Isidora Araya Day

GitHub Google Scholar ORCID Email

Hi!👋 I am a theoretical condensed matter physicist working on mesoscopic superconductivity, topology, and quantum transport.

📍 Currently I am a postdoc at DIPC in San Sebastián, Spain, working with Adolfo Grushin.

💻 I completed my PhD in the Quantum Tinkerer group at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, with Anton Akhmerov and Michael Wimmer, and defended in February 2026.

I particularly enjoy working on problems that require combining analytics and numerics. One of my favorite projects so far was developing Pymablock, an open-source Python package to do quantum mechanical perturbation theory efficiently, numerically and symbolically.

Background

BSc. Physics, University of Chile · 2015 → 2019

I completed my bachelor’s degree in physics at the University of Chile.

• Took computer science courses on algorithms, data structures, discrete mathematics, and software.
• Worked as a teaching assistant in several physics courses for first-year undergraduates and high-school students.
• Participated in the faculty’s student council for a year.

Experimental research internship, University of Waterloo · 2018

I visited the Institute for Quantum Computing of the University of Waterloo for three months.

• Participated at USEQIP, a quantum computing summer school.
• Worked at an MBE lab using XPS and ARPES techniques to characterize 2D materials.

MSc. Applied Physics, Delft University of Technology · 2019 → 2021

I received a QuTech Scholarship to pursue a master’s at Delft University of Technology, where I followed the Quantum Computing track.

• Took courses on mesoscopic physics, quantum information, and quantum hardware.
• Participated in the Northwestern European Regional Programming Contest as part of the Delft University of Technology team.
• Worked as a teaching assistant in solid state physics and quantum information courses.
• My master’s thesis was on topological defects in crystalline topological insulators.

Theory research internship, Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems · 2021

I spent a summer in Dresden working with the group of Ashley Cook on topological phases.

PhD. Condensed matter physics, Delft University of Technology · 2021 → 2026

I got a Casimir NanoFront grant to do my PhD in QuTech and defended cum laude on February 27, 2026. During this time I had the opportunity to improve my coding skills, work collaboratively, and learn about open science practices ✨.

• Worked on Andreev physics, topological invariants, and mesoscopic physics (see Research).
• Developed an open-source Python package, Pymablock.
• Worked as a teaching assistant of the solid state physics course.

Research visit at an experimental lab, Cornell University · 2024

I visited and collaborated with Valla Fatemi’s group in Ithaca for a month.

• Worked on a read-out scheme for Andreev spin qubits using inductive dispersive sensing.
• Optimized time-dependent pulses for qubit control using the Krotov Python package.

Postdoctoral researcher, Donostia International Physics Center · 2025 → present

I joined Adolfo Grushin’s group in San Sebastián to work on DMRG and tensor networks applied to topological disordered systems.

News

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