Dr. Thomas Waddleton

Thomas Waddleton earned a PhD in Physics from Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Physics & Astronomy. He was interested in various aspects of generalized symmetries realized by topological operators acting on quantum systems, a novel perspective in the study of such systems. He showed how categorical symmetries can emerge in holography using concrete examples where he translated the ideas to more standard physical understanding, and described how such symmetries act on physical systems. His discoveries make possible checks of many interesting ideas of categorical symmetries in physics.

Dr. Waddleton’s postdoctoral research in the Department of Physics at Technion–Israel Institute of Technology centers on quantum field theory, or QFT, so far the most accurate and experimentally-verified framework in the history of physics. Within this framework, symmetries hold a central role. Dr. Waddleton uses generalized symmetries to better understand QFT, with an emphasis on how the theory interacts with gravity. In the future, he hopes his work contributes to progress towards understanding various unexplored phenomena within both QFT and gravity.

Dr. Waddleton’s dedication to teaching was recognized with a departmental prize for excellence. He reaches an even larger audience via an online community dedicated to physics research and education that he owns and helps to moderate. It has over 51,000 members.