Welcome Theory

We warmly welcome Silvia Trabucco as a PostDoc in our theory team! Silvia completed her PhD at the Gran Sasso Science Institute in the group of Massimo Mannarelli. During her PhD, together with our former group members Elena Poli and Thomas Bland, she contributed to the development of the first analog model of a neutron star using dipolar atoms in the supersolid phase.

Furthermore, Silvia was awarded with the two-year QuantA Fellowship 2025 – Empowering Women in Quantum Science, with her application titled “Unfolding neutron stars with supersolids”. Congratulations for this achievement and welcome to our group!

We welcome Damiano Alessandroni to our group! Damiano completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Physics in 2023 at Roma Tre University, and he is currently enrolled at the same university for his Master’s Degree in Theoretical Physics. During the TIQIT 2024 event, he was introduced to the research field of ultracold atoms. Now, he started working in our theory team for his master’s thesis.

We welcome two new members to our theory team!

Héctor Briongos is a visiting PhD student, staying from September 8 to December 6, and Marc Camus is starting his PhD in our group.

Héctor completed his bachelor studies in physics at the University of Valladolid and his master studies in quantum science and technology at the University of Barcelona. For his master thesis, he collaborated with Dr. Jose Ramón Martinez Saavedra at Quside Technologies. In January 2024, he started his PhD at the University of Barcelona, supervised by Montserrat Guilleumas and Bruno Juliá-Díaz.

Marc completed his bachelor and master studies in physics at the University of Barcelona. His master’s thesis, supervised by Bruno Juliá-Díaz, focused on a system of spin-polarized fermions in a one-dimensional harmonic trap interacting via p-wave scattering. After graduating in July 2025, he joins our theory team in September 2025 as a PhD student.

We say goodbye to our theory Post-Doc Pramodh Senarath Yapa! Pramodh joined the Theory Team back in November 2023 from the University of Alberta, where he completed his PhD in Condensed Matter Theory. Together with our former Post-Doc Tom Bland, Pramodh investigated the question “How solid is a dipolar supersolid?”, and remarkably, found supersonic shear waves in honeycomb dipolar supersolids. We wish you all the best for your future, Pramodh – it was a pleasure having you here with us!

We said goodbye to Postdoc Thomas Bland in December 2024! Dr. Bland joined the Ferlaino Group in December 2020 as one of the first members of the theory team. Tom was at the forefront of demystifying two-dimensional supersolidity, and we thank him for leading the theory team for four glorious years! Tom has now moved back to the UK and will soon start a new position as a senior researcher in the group of Stephanie M. Reimann at Lund University. Best of luck at your new position, Tom!

We bade farewell to the Theory group‘s visiting PhD student Silvia Trabucco on the 21st of October, 2024! Silvia joined us in the first week of September from Gran Sasso Science Institute in L’Aquila, Italy, to work with our PhD student, Elena Poli, on an already successful collaboration regarding vortices in a dipolar supersolid and their connection to glitches in neutron stars.

It was a pleasure to have you join us, Silvia, and we wish you the best with the rest of your PhD back in Gran Sasso!