Every year, Nano Area of Advance nominates candidates for the best PhD thesis in the field of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at Chalmers. This year the prize goes to Ludovico Tesser, Doctor in Applied Quantum Physics from MC2.
Ludovico was nominated by his supervisor Janine Splettstösser, professor in Applied Quantum Physics.
“For me it feels weird but fun to receive this prize, I already guessed Janine nominated me and until the end I was rather calm. And honestly, I only wrote it for myself, not thinking about what anyone else would feel about it”, says Ludovico.
Exploring noise and limits in Quantum Electron Flow
Ludovico has been writing his thesis in the field of quantum transport and thermodynamics.
“We studied currents in quantum circuits, where electrons flow while maintaining quantum mechanical properties. We can picture these quantum circuits as the dial of a watch, over which electrons move. But electrons are much more sensitive to their surroundings than the hand of a watch, which makes having precise quantum circuits more challenging. What I did was to study the noise that affects these quantum circuits and establish thermodynamic limits on this noise. Limits that do not depend on the specific hand or dial, but on the power dissipated (or, for quantum circuits even generated) by the device”, says Ludovico.
Critical mindset pushes him forward
“The academic landscape is very competitive, and everything you receive is good for your future career. But the most rewarding for me is to find answers to the research questions. I am very critical about my own work, and I always feel like I want to do more, but I guess this is what pushes me forward”, says Ludovico.
”Ludovico’s PhD thesis makes an important contribution to the field of quantum thermodynamics and quantum transport, it has led to many high-level publications, and was driven by his own ideas and intuition. Ludovico has been a highly appreciated and successful master thesis supervisor and has also been an excellent communicator: his thesis is extremely well written, he won a poster prize, and his SmallTalks contribution has been highlighted and is publicly available”, says Janine Splettstösser.
About the Arne Sjögrens prize
The prize has been made possible by a generous donation by Chalmers alumnus Arne Sjögren who in his will donated part of his estate to be used for the benefit of research in nanoscience and nanotechnology at Chalmers.
Besides the honor, the winner receives a prize sum of 30 000 SEK and is invited to present the PhD work at the upcoming Community Building Activity. Eligible candidates must have defended (or defend) their PhD thesis at Chalmers and can be nominated by their supervisor or examiner.