ZHIHAO CUI

Research area: Quantum Many-Body Theory for Molecules and Materials

Zhihao Cui is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at UC Irvine. His group develops theoretical and computational methods for quantum many-body problems in molecules and materials. The group combines quantum embedding theories with wave-function, Green’s-function, tensor-network, and diagrammatic approaches, and develops efficient scientific software to make these methods practical. Applications include strongly correlated quantum materials and systems in which electrons couple to phonons, photons, and spin fluctuations. By connecting new algorithms with predictive first-principles calculations, the group seeks to understand emergent phenomena such as unconventional superconductivity, magnetism, charge order, and coupled electronic and structural behavior.