The IFT Severo Ochoa includes a strategic Excellence Visitor Program, with a number of IFT Severo Ochoa Distinguished Professor visiting positions awarded to internationally recognized world-leading scientists in the fields of Particle Physics, Astroparticles, Cosmology and Quantum Information. The aim of this program is to bolster collaborations of IFT teams with these international leaders and their institutions, and to enrich the IFT stimulating atmosphere through their visits.
Prof. Nima Arkani-Hamed
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Prof. Arkani-Hamed is one of the leading particle physics phenomenologists of his generation, in the interface between theory and experiment. His research has pioneered many approaches to Physics beyond the Standard Model, including the proposal of large extra dimensions, or the constraints on low-energy physics from UV completions of Quantum Gravity. His recent work explores the fundamental properties of scattering amplitudes in quantum theories using on-shell formulations. He has receives multiple awards, including the European Physical Society, Gribov Medal 2003, the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in Physics 2008, and the Fundamental Physics Prize 2012.
Prof. Juan Ignacio Cirac
Max Plank Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching
Prof. Cirac is one of the pioneers of the field of quantum computing and quantum information theory. His joint work with Peter Zoller on ion trap quantum computation opened up the possibility of experimental quantum computation, and his joint work on optical lattices jump started the field of quantum simulation. He has also made seminal contributions in the field of degenerated quantum gases, quantum optics and many body physics. Ignacio Cirac has been granted multiple awards, among them the 2006 Prince of Asturias Award, the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Basic Sciences category ex aequo with Peter Zoller, and The Franklin Institute’s 2010 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics (jointly with David J. Wineland and Peter Zoller), and the Wolf Prize in Physics with Peter Zoller in 2013. Since 2001 he has been the Director of the Theoretical Division of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany.
Prof. David B. Kaplan
University of Washington
Prof. Kaplan is one of the leading experts in Quantum Field Theory and its applications to several problems in Particle Physics, Cosmology, Nuclear and Condensed Matter Physics. He has received, among other awards, the Herman Feshbach Prize in Theoretical Nuclear Physics (2022).
Prof. Viatcheslav Mukhanov
Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, LMU
Prof. Mukhanov holds the Chair of Cosmology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. He is one of a select group of researchers who have made significant contributions to the theory of cosmic inflation. In 1980–81, together with G. Chibisov, he discovered that quantum fluctuations could be responsible for the large-scale structure of the universe. They calculated the spectrum of fluctuations in a model with a quasi-exponential stage of expansion, later known as inflation, in very good agreement with recent measurements of the CMB fluctuations. He has received numerous awards, the Gold Medal of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the Oskar Klein Medal, and in 2015 the Max Planck Medal. He has received the Chaire Blaise Pascal, a prestigious distinction awarded by the French Government, the Tomalla Prize by the Swiss Tomalla Foundation for Gravity Research, and the Amaldi Medal of the Italian Society for General Relativity. In 2013 he was awarded, with A. Staorbinsky, the Gruber Prize in Cosmology.
Prof. Lisa Randall
Harvard University
Prof. Randall is a leading expert on particle physics and cosmology. She has performed very influential contributions in both fields, the most prominent the Randall-Sundrun model involving extra dimensions of space. Prof. Randall has also had a public presence through her writing, lectures, and radio and TV appearances. Her book Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions was included in the New York Times’ 100 notable books of 2005, she was also included in Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” of 2007. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow of the American Physical Society. She has received the Premio Caterina Tomassoni e Felice Pietro Chisesi Award, the Julius Lilienfeld Prize of the American Physical Society, and the Benjamin Franklin Creativity Laureate in the Sciences. She is the Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science on the Physics faculty of Harvard University.
Prof. Cumrun Vafa
Harvard University
Prof. Vafa holds the Hollis Chair of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard University. He is a world-renowned expert in String Theory and its implications in the study of Quantum Gravity and the relations between geometry and Quantum Field Theory. He has received, among other awards, the Dirac Medal (2008) and the Breakthrough Prize in Physics Frontiers (2014).
Prof. Peter Zoller
University of Innsbruck
Prof. Zoller works on quantum optics and quantum information. He is best known for his pioneering research on quantum computing and quantum communication, and for bridging quantum optics and solid state physics. He has been the recipient, among other awards, of the Max Planck Medal (2005), Dirac Medal (2006), and the Wolf Prize in Physics (2013).