Anton Burkov

Dr. Burkov is a theoretical condensed matter physicist, currently focusing on the effects of nontrivial electronic structure topology and electron-electron interactions on experimentally observable properties of quantum materials. His recent work includes pioneering studies of topological Weyl, Dirac and nodal line semimetals, topological insulators and superconductors, and quantum spin liquids. Dr. Burkov’s work has strong connections to other fields of physics, in particular to elementary particle physics and quantum computing.

• Quantum Materials
• Condensed Matter
• Quantum Science
• Quantum Electronics
• Quantum Sensors
• Strongly correlated many-particle physics
• Spintronics
• Topological insulators
• Weyl semimetals

Dr. Burkov's research program at UW has been focused in two distinct directions: strong-correlation and nonequilibrium phenomena in cold atomic gases; and topologically-ordered states of matter, including the recently discovered time-reversal invariant topological insulators. The recent theoretical and experimental discovery of a new solid state of matter, Topological Insulator (TI), is the most exciting event in Condensed Matter Physics in the last two decades. It was ranked by the Science Magazine as one of the top ten breakthroughs in all sciences in the year 2007. His group’s research is increasingly focused in this rapidly developing new area and Burkov is currently the only UW faculty member, actively working in this field.

2013-present American Physical Society, Member, 2013-2017 NSF National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Renewal, Member of the review panel

• 2002 PhD Condensed Matter Theory, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A.
• 1999 MSc Physics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, U.S.A.
• 1996 Diploma Solid State Physics, Saint-Petersburg State Technical University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

• 2005, Caltech Postdoctoral Prize Fellowship in Theoretical Physics, California Institute of Technology

• 2013-present American Physical Society, Member
• 2013-2017 NSF National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Renewal, Member of the review panel

• Affiliate Member, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

• PHYS 364 - Mathematical Physics 1
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023
• PHYS 435 - Current Topics in Condensed Matter Physics
  • Taught in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
• PHYS 704 - Statistical Physics 1
  • Taught in 2022, 2023
• PHYS 705 - Statistical Physics 2
  • Taught in 2019
• PHYS 739 - Quantum Many Body Physics
  • Taught in 2020

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Burkov, A.A., Fractional quantum Hall effect and featureless Mott insulators. Physical Review B (12), volume 81, pp. 125111-1-125111-7.
• Burkov, A.A., Balents, L., Weyl Semimetal in a Topological Insulator Multilayer. Publication name (12) volume 107, pp. 127205-1-127205-4.
• Burkov, A.A., Hawthorn, D.G. Spin Charge Transport on the Surface of a Topological Insulator. Physical Review Letters (6), volume 105 pp. 066802-1-066802-4.
• Burkov, A.A. Stability of Superflow for Ultracold Fermions in Optical Lattices. Physical Review Letters (25) volume 100, pp. 255301-1-255301-4.