Recent news

Nov 2022

Sam and James's paper Full Configuration Interaction Excited-State Energies in Large Active Spaces from Subspace Iteration with Repeated Random Sparsification is published in J. Chem. Theory Comput.!

Nov 2022

Tami, Xiao, and Hong-Zhou's paper Accurate thermochemistry of covalent and ionic solids from spin-component-scaled MP2 is published in J. Chem. Phys. and selected as an Editor's Pick!

Oct 2022

Petra's paper Anharmonic lattice dynamics from vibrational dynamical mean-field theory is published in Phys. Rev. B! Phonons, Green's functions, Langevin equations, quantum master equations ... there's something for everyone!

Oct 2022

Giulia and Yeongsu's paper Excitons and their Fine Structure in Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals from Atomistic GW/BSE Calculations is posted to the arXiv!

Sep 2022

Sam's paper Approximating Matrix Eigenvalues by Subspace Iteration with Repeated Random Sparsification, with Rob Webber and Jonathan Weare, is published in the SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing.

Sep 2022

James's paper Normal state of attractive Fermi gases from coupled-cluster theory, with John Sous, is published in Phys. Rev. A (a group first!).

Sep 2022

Welcome to our new postdocs, Dipti Jasrasaria and Henry Tran! Dipti received her PhD from UC Berkeley working in the Rabani group, and Henry received his PhD from MIT working in the Van Voorhis group.

Sep 2022

Interfacial electric fields catalyze Ullmann coupling reactions on gold surfaces, featuring calculations by Norah and Xiao in collaboration with the Nuckolls, Roy, and Venkataraman groups as part of our CCI, is published in Chem. Sci.!


View older news

Group Members

Tim

Timothy Berkelbach

Principal Investigator

Postdoc PCTS (2014-2016)
Ph.D. Columbia University (2014)
B.A. NYU (2009)

t.berkelbach@columbia.edu

Sylvia

Sylvia Bintrim

Graduate Student

NSF Graduate Research Fellow (2019-2022)
B.S. Penn State (2019)

sjb2225@columbia.edu

Norah

Norah Hoffmann

Leopoldina Postdoctoral Fellow

Ph.D. Max Planck Institute, Hamburg (2020)
M.Sc. Berlin Institute of Technology & FHI (2016)
B.Sc. Berlin Institute of Technology (2013)

nmh2152@columbia.edu

Dipti

Dipti Jasrasaria

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ph.D. UC Berkeley (2022)
M.Phil. University of Cambridge (2017)
A.B. Harvard University (2016)

dj2667@columbia.edu

Arai

Arailym Kairalapova

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh (2020)
B.S. Nazarbayev University (2015)

ak4660@columbia.edu

Jason

Yu Hsuan (Jason) Liang

Graduate Student

B.S. UC Berkeley (2021)

yl4842@columbia.edu

Verena

Verena Neufeld

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ph.D. University of Cambridge (2020)
M.Phil. University of Cambridge (2015)
M.Sci., B.A. University of Cambridge (2014)

vn2300@columbia.edu

Petra

Petra Shih

Graduate Student

M.S. National Taiwan University (2018)
B.S. National Taiwan University (2016)

ps3132@columbia.edu

Henry

Henry Tran

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ph.D. MIT (2022)
M.Phil. University of Cambridge (2017)
B.S. Ohio State (2016)

hkt2112@columbia.edu

Ethan

Ethan Vo

Graduate Student

B.S. University of Washington (2020)

ethan.vo@columbia.edu

Hongzhou

Hong-Zhou Ye

Postdoctoral Researcher

Ph.D. MIT (2020)
B.S. Peking University (2015)

hy2685@columbia.edu

Show/hide former members

LaToya Anderson

Visiting undergraduate student
2021

B.S. Brooklyn College (expected 2024)

Giulia Biffi

Visiting graduate student
2019

Postdoc, Centro de Fisica de Materiales, Coto group

James Callahan

Graduate student
2017-2022

Teacher, Newton North High School

Yeongsu Cho

Graduate student
2016-2021

Postdoc, MIT, Kulik group

Jonathan Fetherolf

Graduate student
2016-2021

Postdoc, Yale, Hammes-Schiffer group

Tamar Goldzak

Postdoctoral Researcher
2019-2021

Assistant Professor, Bar-Ilan University

Sam Greene

Graduate Student
2017-2022

Postdoc, UT Austin, Siegel group

Malte Lange

Graduate Student
2016-2021

CEO/CTO, Nomfe

Bryan Lau

Postdoctoral Researcher
2017-2022

Alan Lewis

Postdoctoral Researcher
2017-2019

Postdoc, MPSD, Rossi group

Ellie Mackintosh

Visiting undergraduate student
2021

M.Sc. student, Oxford (expected 2023)

James Smith

Flatiron Research Fellow
2020-2022

Software Engineer, Lucata

Shi-Ning Sun

Undergraduate Student
2017-2018

Ph.D. student, Caltech, Minnich group

Xiao Wang

Flatiron Research Fellow
2019-2022

Assistant Professor, UC Santa Cruz

Research areas

We work on a variety of quantum-mechanical problems motivated by excited-state phenomena. This research occurs at the fascinating interface of physical chemistry, condensed-matter physics, and materials science.

Quantum dynamics and spectroscopy

Building on modern theories of quantum dynamics, we develop powerful simulation techniques for nonequilibrium and time-resolved spectroscopies. These new tools enable the accurate simulation of extremely large and complex sytems, providing new insights into excited-state structure and dynamics.

Emerging materials

We are actively exploring the excited-state behavior of fundamentally interesting and technologically promising materials, especially those that are anisotropic, layered, or low-dimensional. Particular materials of interest include conjugated polymers, organic molecular crystals, and quasi-two-dimensional inorganic semiconductors.

Condensed-phase electronic structure

Aiming towards highly accurate but insightful descriptions of electronic excitations, we formulate and apply electronic structure methods adapted for the condensed phase. Some of our favorite tools are low-energy effective theories, many-body diagrammatics, and coupled-cluster techniques.

Interested in learning more?

Check out our publications!

About Tim

Timothy Berkelbach is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University. He received his B.A. in physics and chemistry from NYU in 2009 and his Ph.D. in chemical physics from Columbia in 2014. From 2014 to 2016, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, and from 2016 to 2018, he was a Neubauer Family Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the James Franck Institute at the University of Chicago. He moved to Columbia in 2019 and received tenure in 2022. From 2019 to 2022, he was also a Research Scientist in the Center for Computational Quantum Physics at the Flatiron Institute, where he is now a Visiting Scholar.

Selected Honors and Awards

2022 DOE Early Career Award

2020 ACS National Fresenius Award

2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)

2019 Hermann Kuemmel Early Achievement Award in Many-Body Physics

2019 NSF CAREER Award

2018 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship

2017 AFOSR Young Investigator

Columbia University

3000 Broadway, 518 Havemeyer Hall, New York NY 10027

1 212 854 0347

t.berkelbach@columbia.edu

Join us!

We welcome students and postdocs of all genders, races, ages, sexual orientations, and disability statuses. If you're interested in joining us in one of the most multicultural cities in the world, contact Tim for more information on the Columbia PhD program or postdoctoral openings.