Andrea Kouta Dagnino

Who am I?

My name is Andrea Kouta Dagnino. I have a BSc in Mathematics from the Open University, and in October I'll be starting my MASt in Physics at the University of Cambridge. My career goal would be to become a theoretical condensed matter physicist, specialising in topological phases of matter and out-of-equilibrium quantum dynamics. Outside of my university studies I like to record lecture videos on my youtube channel Fisika lectures to help other aspiring physics students.

Curriculum Vitae

Here is my CV:

Research

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3D plot of the Berry curvature in the Haldane model

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Berry connection x-component in the Haldane model

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Berry connection y-component in the Haldane model

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Berry curvature in the Haldane model and the Berry connection vector field

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Edge states of the Haldane model in a finite graphene zig-zag nanoribbon

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Lower band structure of the Haldane model

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Upper band structure of the Haldane model

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Phase diagram of the haldane model with t2/t1=0.2

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Image of the First Brouillin zone under the QWZ hamiltonian

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Thermalisation in Quantum systems

Topological matter

MYP Personal Project

Lecture notes

Throughout the past year I have been typesetting a set of lecture notes, which I like to refer to as the "Undergraduate companion to Theoretical physics", on major topics in the undergraduate physics curriculum. I have supplemented some of these notes with lecture videos on my youtube channel. Although this project is nowhere near being complete, here are the most up-to-date versions of the UG companion:
Mathematical methods
Classical Physics
Electromagnetism
Thermal and Statistical physics
Quantum mechanics
Modern physics

Essays

I have also compiled a few expository essays on topics in theoretical physics that have peaked my interest. These include
1) Berry phase, the Quantum Hall effect and Topological order : We discuss the importance of geometric phase in condensed matter phenomenology, and in particular in the study of the Hall conductance quantization in the Integer Quantum Hall effect (IQHE), whose generaliza-tion will lead us to the concept of Chern, and more generally, topological insulators. We review how grapheneand topological semimetals exhibit properties of topological insulators despite the absence of a magnetic field.Finally, we present a general overview of topological QFT and Chern-Simons theory in which we formalizeour discussion on the IQHE. and to materials manifesting topologically protected phases of matter.
2) The use of Josephson junctions in constructing qubits with long decoherence times (final year project) : we provide an overview of the BCS theory of superconductivity and its implication of the Josephson effect. We then explain how Josephson tunnelling may be exploited to create three types of qubits which are based on the charge, flux and phase degrees of freedom of the Josephson tunnel junction. We analysed the different decoherence mechanisms that can affect each of these qubits, and how they can and/or have been mitigated, discussing both theoretical and experimental progress. Finally, a road-map for future directions in research is presented.

Elements

i = 0;

while (!deck.isInOrder()) {
    print 'Iteration ' + i;
    deck.shuffle();
    i++;
}

print 'It took ' + i + ' iterations to sort the deck.';