Soluyanov Best Paper Prize in Condensed Matter Physics

The Soluyanov Best Paper Prize in Condensed Matter Physics was established 2020 in memory of Alexey A. Soluyanov, whose outstanding contributions in computational materials theory were cut short by his untimely passing in 2019. Alexey received his doctorate from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University in 2012. Subsequently, he was a postdoctoral fellow, then senior scientist at ETH Zürich. In 2018, he became a Swiss National Science Foundation professor at the University of Zürich, leading his own research group. Alexey's work was characterized by curiosity, originality, perseverance and above all, a deep love of physics.

The Soluyanov Prize is awarded annually to one graduate student who is judged to have published the best refereed journal article in condensed matter physics prior to completing his or her final year of graduate study.

Click here to learn more and donate in Alexey's Memory.

• 2024: Kevin P. Lucht
  Advisor: Prof. J. H. Pixley
  Article: 2.5-dimensional topological superconductivity in twisted superconducting flakes , npj Quantum Materials volume 10, Article number: 10 (2025)
  Authors: Kevin P. Lucht, J. H. Pixley and Pavel A. Volkov
  


• 2024: Pradip Kattel
  Advisor: Prof. Natan Andrei
  Article: Exact solution of a non-Hermitian PT-symmetric spin chain , J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 56, 325001 (2023)
  Authors: Pradip Kattel, Parameshwar R Pasnoori and Natan Andrei
  


• 2023: Daniel Seleznev
  Advisor: Prof. David Vanderbilt
  Article: Towards a theory of surface orbital magnetization, Phys. Rev. B. 107, 115102 (2023)
  Authors: Daniel Seleznev and David Vanderbilt
  


• 2022: Aidan Zabalo
  Advisor: Prof. Jed Pixley
  Article: Operator Scaling Dimensions and Multifractality at Measurement-Induced Transitions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 050602 (2022)
  Authors: A. Zabalo, M. J. Gullans, J. H. Wilson, R. Vasseur, A. W. W. Ludwig, S. Gopalakrishnan, David A. Huse, and J. H. Pixley
  


• 2021: Xianghan Xu
  Advisor: Prof. Sang-Wook Cheong
  Article: Kinetically stabilized ferroelectricity in bulk single-crystalline HfO₂:Y Nat. Mater. (2021), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-00897-x
  Authors: Xianghan Xu, Fei-Ting Huang, Yubo Qi, Sobhit Singh, Karin M. Rabe, Dimuthu Obeysekera, Junjie Yang, Ming-Wen Chu & Sang-Wook Cheong
  


• 2020: Paul Sass
  Advisor: Prof. Weida Wu
  Article: Magnetic Imaging of Domain Walls in the Antiferromagnetic Topological Insulator MnBi₂Te₄" Nano Lett. 2020, 20, 4, 2609 - 2614
  Authors: Paul M. Sass, Wenbo Ge, Jiaqiang Yan, D. Obeysekera, J. J. Yang, and Weida Wu