PhD Studentship: Curvature, Topology and Nonlinear Excitations in Quantum Fluids

Primary Supervisor - Dr Davide Proment

This PhD will explore an emerging frontier in quantum-fluid physics: the interplay between geometry, topology and nonlinear dynamics in superfluid helium films and ultracold Bose–Einstein condensates confined to curved two-dimensional surfaces. 

Recent advances are making it possible to create quantum fluids on spherical shells and other unusual geometries. Our recent work has revealed striking new physics on a sphere: rotating vortex dipoles can continuously transform into vortex-free Jones–Roberts solitary waves, which subsequently hybridize with collective modes associated with the spherical geometry [1]. You will build on these results to investigate how curvature and topology reshape vortices, solitons, sound, instabilities and quantum turbulence. 

Using analytical theory and large-scale numerical simulations of nonlinear quantum-fluid models, you will study systems ranging from spheres and tori to more general curved surfaces. How does topology constrain vortex configurations? Can curvature stabilise entirely new solitary waves? How does rotation generate vortices and turbulence on closed surfaces? What signatures could be observed experimentally? 

The project offers considerable freedom to pursue directions matching your interests, including connections to finite-temperature physics, many-body effects and quantum sensing. 

You will join an international research programme led by Dr Davide Proment at the University of East Anglia (UEA), with opportunities for research visits and close collaboration with theorists at the University of São Carlos (Brazil) and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid), and experimentalists at Lancaster University and CNR-INO/LENS in Florence. 

Davide Proment is a theoretical and computational physicist working on quantum fluids, nonlinear waves, vortices and turbulence. You will join his international network of collaborators at UEA in Norwich, a vibrant city close to the Norfolk countryside and coast. For further information, contact d.proment@uea.ac.uk. 

Entry requirements

The standard minimum entry requirement is 2:1 in Physics, Mathematics, (or relevant Natural Sciences, Computer Sciences, Engineering, …)

Mode of study

Full-time

Start date

1 October 2027

Additional Funding Information

This PhD project is in a competition for a Faculty of Science funded studentship. Funding is available to UK applicants and comprises ‘home’ tuition fees and an annual stipend for 3 years. The current UEA / institutional PhD stipend rate is £21,805 and will be subject to any agreed inflationary uplift for 2027/28.

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