Keith Schwab Explained

Keith Charles Schwab
Birth Place:St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Fields:Physics
Workplaces:Caltech
Alma Mater:University of California, Berkeley
University of Chicago
St. Louis University High
Known For:Quantum-limited measurements
Doctoral Advisor:Richard Packard

Keith Schwab (born May 18, 1968) is an American physicist and a professor of applied physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). His contributions are in the areas of nanoscience, ultra-low temperature physics, and quantum effects.

Biography

After attending St. Louis University High, Schwab received a Bachelor of Arts in physics from the University of Chicago in 1990 and a Ph.D. in physics from University of California, Berkeley in 1996. He wrote a dissertation "Experiments with Superfluid Oscillators" under advisor Richard Packard, where he demonstrated an ultra-sensitive gyroscope based on the quantum properties of superfluid helium.[1] He joined Caltech in 1996 as a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Postdoctoral Scholar In the group of Professor Michael Roukes. There he made the first observation of the quantum of thermal conductance which is the quantum mechanical limit for energy flow through single quantum channels [2] An electron micrograph of the nanodevice he designed and fabricated for this work resides in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.[3]

Schwab joined the U.S. National Security Agency in 2000 and led a group to study the quantum limits of mechanical structures, during which time he was named as a promising young innovator by Technology Review.[4]

In 2002, Schwab was named to the MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.[5] In 2005, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and attended the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland in 2005, 2007, and 2008.

In 2006, Schwab moved to Cornell as an associate professor of physics where his group focused on both the cooling of mechanical structures to near the quantum ground state,[6] and the observation of motion which fundamentally avoids the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.[7] [8]

In 2009 he joined Caltech as a professor of applied physics. His group explores the following topics: producing squeezed states of motion, exploring ultra-low dissipation superfluid resonators, ultra-sensitive microwave detection using graphene-based bolometers, and developing wide-band parametric amplifiers. In 2014 his research group demonstrated the detection of motion which avoids the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and the detection of the force noise generated by the quantum zero-point energy of a microwave field.[9] Recently, this group has produces a quantum squeezed state of motion, where the fluctuations of one quadrature of motion are below the quantum zero-point level.[10]

Selected publications and research results

External links

Notes and References

  1. "Detection of the Earth's Rotation Using Superfluid Phase Coherence," K. Schwab, N. Bruckner, and R. E. Packard", Nature 386, pp. 585–587 (1997.)
  2. Schwab, K., Henriksen, E.A., Worlock, J.M., & Roukes, M.L., Measurement of the quantum of thermal conductance (2000) Nature 404, 974-977
  3. Design and the elastic mind, by Paola Antonelli, Museum of Modern Art (2008, New York, N.Y.), p. 98
  4. http://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?TRID=392 Keith Schwab, 33, National Security Agency, Nanotechnology
  5. Web site: 2002 Young Innovators Under 35 . . 2002 . August 16, 2011.
  6. "Preparation and Detection of a Mechanical Resonator Near the Ground State of Motion," T. Rocheleau, T. Ndukum, C. Macklin, J.B. Hertzberg, A.A. Clerk, K.C. Schwab, Nature 463, 72-75 (2009).
  7. "Back-action Evading Measurements of Nanomechanical Motion," J.B. Hertzberg, T. Roucheleau, T. Ndukum, M. Savva, A.A. Clerk, K.C. Schwab, Nature Physics 6, 213-217 (2009).
  8. "Observation and interpretation of motional sideband asymmetry in a quantum electro-mechanical device,"A.J. Weinstein, C.U. Lei, E.E. Wollman, J. Suh, A. Metelmann, A.A. Clerk, K.C. Schwab, Science Vol. 344, pp. 1262–1265DOI: 10.1126/science.1253258
  9. "Mechanically Detecting and Avoiding the Quantum Fluctuations of a Microwave Field,"J. Suh, A. J. Weinstein, C. U. Lei, E. E. Wollman, S. K. Steinke, P. Meystre, A. A. Clerk, K. C. Schwab, Science 344, 1262–1265 (2014.)
  10. "Quantum squeezing of motion in a mechanical resonator," EE Wollman, CU Lei, AJ Weinstein, J Suh, A Kronwald, F Marquardt, AA Clerk, KC Schwab, Science 349 (6251), 952-955, (2015).