I'm a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Portland, Oregon. I will join the regular faculty in August 2012.

My main research interests are in quantum theory: quantum decoherence, quantum information, and quantum foundations. I'm also interested in biophysics and the philosophy of science.

I'm author and editor of two books on quantum theory:

  • Elegance and Enigma: The Quantum Interviews (Springer, 2011) features interviews with physicists and philosophers about the deep questions of quantum theory.
  • Decoherence and the Quantum-to-Classical Transition (Springer, 2007) is a textbook covering all aspects of decoherence, from technical to philosophical.
    “Excellent.” —E. Merzbacher, Physics Today
    “Thorough and readable.” —A. Zeilinger, Nature
    “Highly recommended.” —N. P. Landsman, Studies
    “A must-have.” —C. Kiefer, Physik-Journal

I'm also a Series Editor for the Springer series The Frontiers Collection and Quantum Science and Technology, and a member of the Foundational Questions Institute.

News

(may 2, 2012) I have been awarded a grant from the Foundational Questions Institute toward setting up modern teaching experiments that demonstrate foundational issues of quantum theory to undergraduate students at the University of Portland.

(march 21, 2012) New preprint (with Arthur Fine): “On a recent quantum no-go theorem,” arXiv:1203.4779v1 [quant-ph]
An analysis of what the recent headline-making PBR theorem may (and may not) be telling us.

(jan 11, 2012) Here's a blog post I wrote for the FQXi website about my new book, Elegance and Enigma: The Quantum Interviews.