Amith Varambally

Hometown: Vestavia Hills, Alabama

Three favorite Physics courses and (briefly) why:

Ph127 – A beautiful introduction to statistical mechanics taught by Professor Motrunich. It was one of the most intellectually satisfying courses I've taken at Caltech, and I think it is a class every physics major should seriously consider taking.

Ph11 – Professor Phillips and Professor Stevenson's legendary freshman seminar reshaped how I think about posing and attacking research questions. The discussion-based format made it one of my most engaging and memorable courses at Caltech.

Ph223 – This course gave me the theoretical tools to start reading modern condensed matter papers on my own. Professor Alicea is incredibly thorough, covering the major milestones of condensed matter theory over the past century while still making time for more recent advances in topological phenomena.

Labs or projects you have worked in/on during your time at Caltech (no more than a paragraph)

For the past two years, I've worked in Professor David Hsieh's experimental condensed matter group, which uses ultrafast spectroscopy to study Floquet engineering — using light as a periodic drive to probe out-of-equilibrium dynamics in quantum materials. I built time-dependent Schrödinger equation simulations to model exciton dynamics under a mid-infrared Floquet drive, with the goal of extracting absorption spectra and identifying signatures of light-induced changes in the excitonic response. We are currently working on a femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy setup aimed at tracking ultrafast changes in magnetic exchange coupling in two-dimensional magnetic materials under mid-infrared driving.

Hobbies outside of academics:

I enjoy playing tennis and badminton, reading novels across a range of genres (I'm a particular fan of Dostoevsky and Tolkien), and going on long walks in nature.

Favorite study spot/s on campus:

I prefer quiet, empty spots; some favorites include the Mudd Library in the geology building, the Physics G1 lounge in the basement of West Bridge, and the meeting room at the end of the first floor of West Bridge.

What drew you to Physics as an option?

Physics drew me in with the promise that a few deep principles can explain an enormous amount of reality.