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Subir Sachdev

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Subir Sachdev
Born (1961-12-02) 2 December 1961 (age 63)
New Delhi, India
Alma mater
Known forSachdev–Ye–Kitaev model
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsCondensed matter theory
Thesis Frustration and Order in Rapidly Cooled Metals  (1985)
Doctoral advisorD. R. Nelson
Websitesachdev.physics.harvard.edu

Subir Sachdev is Herchel Smith Professor of physics[1] at Harvard University specializing in condensed matter. He was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2014, received the Lars Onsager Prize from the American Physical Society and the Dirac Medal from the ICTP in 2018, and was elected Foreign Member of the Royal Society ForMemRS in 2023. He was a co-editor of the Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics 2017–2019,[2][3] and is Editor-in-Chief of Reports on Progress in Physics since 2022.

Sachdev's research describes the consequences of quantum entanglement on the macroscopic properties of natural systems. He has described diverse varieties of entangled states of quantum matter, and of their behavior near quantum phase transitions. Many of these contributions have been linked to experiments, especially to the rich phase diagrams of the high temperature superconductors. Sachdev's research has exposed connections between the nature of quantum entanglement in certain laboratory materials, and the quantum entanglement in astrophysical black holes, and these connections have led to insights on the entropy and radiation of black holes.

Career

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Sachdev attended school at St. Joseph's Boys' High School, Bangalore and Kendriya Vidyalaya, ASC, Bangalore. He attended college at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi for a year. He transferred to Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received a B.S. in Physics. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Harvard University. He held professional positions at Bell Labs (1985–1987) and at Yale University (1987–2005), where he was a Professor of Physics, before returning to Harvard, where he is now the Herchel Smith Professor of Physics. He has also held visiting positions as the Cenovus Energy James Clerk Maxwell Chair in Theoretical Physics [4] at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and the Dr. Homi J. Bhabha Chair Professorship[5] at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. He has been a Visiting Scholar at the Flatiron Institute since 2019, and Miguel Virasoro Visiting International Chair, at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics since 2024. He has also been on the Physical Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize from 2018.[6]

Research

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Sachdev has studied the nature of quantum entanglement in two-dimensional antiferromagnets, as reviewed in his book Quantum Phases of Matter.[7] This work introduced

  • the Z2 spin liquid, which preserves time-reversal symmetry and has the same anyon structure as the toric code.
  • deconfined quantum critical points which do not sharp particle-like excitations.
  • the fractionalized Fermi liquid (FL), a metallic state whose Fermi surface does not enclose the Luttinger volume.

Sachdev has developed the theory of quantum criticality, elucidating its implications for experimental observations on materials at non-zero temperature. This theory led to the proposal of hydrodynamic electron flow in graphene and related two-dimensional materials. He proposed a solvable model of complex quantum entanglement in a metal which does not have any particle-like excitations in 1993:[8] an extension of this is now called the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model (SYK). These works have led to a theory of quantum phase transitions in metals in the presence of impurity-induced disorder, and a universal theory of strange metals.[9]

Sachdev's theories apply to a variety of correlated electron materials, including the copper-oxide materials exhibiting high temperature superconductivity. Features of the `pseudogap' phase of these materials are addressed by his works on the interplay between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity, using the theory of critical quantum spin liquids without quasiparticles.

A connection between the structure of quantum entanglement in the SYK model and in black holes was first proposed by Sachdev in 2010,[10] and these connections have led to developments in the quantum theory of black holes.[9]

