambiagi Festschrift. ed. H. Falomir (World Scientific: Singapore). 169-189 (1990).
  • E. H. Fradkin. Anomalies in field theory and condensed matter physics. Connections Among Particle, Nuclear, Statistical and Condensed Matter Physics. eds. J. Giambiagi et al. (World Scientific)). 190-207 (1988).
  • E. H. Fradkin. Interactions and localization in a disordered electron gas. Recent Advances in Field Theory and Statistical Mechanics. Proc. Les Houches Summer School in Theoretical Physics, Les Houches, Session XXXIX, 1982, eds. J. B. Zuber and R. Stora, (Elsevier, B. V.) 527-553 (1984).
  • E. H. Fradkin and L. Susskind. Order and disorder in gauge systems and magnets. Lattice Gauge Theories. (The Physical Society of Japan). ( Article in Phys. Rev. D 17, 2637 -1978.) (1980).

Selected Articles in Journals

Articles in Conference Proceedings

Journal Editorships

  • Member of the Board of Editors of the Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics
  • Member of the Board of Scientific Directors of the Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment

Conferences Organized or Chaired

  • Member of the International Advisory Committee of the 13th International conference on Materials and Mechanisms of Superconductivity (M2S 2022), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 17-22, 2022.
  • Co-organizer of the Rapid Response Workshop on Recent Progress in the Experimental and Theoretical search for Pair-Density-Wave Order held at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of California Santa Barbara, May 9-20, 2022
  • Co-organizer of the The David Pines Symposium on Superconductivity Today and Tomorrow, ICMT, Urbana IL, March 29-30, 2019.
  • Member of the Review Committee of the Laboratory of Condensed Matter Theory of RIKEN, Wako, Saitama, Japan, December 22, 2017.
  • Member of the International Advisory Committee of the 12th International Conference on Materials and Mechanisms of Superconductivity (M2S-2018), which will be held in Beijing, China, during August 19-24, 2018.
  • Member of the International Advisory Committee of the 28th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics (LT28), at the Swedish Exhibition Centre/Gothia Towers, Gothenburg, Sweden, August 9-16, 2017.
  • Co-organizer of the workshop on Intertwined Orders in Strongly Correlated Systems,, Laguna Beach, CA, January 29-31, 2016.
  • Co-organizer of the workshop on Geometrical Degrees of Freedom in Topological Phases at the Banff International Research Station, Banff, Alberta, Canada, August 21-26, 2016.
  • Co-organizer of the Nobel Symposium 156, "New forms of matter: topological insulators and superconductors", Stockholm, Sweden, June 13-15, 2014.
  • Co-organizer of the Workshop on Field Theoretic Computer Simulations for Particle Physics and Condensed Matter, held at Boston University, Boston MA. May 8-10, 2014.
  • Co-organizer of the Program "The Physics of Higher Temperature Superconductivity" at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara. June 15-September 15, 2009.
  • Co-organizer of the Conference "Critical Issues Related to Higher Temperature Superconductors", Kavli Insititute for Theoretical Physics, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, June 22-26, 2009
  • Co-organizer of the Program on The Physics of Higher Temperature Superconductivity, Kavli Insititute for Theoretical Physics, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, Jun 15, 2009 - Sep 11, 2009
  • Chair of the Invited panel (which I proposed) on the Current Status of the Theory of High Temperature Superconductors at the 2008 March Meeting of the American Physical Society.
  • Organizer of the Workshop on Topological Phases in Condensed Matter, Institute of Condensed Matter Theory, University of Illinois, Urbana IL October 24-26, 2008
  • Chair of the Invited Panel (which I proposed) on Entanglement and Quantum Criticality at the 2007 March Meeting of the American Physical Society.
  • Chair of the Invited panel (which I proposed) on Non-Abelian Fractional Statistics, the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect and Topological Quantum Computing at the 2006 March Meeting of the American Physical Society.

Other Scholarly Activities

  • Member of the External Review Committee of the Department of Physics of Washington University at St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, September 2017.
  • Chair of the External Review Committee for the University of Kentucky Department of Physics. February 2014.

Other Outside Service

  • Chair of Section 13 (Physics) of the National Academy of Sciences (2024-2027).
  • Chair of the Condensed Matter Physics Panel of Section 13 of the National Academy of Sciences.
  • Member of the Scientific Council of the South American Institute for Scientific Research (ICTP-SAIFR), São Paulo, Brazil (since Fall 2017)
  • Member of the External review Committee of the department of Physics of Washington University in Saint Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, September 26, 2017.
  • Member of the Advisory Panel for the Bunge & Born Foundation 2017 Physics Prize (Argentina) (2017).
  • Member of the International Board of the International Center for Advanced Studies (Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina) (since 2016)

Teaching Honors

  • Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students (Spring 1996, Fall 2000, Spring 2020, Fall 2022)

Research Honors

  • Eugene Feenberg Memorial Medal 2024 (July 31, 2024)
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (October 2021)
  • Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Argentina (Córdoba) (May 2021)
  • Member of the Academia de Ciencias de América Latina (Latin American Academy of Sciences) (May 2019)
  • Center for the Advanced study Professor (UIUC), since 2016 (2016)
  • Simons Distinguished Vising Scholar, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (Santa Barbara, CA) (September 2014 and April 2015)
  • Associate of the Center for Advanced Study (UIUC) (Spring 2015)
  • Member of the National Academy of Sciences (April 2013)
  • Cesar Milstein Fellowship, Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation, Argentina, July 2007, June 2011 (July 2007, June 2011)
  • Arnold O. Beckmann Award of the research Board of the University of Illinois (Academic Year 2006-2007)
  • Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2009) (2009)
  • Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship Award (1998) (1998)
  • Fellow of the American Physical Society (1998) (1998)

Other Honors

  • Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Physics, department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (since 2014)

Recent Courses Taught

  • PHYS 581 - Quantum Mechanics II
  • PHYS 582 - General Field Theory
  • PHYS 583 - Advanced Field Theory
  • PHYS 598 TPH - Topological Quantum CM

Semesters Ranked Excellent Teacher by Students

SemesterCourseOutstanding
Fall 2022PHYS 598
Spring 2020PHYS 583
Fall 2000PHYS 498