Jun Ye (Chinese: 叶军; pinyin: Yè Jūn; born 1967) is a Chinese-American physicist at JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the University of Colorado Boulder, working primarily in the field of atomic, molecular, and optical physics.

Jun Ye
Jun Ye in 2015
Born1967 (age 56–57)
Alma materShanghai Jiao Tong University (B.S.);
University of New Mexico (M.S.);
University of Colorado at Boulder (Ph.D.)
Known forAtomic clocks, ultracold molecules, precision spectroscopy, frequency combs
AwardsDepartment of Commerce Gold Medal (2001, 2011, 2014)
Arthur S. Flemming Award (2005)
Carl Zeiss Research Award (2007)
William F. Meggers Award (2007)
I.I. Rabi Prize in Atomic, Molecular or Optical Physics (2007)
Elected to the National Academy of Sciences (2011)
Presidential Rank Award (2015)
Norman F. Ramsey Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, and in Precision Tests of Fundamental Laws and Symmetries (2019)
Micius Quantum Prize (2020)
Niels Bohr Institute Medal of Honour (2021)
Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2022)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsNational Institute of Standards and Technology; JILA;
University of Colorado at Boulder
Doctoral advisorJohn L. Hall
NIST physicist Jun Ye adjusts the laser setup for a strontium atomic clock in his laboratory at JILA in 2009.

Education & career edit

Ye was born in Shanghai, China, shortly after the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. His father was a naval officer and his mother an environmental scientist. He was primarily raised by his grandmother.[1] Ye graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1989. He then moved to the United States to commence graduate studies, completing a master's degree at the University of New Mexico under Marlan Scully in theoretical quantum optics in 1991. He also gained experience in experimental physics under John McInerney working on semiconductor lasers, and spent a summer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.[1]

Ye then went to the University of Colorado Boulder to begin a Ph.D. in physics. He was accepted as the last graduate student of eventual Nobel Prize laureate John L. Hall. His thesis was on high-resolution and high-sensitivity molecular spectroscopy, which he completed in 1997.[2] He then moved to California Institute of Technology as a Milikan Postdoctoral Fellow, working under Jeff Kimble.[3]

Ye moved back to Boulder and JILA as a JILA Associate Fellow and NIST physicist in 1999. John Hall donated most of his lab space to him.[1] He was promoted to full Fellow in 2001 and has been there since, establishing a research program in AMO physics and precision measurement.[4]

Research edit

Ye's research focuses on ultracold atoms, ultracold molecules, and laser-based precision measurement. In 2018 JILA reported that the 3D quantum gas clock reached a frequency precision of 2.5 × 10−19 over 6 hours.[5]

Such clocks could potentially be used for research into variations in the Earth's gravitational field, searching for particles of dark matter, performing quantum simulations of many-body physics, and investigating the fundamental nature of light and matter.[6][7] He also conducts research on strontium for experiments in quantum information science (collaborating with Mikhail Lukin, Ana Maria Rey, Peter Zoller, and others).[8]

Popularization of science edit

Ye appeared in the 2018 Netflix documentary The Most Unknown[9] on scientific research directed by Ian Cheney.

Honors and awards edit

Ye has received numerous awards in the field of science, particularly AMO physics. These include:

In 2015, President Obama selected Jun Ye to receive a Presidential Rank Award for “sustained extraordinary accomplishment”, citing his work advancing "the frontier of light-matter interaction and focusing on precision measurement, quantum physics and ultracold matter, optical frequency metrology, and ultrafast science."[23] He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society[24] and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America. In 2011 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences,[25] and also named a Frew Fellow from the Australian Academy of Science. In 2017, Ye was elected as a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.[26]

He is one of the most highly cited researchers in experimental atomic physics in the world, having according to Google Scholar a h-index of 120 (As of 2022)[27] and being regularly named as a Thomson-Reuters (ISI) Highly Cited Researcher.[28]

Ye also holds four U.S. Patents for frequency combs and laser technology.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Jun Ye | JILA Science". jila.colorado.edu. Archived from the original on June 15, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  2. ^ "John Hall's JILA Home Page". jila.colorado.edu. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  3. ^ "Quantum Optics: Past Members". quantumoptics.caltech.edu. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  4. ^ "Ye Group". jilawww.colorado.edu. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  5. ^ Laura Ost (March 5, 2018). "JILA Team Invents New Way to 'See' the Quantum World". JILA. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  6. ^ "About Time | JILA Science". jila.colorado.edu. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  7. ^ "The most accurate clock ever built only loses one second every 15 billion years". The Verge. April 22, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
  8. ^ "Research | Ye Group". jilawww.colorado.edu. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  9. ^ "The Most Unknown (2018) - IMDb". www.imdb.com. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  10. ^ "GW News Center". www.gwu.edu. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  11. ^ "Profile: Prof. Dr. Jun Ye". www.humboldt-foundation.de. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  12. ^ "William F. Meggers Award – Awards – OSA.org | The Optical Society". www.osa.org. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  13. ^ "Carl Zeiss Research Award". www.zeiss.com. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  14. ^ "Prize Recipient". www.aps.org. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  15. ^ "Fifty-Third Annual Honor Awards Program" (PDF). US Department of Commerce – Office of Human Resources Management. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  16. ^ NIST, US Department of Commerce (December 7, 2011). "National Institute of Standards and Technology Recognizes Staff". www.nist.gov. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  17. ^ "2019 - Gold Medal Award---Kyle Beloy, David Hume, David Leibrandt, Andrew Ludlow, Nathan Newbury, Jeffrey Sherman, Laura Sinclair, William Swann, Jun Ye". NIST. November 14, 2019.
  18. ^ "2022 - Gold Medal Award---Jun Ye". NIST. December 22, 2022.
  19. ^ NIST, US Department of Commerce (December 10, 2014). "National Institute of Standards and Technology Presents 2014 Awards to Outstanding Employees". www.nist.gov. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  20. ^ "Norman F. Ramsey Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, and in Precision Tests of Fundamental Laws and Symmetries". www.aps.org. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  21. ^ "Winners of the 2022 Breakthrough Prizes in life sciences, fundamental physics and mathematics announced". Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  22. ^ "Dr Jun Ye receives the 2021 Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics". www.springer.com. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  23. ^ "Jun Ye Selected for 2015 Presidential Rank Award | JILA Science". jilawww.colorado.edu. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  24. ^ "APS Fellow Archive". www.aps.org. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  25. ^ NIST, US Department of Commerce (May 10, 2011). "NIST/JILA Physicist Jun Ye Elected to National Academy of Sciences". www.nist.gov. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  26. ^ "关于公布2017年中国科学院院士增选当选院士名单的公告" (in Chinese). Chinese Academy of Sciences. November 28, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  27. ^ Jun Ye publications indexed by Google Scholar
  28. ^ "Home | Highly Cited Researchers". Highly Cited Researchers. Retrieved November 25, 2015.