Sebastian Deffner

We’re hiring!

The Department of Physics
@sfuphysics.bsky.social
at Simon Fraser U (in beautiful and vibrant Vancouver) seeks applications for an Assistant or Associate Professor in Experimental Biophysics, encompassing all scales of life from molecules to ecosystems.
@sfuscience.bsky.social

Do you wonder what Shortcuts to Adiabaticity are really good for? How about correcting quantum gate errors?

New publication in @epljournal.bsky.social

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

Demon with dementia - the deterioration of information transcription In introductory biology, aging is typically explained as a result of mutations during the DNA replication process within cells. Upon abstraction, we recognize that cellular aging can be understood as ...

Have you ever wondered if Maxwell's demon could get dementia? And if so, how would you model it? Wonder no further! Here is the very first manuscript of my grad student Maggie Williams together with Emery Doucet.

arxiv.org/abs/2511.15691

Trump’s immigration crackdown is keeping foreign professionals out Federal authorities are denying more work visas and green cards, vetting social media posts and applying enhanced scrutiny to foreign employees’ credentials.

The Trump administration’s crackdown on legal immigration is making it tougher for doctors, engineers, professors and artists to get permission to work and live in the U.S.

For foreign professionals, the crackdown has meant new levels of anguish and fear.

Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending' A poll from the journal Nature found that 75% of researchers in the U.S. are considering leaving the country. That includes a man who’s been dubbed the "Mozart of Math." Stephanie Sy examines what’s b...

Yup! 75% of us are considering leaving (/made plans to leave/already left) 😢 🧪

www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Quantum Science Institute @umbc.bsky.social representation at the Quantum Leap Career Nexus!

This is a manuscript I am particularly happy with. It concerns topics I have been working on for my PhD, entanglement theory, going back to the work of Bennett et al. Yet it still has a fresh flavour, relating the subject to modern developments in quantum computing.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

YouTube video by UMBCtube Quantum on Track: Quantum Computing for Urban Train Scheduling

Train scheduling goes quantum feat. Dr. Emery Doucet and Reece Robertson:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWKR...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Do you want to do a postdoc with me? 10 days left to apply!

apply.interfolio.com/172719

Couldn’t agree more!

Metrological approach to the emergence of classical objectivity We present a precise characterization of the onset of classicality that combines the formalism of quantum Darwinism with the tools from quantum metrology. We show that the quantum Fisher information p...

New preprint: Metrological approach to the emergence of classical objectivity

Anthony Kiely, Diana A. Chisholm, Akram Touil, Sebastian Deffner, Gabriel Landi, and Steve Campbell

arxiv.org/abs/2510.12313

Quantum thermodynamics of Gross-Pitaevskii qubits What are the resources that can be leveraged for a thermodynamic device to exhibit genuine quantum advantage? Typically, the answer to this question is sought in quantum correlations. In the present w...

New preprint: Quantum thermodynamics of Gross-Pitaevskii qubits

arxiv.org/abs/2510.12599

New letter in Quantum Science and Technology @iopp-quantum.bsky.social with Josey Stevens:

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

Quantum On Track: UMBC Researchers Demonstrate Feasibility Of Using Quantum Devices To Manage Urban Train Scheduling, Using A Baltimore Transit Line As A Model A new study led by UMBC researchers—and focused on Baltimore’s Light RailLink, a hybrid tram-rail network sharing roads with cars inside Baltimore City—harnesses quantum computing to address the chall...

umbc.edu/stories/quan...

Congratulations Dr. Son!

These nations are wooing PhD students amid US funding uncertainties Pauses to some US graduate programmes have led universities in several countries to launch initiatives to entice would-be PhD students.

Pauses to some US graduate programmes have led universities in several countries to launch initiatives to entice would-be PhD students

go.nature.com/46AqorN

Suppressing excitations in the nonlinear Landau-Zener model
doi.org/10.1209/0295... via @ioppublishing.bsky.social

Opening for postdoctoral researcher! Do you have a PhD in Theoretical Physics? Are you interested to work with me on quantum information scrambling? Then this position might be for you:

apply.interfolio.com/172719

News: opening in my group for a Postdoc coming soon. Research: quantum information scrambling.

Join us! Submit your nominations by September 1st.
Details 👇

A wonderful opportunity for ECRs! The call for the dissertation award is closing soon!

Editorial in @physreve.bsky.social celebrating the transition of G ---> D @aps-dsnp.bsky.social

journals.aps.org/pre/abstract...

On the Baltimore Light RailLink into the quantum future - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - On the Baltimore Light RailLink into the quantum future

On the Baltimore Light RailLink into the quantum future

Krzysztof Domino, Emery Doucet, Reece Robertson, Bartłomiej Gardas & Sebastian Deffner

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dissertation Award in Statistical and Nonlinear Physics The American Physical Society is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance physics by fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and global community dedicated to science and society.

Applications for the DSNP 2025 Dissertation Award are open until September 1st, 2025!
Apply here aps.org/funding-reco...
The award consists of $2,000, travel reimbursement, and a registration waiver to attend the next APS Global Summit as an invited speaker. Read more below.

Very first article of my undergrad (!!) student Greg:

www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/27...

📢July 8, 2025 | 12:00 PM ET
The APS DSNP klogW future Zoom Seminar series is pleased to present two exciting talks by student award winners: Jacob Zavatone-Veth and Andrew Pyo
Details and registration: engage.aps.org/dsnp/resourc...
@apsphysics.bsky.social

Introducing the DSNP the Early-Career Spotlight!
ECS highlights early-career researchers, showcasing fresh perspectives in our field.
We're excited to kick off with Nidhi Pashine, a new PI at Syracuse University whose research focuses on metamaterials.

Know someone we should feature? DM us here.

Our paper "No-go theorem for environment-assisted invariance in non-unitary dynamics" is now published on New Journal of Physics!
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
Great collaboration with Sebastian Denver (@quthermo.bsky.social), Paola Cappellaro, Kenji Maeda, and Akram Touil! Happy Reading!

Still accepting postdoc applications!