My name is John Sous (pronounced “Soos”). I was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. Later, I moved to Canada and then to the US. Currently, I am an Assistant Professor of Applied Physics and Physics and a member of the Energy Sciences Institute (ESI) at Yale University. I am also affiliated with the Yale Quantum Institute (YQI), Yale’s Institute for Foundations of Data Science (FDS) and the Wu Tsai Institute. Before joining Yale in July 2024, I was an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) for one year. Before that I was a Gordon & Betty Moore Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, before which I was a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University. I obtained a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2019.
My research focus lies in the fields of condensed matter, quantum physics and artificial intelligence (AI). One way to view these seemingly disparate areas is through the lens of the study of systems with large number of degrees of freedom in which correlations act to stabilize novel behavior, with functionalities which can be utilized in future-generation technologies, such as energy materials and efficient learning systems. The goal of this research is to gain a general, unifying understanding of interacting statistical systems. I progress in this effort by studying model systems that capture experiment in some instances, or by identifying universal features common amongst many experiments in others. I am particularly interested in correlated quantum matter (quantum materials and ultracold matter) and dynamical non-linear systems (optically driven quantum systems and models of neural learning). My approach to researching these systems relies on a carefully tailored combination of analytical and numerical techniques.
When not working, I enjoy running, sometimes biking and absorbing culture.