We are excited to welcome Simon Michel to Lightwavelab!

Simon received his doctoral degree in 2024 from the Physics department at Hamburg University in the group of Prof. Michael Potthoff. He studied the adiabatic dynamics of localized magnets deposited on insulating lattice models. The development of an effective adiabatic theory enabled simulation of the long-time dynamics and he demonstrated that the spin Berry curvature influences the dynamics of the magnetic impurities in the adiabatic regime. He investigated the effect of the lattice model’s topology on the dynamics of magnetic impurities. The spin Berry curvature also gives rise to the spin Chern number, a topological invariant, where he studied topological phase transitions.

Coming from a background of condensed matter theory, Simon is into simulations and data analysis and is excited to develop his experimental skills. At the Laboratory for Lightwave Metrology he will delve into the physics of temporal dissipative solitons in free-space passive optical cavities.

In his free time, he enjoys bouldering and exploring nature.