Quantum Questions

What’s the most important invention of the 20th century? While asking that question at a gathering of physicists might result in colorful arguments, many would agree that the transistor tops the list. 

This semiconductor device, invented at Bell Labs in 1947, is among the most significant discoveries as it serves as the foundational component of virtually all modern electronics, facilitating miniaturization of technology, like the invention of the microchip, and kickstarting the digital age. 

Thanks to the transistor, we carry high-powered devices in our pockets that would have been considered supercomputers just 30 years ago, connect across vast geographic distances via the World Wide Web, and drive cars that run on electricity instead of gasoline. This stemmed from analyzing a material’s electronic properties and learning how to control them — things that condensed-matter theorist Cyprian Lewandowski does every day.

As an assistant professor in Florida State University’s Department of Physics in the present, quantum era, Lewandowski investigates how new electronic behaviors emerge in certain materials and how to transform these effects into tools and technology. 

“Condensed matter is a different paradigm of doing physics — once I see a fundamental effect in a system, such as superconductivity alongside particular properties, I combine the system with other material effects to produce an unexpected mechanism that can lead to novel applications,” said Lewandowski, who’s also affiliated with the National Science Foundation-funded, FSU-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and the FSU Initiative in Quantum Science and Engineering.

Using insights from the National MagLab’s experiments and the power of FSU’s Research Computing Center, Lewandowski studies 2D quantum materials, or atomically thin systems, smaller than the width of a human hair, in which electrons behave unusually. To understand how unexpected effects emerge in these materials and how to tune them, he builds models that explain puzzling measurements and predict what phenomena to look for next, creating a fast feedback loop between theory and experiment. 

While quantum computing is a large part of the field, Lewandowski is also interested in what he calls “quantum efficiency,” or identifying what processes could benefit from quantum effects when translated to the nanoscale. 

“I research how quantum behavior can make existing technologies smaller, cleaner, or more capable, with the long-term goal of pinpointing effects that enable devices to do something new or give current devices a measurable boost,” Lewandowski said.

After earning his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2020, Lewandowski spent two years as a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology before joining FSU’s faculty in 2022. In 2026, he earned an NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award, or CAREER Award, for his investigation of novel electronic properties in quantum materials. 

"I enjoy mentoring because students have the same ever-curious mindset ultimately shared among all scientists. It’s revitalizing to be reminded of the joy stemming from searching for why something works the way it does."

— Cyprian Lewandowski

The CAREER Award is one of the most prestigious awards available to early career faculty. In addition to funding research, it also provides recipients funding to develop an education plan, which Lewandowski will use to promote undergraduate research involvement in condensed-matter physics and quantum materials.

A second part of his plan tackles an often-overlooked barrier in academia: stuttering in professional settings. By elevating practical strategies and visible role models, he hopes to increase the accessibility of research and teaching spaces and help students and scholars focus on ideas rather than anxieties.

Lewandowski also serves as adviser for the Society of Physics Students at FSU, a professional association for students interested in physics. Under his guidance, FSU’s chapter has won the Outstanding Chapter Award from the national Society of Physics Students, part of the American Institute of Physics, for three consecutive years. 

“I enjoy mentoring because students have the same ever-curious mindset ultimately shared among all scientists,” he said. “It’s revitalizing to be reminded of the joy stemming from searching for why something works the way it does.”

As an American Physical Society Career Mentoring Fellow, Lewandowski is uniquely equipped to help students figure out their paths after graduation, as APS prepares mentors to showcase the breadth of physics careers available in industry and academia. 

“Cyprian’s scientific performance at FSU has been brilliant,” said Department of Physics chair Paul Cottle. “However, his impact on the department’s students has been even more extraordinary. He’s played a big role in helping undergrads build a close-knit community in which they support each other in their studies and beyond the classroom, and he has this extraordinary charisma that radiates out to everyone in a room with him.”

Whether building theories that point experiments toward new discoveries or mentoring students as they find their footing, Lewandowski returns to the same belief: Breakthroughs start when curiosity meets clarity, and big shifts start with small steps. 

“Fundamental physics is exciting and fulfilling because so much can unfold from one simple principle,” he said. “I hope today’s quantum materials reveal new behaviors that help build the future.” 

McKenzie Harris is a two-time FSU alumna who earned a master’s degree from the College of Communication and Information in 2022 and a bachelor’s degree from the Department of English in 2020.