Zohreh Davoudi, Ph.D.
Department of Physics University of Maryland, College Park
I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Physics, a Fellow of the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS), and the Associate Director for Education at the NSF Institute for Robust Quantum Simulation at the University of Maryland, College Park. The focus of my research is on simulating complex systems in nature arising from the most fundamental particles and interactions underlying them, or their effective descriptions. Here you will have a glimpse into my research and educational activities as a theoretical physicist.
Research Priorities
My research can be cast into four categories shown below. The underlying theme is to use simulation tools, classical and quantum, to study complex systems in nature arising from interactions of the Standard Model of Particle physics, in particular the strong interactions.
LATTICE GAUGE THEORY: FORMAL DEVELOPMENTS
Developing the mapping between physical quantities such as multi-hadron scattering amplitudes and transition rates and the numerical simulation of strong interactions in a finite discretized spacetime.
Research Group
In the academic year 2024-2025, my group includes...
DR. CHRISTOPHER
KANE
Post-doc research associate
CHUNG-CHUN HSIEH
Ph.D. student and research assistant
Sherry Wang
Ph.D. student
NAVYA GUPTA
Ph.D. student and research assistant
VINAY VIKRAMADITYA
Ph.D. student and research assistant
Yash Anand
Undergraduate student and research assistant
...along with post-doc/graduate research fellows and affiliates:
DR. ALEXANDER SCHUCKERT
Post-doc fellow
CLEMENT VICKLAN CHARLES
Graduate research fellow
The former members or affiliate members of the group include:
DR. INDRAKSHI
RAYCHOWDHURY
Indrakshi was a post-doc with us from 2019-2021 and has now joined Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani in Goa as an assistant professor.
ANDREW SHAW
Andrew was a Ph.D. student with us from 2018-2020.
DR. JESSE STRYKER
Jesse was a post-doc with us from 2020-2023 and has now joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a post-doc research associate.
ALEXANDER SHAW
Alex was a graduate research fellow with us from 2020-2022.
DR. CHRISTOPHER WHITE
Christopher was a post-doc research fellow with us. He joined the Army Research Lab since 2024.
DR. ANIRUDDHA BAPAT
Ani was a Ph.D. student with QuICS and affiliated with our group from 2019-2021. He then joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a post-doc research associate.
DR. NIKLAS MUELLER
Niklas was a post-doc with us from 2020-2022 and has now joined the University of Washington's InQubator for Quantum Simulation as a research assistant professor.
Dr. SAURABH KADAM
Saurabh was a Ph.D. student and graduate research assistant with us from 2019-2023. He has now joined the University of Washington's InQubator for Quantum Simulation as a post-doc research associate.
DR. ALI IZADI RAD
Ali was a graduate research fellow with us until 2024.
DR. JAKE BRINGEWATT
Jake was a graduate research fellow affiliated with the group. He graduated in 2024 and headed to Harvard as a post-doc research fellow.
CONNOR POWERS
Connor was a graduate research assistant with us from 2021-2024.
Media Appearance Highlight
The 2016 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate at the American Museum of Natural History, hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Panelists: David Chalmers (NYU), Zohreh Davoudi (MIT), James Gates (University of Maryland), Lisa Randall (Harvard), and Max Tegmark (MIT).
2016 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate: Is the Universe a Simulation?
Science Outreach Highlight
TED-ED lesson on "Are we living in a simulation?". Lesson writer: Zohreh Davoudi. Directed by Eoin Duffy, narrated by Christina Greer, music by QB Sound.
Are we living in a simulation? - Zohreh Davoudi
