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Here is some information that may be helpful about pursuing opportunities within our group. --JEM
Graduate Students
Like other US departments, Berkeley Physics has centralized admissions (link): students apply to the department as a whole rather than to individual faculty. There is a departmental open house every spring, and I am happy to discuss the graduate program with admitted students at that time, either in-person or remotely. I can also connect them with current graduate students.
Postdocs
The Berkeley condensed matter theory group typically posts a call for applications around November on AcademicJobsOnline. The Miller Fellowship program (link to miller institute) may also be of interest.
Undergraduates
Finding theoretical research positions for undergraduates before the final year is quite challenging, but I have advised several final-year honors theses.
I am willing to talk with undergraduates about the fields of condensed matter and quantum information theory and other matters; I am officially an Berkeley Physics undergraduate advisor for 2023-2024, with advising hours posted on the departmental website.
Introductions
Our work builds on concepts and techniques from statistical physics and quantum mechanics. A non-technical overview from 2019 of the physics of quantum materials by Bernhard Keimer (my first solid-state teacher) and me is here.
For a more basic introduction to solid state physics, Steve Simon has a textbook called The Oxford Solid State Basics. You can find my opinion of it on the back cover. Three graduate-level overviews, reflecting different tastes, are by Ashcroft and Mermin, Chaikin and Lubensky, and Girvin and Yang.
This book is specifically about topological phases:
Trivia: the bird on the front cover is contemplating topology, and the one on the back is contemplating symmetry.