Zhen-Sheng YUAN, is Professor of Physics at the University of Science and Technology of China. He received a Bachelar of Science in 1998 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 2003 both from USTC, and started to work at USTC as a lecturer. Since 2006 till 2011, he had been working at the Physics Institute of Heidelberg University as a Postdoc, an Alexander von Humboldt fellow, a senior researcher and CoPI successively. In 2011, he returned to USTC and held a professorship then. 

His research interest is in studying the physics of ultracold atoms, especially the open questions in strongly correlated many-body systems which are fundamental to condensed matter, quantum materials, particle physics, and evolution of the early Universe, etc. He developed the cutting-edge experimental techniques for coherently manipulating quantum states of many atoms with an unprecedentedly high precision and a capability of resolving lattice sites and number of atoms. Intriguing physics of multi-atom entanglement, emerging symmetry and quantum criticality, and quantum thermalization dynamics have been explored by building quantum simulators. This will dramatically extend the accessible territory of physics and offers a great potential for the applications in quantum information processing and precision measurement.

Personal page of New Cornerstone Investigator (2025).

Research Interest:

I. Quantum simulation with ultracold atoms

•  Implementation of four-body ring-exchange interaction and observation of fractional anyonic statistics [1];

• Realization of staggered-immersion cooling, a brand-new cooling method for achieving an ultralow entropy in optical lattice systems [2];

• Simulating 1D Schwinger model with a Bose-Hubbard simulator leads to the observation of Coleman phase transition and local gauge invariance at a microscopic perspective [3];

• Experiments on thermalization dynamics of a lattice gauge theory, connecting the far-from-equilibrium behavior at early evolution times with the possible late-time approach to thermal equilibrium which is helpful for understanding the physics in collisions of heavy nuclei [4, 5].

II. Multipartite entanglement and light-atom interface

• Implementation of a deterministic and storable single-photon source based on a quantum memory [6];

• Parallel and deterministic generation of ∼ 1000 entangled pairs of atoms [2, 7, 8];

• Realization of a quantum repeater node with the interaction between photons and atomic-ensemble based quantum memory [9];

• Review on entangled photons and quantum communication [10].

Representative publications:

1. Han-Ning Dai et al. Four-body ring-exchange interactions and anyonic statistics within a minimal toric-code hamiltonian. Nature Physics, 13(12):1195–1200, 2017.

2. Bing Yang  et al. Cooling and entangling ultracold atoms in optical lattices. Science, 369(6503):550–553, 2020. 

3. Bing Yang et al. Observation of gauge invariance in a 71-site bose–hubbard quantum simulator. Nature, 587(7834):392–396, 2020.

4. Zhao-Yu Zhou et al. Thermalization dynamics of a gauge theory on a quantum simulator. Science, 377(6603):311–314, 2022.

5. Han-Yi Wang et al. Interrelated thermalization and quantum criticality in a lattice gauge simulator. Physical Review Letters, 131(5):050401, 2023.

6. Shuai Chen et al. Deterministic and storable single-photon source based on a quantum memory. Physical Review Letters, 97(17):173004, 2006.

7. Han-Ning Dai et al. Generation and detection of atomic spin entanglement in optical lattices. Nature Physics, 12:783–787, 2016.

8. Wei-Yong Zhang et al. Scalable multipartite entanglement created by spin exchange in an optical lattice. Physical Review Letters, 131(7):073401, 2023.

9. Zhen-Sheng Yuan et al. Experimental demonstration of a BDCZ quantum repeater node. Nature, 454(7208):1098–1101, 2008.

10. Zhen-Sheng Yuan et al. Entangled photons and quantum communication. Physics Reports, 497(1):1–40, 2010.

11. Xiao-Jing Liu et al. Dynamical correlation in double excitations of helium studied by high-resolution and angular-resolved fast-electron energy-loss spectroscopy in absolute measurements. Physical Review Letters, 91(19):193203, 2003.

Google Scholar: ‪Zhen-Sheng Yuan‬ - ‪Google Scholar‬

Videos on popular science：

• 苑震生. 原子之舞[OL]. 2020-08-29. 线上. https://www.koushare.com/video/details/6305

• 苑震生. 量子计算与模拟的研究进展[OL]. 2023-11-19. 合肥. https://www.koushare.com/video/details/70407

Videos of research talks and lectures：

• Zhen-Sheng Yuan. workshop Beyond Standard Superconducting and Superfluid State, Stockholm, Counterflow superfluidity in a cold atom quantum simulator, 2025May19-23，https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deMX7CX7GEE&t=24s

• Zhen-Sheng Yuan. ICAP 2024, London,  Microscopic study on lattice gauge theory with quantum simulation, 2024July14-19, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb6VpzB9zaU

• Zhen-Sheng Yuan, CQT, Singapore, Microscopic study of strongly correlated synthetic quantum material, 2024Jan05, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FD2gIiGsA8&t=1545s

• 苑震生，极度深寒中的超冷原子及其纠缠，2020-07-09，合肥，https://www.koushare.com/live/details/292?vid=5537

• 苑震生，格点规范场的量子模拟研究，2021-10-23，中国物理学会秋季物理年会，https://www.koushare.com/live/details/2983?vid=17139

• 苑震生，苑震生. Staggered-immersion cooling in optical lattices and mass production of entangled atom pairs[OL]. 2020-10-21. 线上. https://www.koushare.com/video/details/7195