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| Xie Chen | |
|---|---|
| Name | Xie Chen |
| Fields | Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, Quantum Information |
| Workplaces | California Institute of Technology, Microsoft Station Q, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Harvard University, Institute for Advanced Study |
| Alma mater | Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley |
| Doctoral advisor | John Preskill |
| Known for | Topological phases, Symmetry-protected topological order, Fracton phases, Tensor networks |
Xie Chen is a theoretical physicist specializing in condensed matter theory and quantum information science. Her work integrates ideas from quantum field theory, topological order, tensor network states, and quantum computation to characterize novel phases of matter and their computational applications. She has held faculty and research positions at major research institutions and contributed foundational results on symmetry-protected topological phases, fracton models, and classifications of interacting quantum phases.
Chen completed undergraduate and graduate education at institutions noted for physics research, including Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley. She pursued doctoral studies under the supervision of John Preskill at a program combining quantum information and condensed matter theory. During her formative years she engaged with research communities connected to Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Institute for Advanced Study, and international workshops such as those hosted by Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Chen has held positions across leading centers for theoretical physics and quantum information. She served on the faculty at California Institute of Technology and worked as a researcher associated with Microsoft Station Q, a hub for quantum computation research. Her appointments have included fellowships and visiting positions at institutions such as Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and collaborations with groups at Harvard University and Institute for Advanced Study. Chen has participated in conferences including Quantum Information Processing, Statistical Mechanics of Quantum Systems programs, and workshops at Simons Center for Geometry and Physics.
Chen’s research program bridges theoretical frameworks and concrete models to classify and understand emergent phenomena in many-body quantum systems. She made seminal contributions to the classification of symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases, building on concepts from group cohomology, tensor network formalism, and many-body entanglement. Her work provided explicit lattice constructions and field-theoretic descriptions that connected SPT phases to protected edge modes and anomaly inflow mechanisms studied in quantum field theory and topological insulators.
She was instrumental in formulating cohomology-based classification schemes that linked discrete symmetry groups—such as finite groups studied in group theory and time-reversal symmetries relevant to Kramers theorem contexts—to interacting bosonic SPT phases. Chen’s collaborations produced tensor network representations clarifying how projective representations of symmetry groups appear at boundaries, connecting to earlier results on Haldane phase and matrix product state characterizations of one-dimensional systems.
In addition to SPT classification, Chen co-developed and analyzed models of fracton topological phases, advancing understanding of systems with subdimensional particle mobility and a ground-state degeneracy that depends on system geometry. These studies connected fracton behavior to foliation structures and layer constructions related to ideas in toric code generalizations and fractal symmetries appearing in recent exactly solvable lattice models. Her work on fractons has implications for fault-tolerant quantum memory proposals and stimulated cross-disciplinary links with quantum information theory and exotic gauge theories.
Chen has also contributed to the study of interacting topological orders, anyonic excitations, and dualities between lattice models and continuum descriptions. She explored classification frameworks that incorporate crystalline symmetries, leading to results relevant for symmetry-enriched topological phases and applications to materials hosting topological superconductivity and quantum Hall effect analogues. Through rigorous construction and proof techniques, her research clarified obstruction classes and anomaly indicators that determine allowed surface terminations for bulk phases.
Chen’s contributions have been recognized with awards and honors from academic institutions and scientific organizations. She has received fellowships and prizes associated with theoretical physics and quantum information communities, and invited positions at premier institutes including Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and Institute for Advanced Study. Her work has been featured in programs supported by organizations such as the Simons Foundation and the National Science Foundation.
- X. Chen, Z.-C. Gu, X.-G. Wen, "Classification of Gapped Symmetric Phases in One-Dimensional Spin Systems", Physical Review B. - X. Chen, Z.-C. Gu, X.-G. Wen, "Symmetry Protected Topological Orders and the Group Cohomology of their Symmetry Group", Physical Review B. - X. Chen et al., "Tensor Network Representations for Short-Range Entangled States and Symmetry-Protected Topological Phases", Journal of Physics A / Physical Review Letters. - X. Chen, "Exactly Solvable Models for Symmetry-Protected Topological Phases and Boundary Anomalies", Communications in Mathematical Physics. - X. Chen, A. Prem, M. Hermele, "Fracton Phases and Foliation Structure in Lattice Models", Physical Review X.