Biography
Leon Balents a theoretical physicist working on quantum states of matter. Dr. Balents received his bachelor's degree from MIT in Physics and Mathematics in 1989, and PhD from Harvard in 1994. He was a postdoc at the then-ITP, and then spent time at Bell Laboratories as a member of technical staff. In 1999, Dr. Balents joined the faculty of the physics department at UCSB, and in 2008 was appointed as a Permanent Member at the KITP.
Leon Balents' research group studies how many quantum particles interact with one another to collectively produce "emergent" phenomena. While some of these assemblies of particles are familiar (for example every rock is one), some may do remarkable things. (Even some of those rocks may be remarkable!). The research group seeks to find the remarkable examples, understand how to study and use them in the laboratory, and how new and beautiful mathematical structures describe them.
Find more on Dr. Balents' group web page https://spinsandelectrons.com/.