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Nicole Yunger Halpern

National Institute of Standards and Technology & University of Maryland

RQS Senior Investigator
QuICS Fellow - Nicole Yunger Halpern

Additional Information

Bio

Nicole Yunger Halpern is a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland. She is also a Fellow of the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science and an affiliate of the Joint Quantum Institute. Yunger Halpern re-envisions 19th-century thermodynamics for the 21st century, using the mathematical toolkit of quantum information theory. She received her doctorate in physics from Caltech in 2018.

Recent Publications

Research Group

Affiliated Research Centers

Recent News

  • Visual of the Quantum research described in the article

    A New Take on the Oldest Physics: What Actually Happened Right After the Big Bang?

    April 7, 2025

    Senior investigators Zohreh Davoudi, Nicole Yunger Halpern, and Chris Jarzynski worked on a new collaboration at the Institute for Robust Quantum Simulation to blend three disparate fields of physics — the study of elementary particles and their interactions, the understanding of temperature and heat in quantum mechanics, and quantum simulation — to create a novel approach to understanding and modeling the physics of the early universe and high-energy collisions.

  • An eight-inch in diameter sculpture blending steampunk’s brass and gears with the mind-bending world of quantum physics.

    RQS Senior Investigator Helps Sculpt Quantum Mechanics into Reality

    March 12, 2025

    Nicole Yunger Halpern teamed up with an artist to create a sculpture that brings quantum concepts to life.

  • Photo of an imagined quantum device.

    ‘Quantum Steampunk’ Creative Writing Course Explores the Science of Science Fiction

    February 14, 2025

    RQS senior investigator Nicole Yunger Halpern is collaborating with English lecturer Edward Daschle to co-teach a course that combines quantum energy and science fiction.