Awards and honors

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  • LeRoy Apker Award Recipient, 1982.[11]
  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow, February 1989.[12]
  • Fellow of the American Physical Society "for his contributions to the theory of quantum phase transitions and its application to correlated electron materials".[13]
  • John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow, 2003.[14]
  • Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Distinguished Research Chair, 2009–14.[15]
  • Abdus Salam Distinguished Lecturer, International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, 2014.[16]
  • Hendrik Lorentz Chair, Lorentz Institute, 2012.[17]
  • Elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 2014.[18] Citation: Sachdev has made seminal advances in the theory of condensed matter systems near a quantum phase transition, which have elucidated the rich variety of static and dynamic behavior in such systems, both at finite temperatures and at T=0. His book, Quantum Phase Transitions, is the basic text of the field.
  • Dirac Medal for the Advancement of Theoretical Physics (University of New South Wales), 2015.[19] Citation: The Dirac Medal was awarded to Professor Sachdev in recognition of his many seminal contributions to the theory of strongly interacting condensed matter systems: quantum phase transitions, including the idea of critical deconfinement and the breakdown of the conventional symmetry based Landau–Ginsburg–Wilson paradigm; the prediction of exotic 'spin-liquid' and fractionalized states; and applications to the theory of high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprate materials.
  • Lars Onsager Prize (American Physical Society), 2018, to recognize outstanding research in theoretical statistical physics including the quantum fluids.[20] Citation: for his seminal contributions to the theory of quantum phase transitions, quantum magnetism, and fractionalized spin liquids, and for his leadership in the physics community.
  • Dirac Medal (International Center for Theoretical Physics), 2018; shared with Dam Thanh Son and Xiao-Gang Wen for "independent contributions towards understanding novel phases in strongly interacting many-body systems, introducing original transdisciplinary techniques".[21] Citation: Subir Sachdev has made pioneering contributions to many areas of theoretical condensed matter physics. Of particular importance were the development of the theory of quantum critical phenomena in insulators, superconductors and metals; the theory of spin-liquid states of quantum antiferromagnets and the theory of fractionalized phases of matter; the study of novel deconfinement phase transitions; the theory of quantum matter without quasiparticles; and the application of many of these ideas to a priori unrelated problems in black hole physics, including a concrete model of non-Fermi liquids.
  • Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, 2019.[22] Citation: Professor Subir Sachdev is a world renowned condensed matter theorist, with many seminal contributions to the theory of strongly interacting condensed matter systems. He is a pioneer in the study of systems near quantum phase transitions. He has also pioneered the exploration of the connection between physical properties of modern quantum materials and the nature of quantum entanglement in their many-particle state, elucidating the diverse varieties of entangled states of quantum matter.
  • Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2019.[23]
  • Honorary Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, 2019.[24]
  • Jacques Solvay International Chair in Physics, International Solvay Institutes, Brussels, 2023[25]
  • Raman Chair, Indian Academy of Sciences, 2023-24.[26]
  • Foreign Member of the Royal Society, 2023. Citation: Subir Sachdev has made profound contributions to theoretical condensed matter physics research. His main interests have been in quantum magnetism, quantum criticality, and perhaps most innovative of all, links between the nature of quantum entanglement in black holes and strongly interacting electrons in materials.[citation needed]

Publications

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Books

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  • Sachdev, Subir (7 April 2011). Quantum Phase Transitions. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-50021-0.
  • Hartnoll, Sean A.; Lucas, Andrew; Sachdev, Subir (16 March 2018). Holographic Quantum Matter. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-34802-7.
  • Sachdev, Subir (13 April 2023). Quantum Phases of Matter. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-009-21269-4.
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References

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  1. ^ "Subir Sachdev. Herchel Smith Professor of Physics, Harvard University". Official website.
  2. ^ "Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics, Planning Editorial Committee – Volume 8, 2017". Annual Reviews Directory. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics, Planning Editorial Committee – Volume 10, 2019". Annual Reviews Directory. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Subir Sachdev, Perimeter Institute".
  5. ^ "Endowment Chairs at TIFR".
  6. ^ "Infosys Prize – Jury 2020". www.infosys-science-foundation.com. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  7. ^ Sachdev, Subir. "Quantum Phases of Matter". Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  8. ^ Sachdev, Subir; Ye, Jinwu (24 May 1993). "Gapless spin-fluid ground state in a random quantum Heisenberg magnet". Physical Review Letters. 70 (21): 3339–3342. arXiv:cond-mat/9212030. Bibcode:1993PhRvL..70.3339S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.70.3339. PMID 10053843.
  9. ^ a b Sachdev, Subir (13 December 2023), "Strange Metals and Black Holes: Insights From the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev Model", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Physics, Oxford University Press, arXiv:2305.01001, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190871994.013.48, ISBN 978-0-19-087199-4
  10. ^ Sachdev, Subir (4 October 2010). "Holographic Metals and the Fractionalized Fermi Liquid". Physical Review Letters. 105 (15) 151602. arXiv:1006.3794. Bibcode:2010PhRvL.105o1602S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.151602. PMID 21230891.
  11. ^ "LeRoy Apker Award Recipient". American Physical Society. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  12. ^ "Past Fellows". sloan.org. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  13. ^ "APS Fellow archive". APS. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  14. ^ "All Fellows – John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  15. ^ "Nine Leading Researchers Join Stephen Hawking as Distinguished Research Chairs at PI". Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
  16. ^ "Condensed matter physicist Subir Sachdev to deliver Salam Distinguished Lectures 2014".
  17. ^ "Lorentz Chair".
  18. ^ "Subir Sachdev NAS member".
  19. ^ "Dirac Medal awarded to Professor Subir Sachdev".
  20. ^ "2018 Lars Onsager Prize Recipient".
  21. ^ "ICTP – Dirac Medallists 2018". www.ictp.it.
  22. ^ "INSA Foreign Fellows elected".
  23. ^ "New 2019 Academy Members Announced". 17 April 2019.
  24. ^ "IAS honorary fellows".
  25. ^ "Solvay Institutes". www.solvayinstitutes.be. Archived from the original on 27 January 2025. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  26. ^ "Raman Chair | About IASc | Indian Academy of Sciences". www.ias.ac.in. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
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