Ana Maria Rey | |
|---|---|
 Rey in 2014 | |
| Born | 1970 (age 54–55) Bogotá, Colombia |
| Alma mater | Universidad de los Andes,University of Maryland |
| Children | 1[2] |
| Awards | MacArthur Fellowship,Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award, Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award,Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Colorado Boulder,National Institute of Standards and Technology |
| Thesis | Ultracold bosonic atoms loaded in optical lattices (2004) |
| Doctoral advisor | Charles Clark[1] |
| Website | https://jila.colorado.edu/arey |
Ana Maria Rey is a Colombiantheoretical physicist and professor atUniversity of Colorado Boulder. She is also aJILA fellow, a fellow atNational Institute of Standards and Technology, and a fellow of theAmerican Physical Society.[3] Rey was the firstHispanic woman to win theBlavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in 2019.[4]In 2023, she was elected to theNational Academy of Sciences.[5] She is currently the chair ofDAMOP, theAmerican Physical Society's division inAtomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (AMO).[6]
Rey earned a bachelor's degree in physics atUniversidad de los Andes[7] inBogotá in 1999 with amagna cum laude distinction.[7] She got her Ph.D. in physics atUniversity of Maryland in 2004.[8] She was a postdoctoral researcher at theNational Institute of Standards and Technology from 2004 to 2005 in the group of Charles W. Clark.[7] She went on to work as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (ITAMP) atHarvard University[9] from 2005 to 2008.
After her postdoctoral position atITAMP, she joined theUniversity of Colorado Boulder Physics Department as an assistant research professor andJILA as an associate fellow in 2008. She was promoted toJILA Fellow in 2012 and shifted her position in the Department of Physics to adjoint professor in 2017.[10]
Rey is a theoretical quantum physicist who studies new techniques for controllingquantum systems and their applications ranging from quantum simulations and quantum information to time and frequency standards. Her research is often directly applicable to state-of-the-art experiments, particularly toatomic clocks,[11] quantum computing,[12] and precision measurements. Her contribution to the understanding of out-of-equilibrium quantum phenomena have led to pioneer measurements of quantum information scrambling, and the synthesis of magnetic and topological quantum materials. Her publications have been cited more than 11,000 times as of 2020.[13]
Rey is the principal investigator for the Rey Theory Group,[14] which focuses on orbitalquantum magnetism,quantum metrology,topological quantum matter,open quantum systems, and quantum state engineering.[15]
Growing up in the early 1990s, Rey's childhood was spent around the terrorist conflicts of Colombia'sRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, drug cartels, and the state's government.Car bombs were a common method of terrorism where she lived, causing her family's vehicle to be searched for bombs by the police whenever they drove around.[23]
However, despite living in such a dangerous environment, she always strived to gain knowledge. Hence, she would ask her high school physics teacher for more books in order to solve problems. This pattern seemed to continue throughout college, where she would ask professors for more work. By asking for more work, her goal out of this was to become more knowledgeable and grow.[24]
On July 29, 2000, Rey got married. Two days later, she immigrated to the United States.[2]
The most cited publications by Rey to the date are:[25]
