Paul Cadden-Zimansky, Presidential Fellow 2006-2008
Physics and Astronomy
Mesoscopic Physics Group

> How would you describe your research in 1 or 2 sentences?

I am a physicist who works making and examining devices that lie between the classical (big) and quantum (small) worlds.

> Can you explain that a little further?

I mostly work with superconductors. On the microscopic scale, superconductors contain pairs of electrons which are usually considered a single quantum mechanical object. However, the electrons composing this pair can be separated by rather large distances on the microscopic scale, hundreds of atoms apart. I make small, nanoscale devices containing superconductors where one electron in the pair can probe one part of the device and the second another other part of the device. Since each electron communicates with the other, I can use these pairs to take two or more spatially separate materials and make them communicate in ways only allowed by the strange rules of quantum mechanics.

> How did you decide to enter your field, and what brought you to your topic?

Well, that's a long and complicated story. Briefly, a lot of my previous education was in the history and philosophy of science, with an emphasis on the history of the development of quantum mechanics in the early twentieth century and the philosophical implications of a world that is (at least partially) governed by quantum mechanics. I reached the conclusion that many of the philosophical questions (and even a couple of the historical ones) would be better illuminated by continuing research in the physical sciences where, in the past couple of decades, technology has progressed to the point that debates that were formerly the province of armchair physicists and philosophers can now be arbitrated by laboratory experiments.

> Who is your advisor?

Venkat Chandrasekhar

> What are your interests outside of research?

In addition to scientific research I'm interested in science education and science's role in public policy. More concretely, I've spent time training undergraduates, high school students, and high school teachers in laboratory techniques and have participated in a number of hands-on physics outreach events for local K-12 students. On the public policy side, I traveled to Washington, DC this spring to lobby congress for proposed increases in basic science funding.

> What are your future plans?

Since I enjoy science education and science policy in addition to scientific research, there are many careers I'd be happy pursuing and I don't see any need to narrow down my options right now. It's also always fun to do something entirely different.