Skip to main content
Search

Victor Galitski

Professor

Fellow
Profile photo of Victor Galitski

Contact Information

UMD

Email:
galitski@umd.edu
Office Phone:
(301) 405-6107

Additional Info

Research Groups

Recent Publications

Recent News

  • Eight light blue spheres are spread out in space and are connected by grey lines.

    A Focused Approach Can Help Untangle Messy Quantum Scrambling Problems

    April 4, 2024

    The world is a cluttered, noisy place, and the ability to effectively focus is a valuable skill. Researchers at JQI have identified a new way to focus their attention and obtain useful insights into the way information associated with a configuration of interacting particles gets dispersed and effectively lost over time. Their technique focuses on a single feature that describes how various amounts of energy can be held by different configurations a quantum system. The approach provides insight into how a collection of quantum particles can evolve without the researchers having to grapple with the intricacies of the interactions that make the system change over time.

  • Two ovals divided into cells, left: red arrow goes through all cells, right: red arrow goes through only a few cells

    Embracing Uncertainty Helps Bring Order to Quantum Chaos

    September 27, 2023

    In physics, chaos is something unpredictable. A butterfly flapping its wings somewhere in Guatemala might seem insignificant, but those flits and flutters might be the ultimate cause of a hurricane over the Indian Ocean. The butterfly effect captures what it means for something to behave chaotically: Two very similar starting points—a butterfly that either flaps its wings or doesn’t—could lead to two drastically different results, like a hurricane or calm winds. But there's also a tamer, more subtle form of chaos in which similar starting points don’t cause drastically different results—at least not right away. This tamer chaos, known as ergodicity, is what allows a coffee cup to slowly cool down to room temperature or a piece of steak to heat up on a frying pan. It forms the basis of the field of statistical mechanics, which describes large collections of particles and how they exchange energy to arrive at a shared temperature. Chaos almost always grows out of ergodicity, forming its most eccentric variant.

  • Michael Winer in a plaid shirt and jeans sits in a wooden lawn chair

    Growing into a Physicist at UMD

    March 23, 2022

    JQI graduate student Michael Winer has had a relationship with physics—and physics at the University of Maryland in particular—since he was a kid. He first came to UMD as a high school student pursuing his competitive spirit when physics was a fun challenge. Then over time, physics became something more nuanced for him. Now, he has returned to UMD to pursue physics as a career and is also helping introduce the joys of physics to a new generation of bright young minds.