Postdoctoral Research Associate in Quantum Many-Body Systems

Overview

The Department of Physics at King's College London, part of the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences, is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Quantum Many-Body Systems. The role sits within a collaborative quantum science project on quantum algorithms and numerical methods for many-body dynamics that lie beyond standard classical simulation.

The project forms part of a collaboration on the Google Willow chip and aims to simulate highly occupied bosons coupled to qubits. Many problems in energy, materials and technology involve coupled fermionic, bosonic and qubit-like degrees of freedom, yet bosonic dynamics are hard to reach on near-term quantum hardware because the Hilbert spaces grow rapidly and the dynamics are nonlinear. The work combines circuit co-design for the Willow processor with classical benchmarking. This post focuses on the benchmarking side, using Pauli propagation, tensor networks and related numerical methods to simulate smaller systems and compare the results with quantum hardware. Because quick delivery is needed, candidates able to start immediately are strongly preferred.

Requirements

Applicants need a PhD in a relevant area such as theoretical or computational physics, quantum information, quantum computing, applied mathematics or computer science. Candidates who have submitted a thesis and await the award may be considered. Strong research experience in tensor networks, Pauli propagation, quantum algorithms, many-body physics or quantum simulation is required, along with excellent programming in Python, Julia, C++ or a similar language, the ability to carry out and validate independent numerical research, strong communication skills, and a commitment to open and reproducible research practice.

Experience with exact diagonalisation, bosonic or spin-boson models, high-performance computing, GPU acceleration or automated benchmarking is desirable.

What you get

The post is full time at 35 hours per week on a fixed-term contract of 9 months. Pay is £45,031 to £48,607 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance. Research staff receive at least 10 days a year, pro rata, for professional development, and remote working arrangements can be discussed.

Key dates

The closing date is 20 October 2026, and an early start before mid October is preferred.