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Introduction to CMTC

The Condensed Matter Theory Center (CMTC) was created in 2002 by the University of Maryland with the Distinguished University Professor Sankar Das Sarma as its permanent Director. The support for CMTC comes from the University of Maryland and the Laboratory for Physical Sciences (LPS). The purpose of CMTC is to maintain sustained research excellence in theoretical quantum condensed matter physics and quantum computing at the University of Maryland.

The CMTC consists of four permanent faculty members from the Maryland physics department along with two permanent staff members, about 12 postdoctoral fellows, and 15 doctoral students.

CMTC has produced more than 100 academic physics faculty members from its alumni all over the world who are based in all five continents. Some CMTC alumni are successful scientists working in industries such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, Intel, Sandia National Labs, etc. Several CMTC alumni are successfully employed in finance companies such as Citadel, JP Morgan, DE Shaw, Morgan Stanely, etc.

CMTC, though a major contributor to quantum condensed matter and quantum computing theory research at Maryland, is only one of many such groups at the University of Maryland, including the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) and LPS. There is also a strong quantum condensed matter theory group in the Maryland physics department that exists independently and outside of CMTC.

CMTC regularly offers CMTC JLDS prize postdoctoral fellowships and graduate fellowships to applicants through a formal application process.

The founding members of the CMTC external advisory board (operational during the first 10 years of CMTC) are listed below.


Founding Advisory Board (2002-2012)
Professor P. W. Anderson, Princeton University
Professor B. I. Halperin, Harvard University
Professor R. B. Laughlin, Stanford University
Professor A. J. Leggett, University of Illinois
Professor H. L. Stormer, Columbia University
Professor D. C. Tsui, Princeton University