Steven H. Simon (born 1967) is an American

theoretical A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

professor at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

(since 2009) and professorial fellow of

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

(since 2016). From 2000 to 2008 he was the director of theoretical physics research at

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

. He ha
served
on the UK EPSRC Physical Sciences Strategic Advisory Board. He is known for his work on topological phases of matter,

topological quantum computing A topological quantum computer is a theoretical quantum computer proposed by Russian-American physicist Alexei Kitaev in 1997. It employs quasiparticles in two-dimensional systems, called anyons, whose world lines pass around one another to fo ...

, and

fractional quantum Hall effect The fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) is a physical phenomenon in which the Hall conductance of 2-dimensional (2D) electrons shows precisely quantized plateaus at fractional values of e^2/h. It is a property of a collective state in which elec ...

. He is a co-author of a highly cited review on these subjects. He has also written many papers in the field of

information theory Information theory is the scientific study of the quantification (science), quantification, computer data storage, storage, and telecommunication, communication of information. The field was originally established by the works of Harry Nyquist a ...

. He is the author of a popular introductory book on

solid state physics Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state physics studies how the l ...

entitled ''The Oxford Solid State Basics''. He is married to political science professo
Janina Dill

Education

Simon received a bachelor of science in physics and math from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1990. He earned a doctorate in physics from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1995. At Harvard, Simon's advisor was

Bertrand Halperin Bertrand I. Halperin (born December 6, 1941) is an American physicist, former holder of the Hollis Chair of Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy at the physics department of Harvard University. Biography Halperin was born in Brooklyn, New York, ...

, Hollis Chair of Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy. As a postdoctoral researcher he worked with

Patrick A. Lee Patrick A. Lee (born 8 September 1946, British Hong Kong) is a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After spending ten years with the Theoretical Physics Department at Bell Laboratories, Lee joined MIT in 19 ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

Awards

* 2013

Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award The Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award was an award made by the Royal Society from 2000 to 2020. It was administered by the Royal Society and jointly funded by the Wolfson Foundation and the UK Office of Science and Technology, to provide ...

* 2009 ETS Walton Fellow * 2005 Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

for contributions to low-dimensional correlated electron theory, and for scientific leadership in research and applications of condensed matter physics and physics methods, in an industrial setting. * 1989

LeRoy Apker Award The LeRoy Apker Award is a prize that has been awarded annually by the American Physical Society (APS) since 1978, named after the experimental physicist LeRoy Apker. The recipients are undergraduate students chosen for "outstanding achievements i ...

for outstanding undergraduate achievement from the

.Apker Award
APS.

References

External links

Steven H. Simon's web page at Oxford
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Steven H. 1967 births Living people Brown University alumni Harvard University alumni Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford 21st-century American physicists Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award holders Fellows of the American Physical Society