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Charles D. Brown II

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Charles D. Brown II
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Yale University
Scientific career
FieldsAtomic, molecular, and optical physics, many-body physics, ultracold atoms, optical lattices, quantum simulation, quantum optomechanics
InstitutionsYale University
ThesisOptical, Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Superfluid Liquid Helium Drops Magnetically-Levitated in Vacuum (2019)
Jack Harris

Charles D. Brown II is an American physicist and assistant professor at Yale University,[1] studying many-body physics of ultracold atoms in optical lattices and quantum simulation of quantum materials. Brown is also a lead organiser of #BlackInPhysics week, a campaign to recognise and amplify the scientific contributions of Black physicists.[2][3]

Early life and education

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Brown studied physics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, receiving a Bachelor of Science in 2013.[4] During his undergraduate studies, he carried out a 10-week research placement at the University of Chicago supported by the National Science Foundation.[5]

He obtained a PhD in physics from Yale University in 2019, working in the group of Jack Harris on quantum fluid dynamics.[6][7] His thesis investigated the optomechanical properties of superfluid liquid helium drops,[8][9] specifically studying the interaction between optical modes and surface vibrations of magnetically levitated superfluid drops.[10][11]

Brown received the Leigh Page Prize (2013) and the D. Allan Bromley Fellowship for Graduate Research in Physics (2017) from Yale.[12] He was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in 2014 and a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship in 2018.[13][14][12]

During his graduate studies, Brown was a student representative on the Board of the National Society of Black Physicists.[15] He also co-founded the Yale League of Black Scientists.[16]

Research career

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Postdoctoral research

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From 2019 to 2022, Brown was a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Dan Stamper-Kurn at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied ultracold atoms trapped in two-dimensional optical lattices.[17][18] His research focused on many-body physics phenomena of atoms in optical lattices with kagome geometries.[19][20] During this time he received a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (2020) and the Quantum Creators Prize from the University of Chicago's Chicago Quantum Exchange (2021).[12][21]

Yale faculty

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Brown joined the Department of Physics at Yale University as an assistant professor in January 2023.[1][12] His research group uses ultracold atoms trapped in optical lattice potentials to perform quantum simulation experiments, exploring how geometry and topology affect emergent properties in exotic quantum materials.[22] The group is constructing experiments to study the physics of quasicrystals using ultracold atoms in optical quasicrystal lattice potentials.[23] Brown is a member of the Yale Quantum Institute and of Yale's Wright Laboratory.[22]

Advocacy

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Brown was one of the organisers of the first #BlackInPhysics Week, held between 25 and 31 October 2020 alongside Jessica Esquivel and Eileen Gonzales.[24][25] The campaign was inspired by the success of Black Birders Week,[26] and set out to increase the visibility and recognition of Black physicists and their contributions to physics, as well as providing a community of collaboration and support for Black physicists worldwide.[27] The initiative gained widespread media coverage and support from organisations such as Nature Physics,[28] Physics World,[29] Physics Today,[30] and the American Institute of Physics.[31]

Brown is a member of the National Society of Black Physicists[32] and serves as an at-large director on the board of the American Institute of Physics.[33]

