PhD Position in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics (three years) (m/f/x)

The Research Group of Prof. Ilya M. Eremin at Theoretical Physics III at Ruhr University Bochum conducts research on the theory of quantum materials, with a particular focus on strongly correlated electron systems, unconventional superconductivity, magnetism, and collective phenomena. Our research aims at developing a microscopic understanding of emergent electronic phases in quantum materials and their experimentally observable signatures. A central focus of our current research is the physics of unconventional superconductors and correlated quantum materials, including recently discovered nickelate superconductors. These systems provide a particularly rich platform in which electronic correlations, orbital degrees of freedom, magnetism, structural effects, and superconductivity are intimately intertwined. Understanding their phase diagrams and excitation spectra requires the development and application of advanced many-body theoretical approaches.

One PhD position in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics is available in the Research Group Theoretical Physics III at Ruhr University Bochum. The successful candidate will investigate microscopic mechanisms of unconventional superconductivity and competing electronic phases in strongly correlated quantum materials. Particular emphasis will be placed on multiorbital systems such as bilayer and multilayer nickelates, although related problems in cuprates and other unconventional superconductors may also be addressed. The project will combine analytical and numerical many-body techniques, including tight-binding and multiorbital models, Green's-function methods, mean-field and Bogoliubov–de Gennes approaches, and methods for treating electronic correlations and collective excitations. Depending on the specific research direction and the candidate's interests, functional renormalization group, slave-boson/Gutzwiller approaches, random-phase approximation, and numerical calculations of experimentally measurable response functions may also be employed. An important aspect of the project will be the close connection between microscopic theory and current experiments, including spectroscopy, transport, and scattering measurements. The PhD researcher will work in an active international research environment and interact closely with theoretical and experimental collaborators in Germany and abroad.