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Charles D. Brown II". Yale University. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
  2. ^ "WE ARE BLACK IN PHYSICS". Black In Physics. 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  3. ^ "#BlackInPhysics week set to celebrate Black physicists". Physics World. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  4. ^ "Commentary: Disentangling anti-Blackness from physics". Physics Today. 2020 (3) 0720a. 2020. Bibcode:2020PhT..2020c.720.. doi:10.1063/PT.6.3.20200720a. S2CID 241776229.
  5. ^ "The physics community needs to include, listen to and hire Black scientists". The Berkeley Blog. 2020-08-24. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  6. ^ "Charles Brown | Department of Physics". physics.yale.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  7. ^ Shkarin, A. B.; Kashkanova, A. D.; Brown, C. D.; Garcia, S.; Ott, K.; Reichel, J.; Harris, J. G. E. (2019-04-15). "Quantum Optomechanics in a Liquid". Physical Review Letters. 122 (15) 153601. arXiv:1709.02794. Bibcode:2019PhRvL.122o3601S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.153601. PMID 31050504. S2CID 119411745.
  8. ^ Misenti, Victoria (2019-09-19). "Charles Brown defends graduate thesis: "Optical, Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Superfluid Liquid Helium Drops Magnetically-Levitated in Vacuum"". Wright Laboratory. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  9. ^ Childress, L.; Schmidt, M. P.; Kashkanova, A. D.; Brown, C. D.; Harris, G. I.; Aiello, A.; Marquardt, F.; Harris, J. G. E. (2017-12-29). "Cavity optomechanics in a levitated helium drop". Physical Review A. 96 (6) 063842. arXiv:1708.01803. Bibcode:2017PhRvA..96f3842C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.96.063842. S2CID 51828135.
  10. ^ Brown II, Charles Darly (2019). Optical, Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Superfluid Liquid Helium Drops Magnetically-Levitated in Vacuum (PDF). Yale University.
  11. ^ Kashkanova, A. D.; Shkarin, A. B.; Brown, C. D.; Flowers-Jacobs, N. E.; Childress, L.; Hoch, S. W.; Hohmann, L.; Ott, K.; Reichel, J.; Harris, J. G. E. (January 2017). "Superfluid Brillouin optomechanics". Nature Physics. 13 (1): 74–79. arXiv:1602.05640. Bibcode:2017NatPh..13...74K. doi:10.1038/nphys3900. ISSN 1745-2481. S2CID 10880961.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shelton, Jim (2023-02-01). "Enchanted by science as a child, Yale physicist now probes quantum riddles". Yale News. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  13. ^ "Press Release Roster: Ford Foundation Fellowships Scholar Award List 2018". nrc58.nas.edu. Archived from the original on 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  14. ^ Misenti, Victoria (2019-05-28). "Graduate Student Charles Brown has won a 2018 Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship". Wright Laboratory. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  15. ^ "Charles Brown (Graduate Student) is Student Representative for the National Society of Black Physicists | Department of Physics". physics.yale.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  16. ^ "Tonima Ananna (Graduate Student) and Charles Brown (Graduate Student) have been named co-recipients of the 2017 D. Allan Bromley Graduate Fellowship in Physics | Department of Physics". physics.yale.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  17. ^ "Part of the revolution: Black representation in AI and quantum information". Physics World. 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  18. ^ "Charles Brown". UC Berkeley Ultracold Atomic Physics. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  19. ^ Stevens, Chester (2020-10-26). "Charles D. Brown II '19 Ph.D. on research and outreach". University News HQ. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  20. ^ Leung, Tsz-Him; Schwarz, Malte N.; Chang, Shao-Wen; Brown, Charles D.; Unnikrishnan, Govind; Stamper-Kurn, Dan (2020-09-21). "Interaction-Enhanced Group Velocity of Bosons in the Flat Band of an Optical Kagome Lattice". Physical Review Letters. 125 (13) 133001. arXiv:2007.05928. Bibcode:2020PhRvL.125m3001L. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.133001. PMID 33034463. S2CID 220496237.
  21. ^ "Alumnus Charles Brown (Ph.D. 2019 with Jack Harris) selected as a recipient of the Quantum Creators Prize". Yale Department of Physics. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  22. ^ a b "Charles Brown". Yale Wright Laboratory. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  23. ^ a b "Three Yale Physicists Receive Early Career Awards". Yale Department of Physics. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  24. ^ Hershberger, Scott. "#BlackInPhysics week to build community, increase visibility". Symmetry Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  25. ^ "Meet the organizers of #BlackInPhysics Week". Physics Today. 2020 (4) 1026b. 2020-10-26. Bibcode:2020PhT..2020R1026.. doi:10.1063/pt.6.4.20201026b. ISSN 1945-0699. S2CID 243455670.
  26. ^ Lang, Katie (2020-12-21). "'A time of reckoning.' How scientists confronted anti-Black racism and built community in 2020". Science | AAAS. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  27. ^ "Celebrating Black physicists". Physics World. 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  28. ^ Brown, Charles D.; Gonzales, Eileen (January 2021). "Excellence and power in the Black physics community". Nature Physics. 17 (1): 3–4. Bibcode:2021NatPh..17....3B. doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01140-9. ISSN 1745-2481. S2CID 230508779.
  29. ^ "#BlackInPhysics". Physics World. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  30. ^ "Part of the revolution: Black representation in AI and quantum information". Physics Today. 2020 (4) 1030b. 2020. Bibcode:2020PhT..2020R1030.. doi:10.1063/PT.6.4.20201030b. S2CID 243026490.
  31. ^ "AIP Showcases #BlackinPhysics Week with Essays, Oral Histories, Social Media Outreach". www.newswise.com. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  32. ^ "Innovate Seminar Series: Charles Brown". National Society of Black Physicists. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  33. ^ "Charles Brown named an at-large director for the American Institute of Physics (AIP)". Yale Department of Physics. 2024-04-23. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  34. ^ "Alumnus Charles Brown (Ph.D. 2019 with Jack Harris) selected as a recipient of the Quantum Creators Prize". Yale Department of Physics. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  35. ^ "Charles Brown II Receives Chancellor's Award for Civic Engagement". May 20, 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  36. ^ "2023 Joseph A. Johnson Award Goes to Yale University Professor of Physics Charles D. Brown II". American Institute of Physics. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  37. ^ "Yale physicist honored for research excellence". Yale Department of Physics. 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
  38. ^ "Charles Brown awarded Air Force Research Laboratory Young Investigator Program Award". Yale Department of Physics. Retrieved 2025-02-22.
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