Jaroslav Trnka

Headshot of Jaroslav Trnka

Professor
Office: 2032 Physical and Data Sciences Building
Phone: 609-865-6198
Email: trnka@ucdavis.edu

Personal Professional Website: http://trnka.physics.ucdavis.edu

Research Interests:

Prof. Trnka is working on modern approaches to scattering amplitudes in quantum field theory. He is especially interested in the connections to positive geometry, and discovered the Amplituhedron construction for planar N=4 SYM amplitudes, as well as loop recursion relation, on-shell diagrams and the relation to the positive Grassmannian. Prof. Trnka also works on extension of geometric methods to non-supersymmetric theories, effective field theories and perturbative gravity.

Research Areas

Career History

  • 2019-2022 Associate Professor, University of California, Davis
  • 2015-2019 Assistant Professor, University of California, Davis
  • 2013-2015 Postdoctoral Fellow, California Institute of Technology
  • 2008-2013 PhD in physics, Princeton University
  • 2003-2008 MSc in physics, Charles University, Prague
  • Since 2022 Professor, University of California, Davis

Honors

  • 2021 Chancellor's Fellows Award, UC Davis
  • 2024 Frontiers of Science Award
  • 2024 Elected member of American Physical Society
  • 2021 Distinguished Teaching Award, UC Davis
  • 2020 Henry Primakoff Award for Early-Career Particle Physics from American Physical Society
  • 2020 L&S Teaching Award, UC Davis
  • 2018 Young Scientist Prize in Particles and Fields from International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP)
  • 2018 UC Davis Award for Creativity and Innovation
  • 2015 Prize Postdoctoral award, California Institute of Technology
  • 2013 Vaclav Votruba Award for best PhD thesis in theoretical physics
  • 2012 Milan Odehnal prize, Czech Physical Society
  • 2008 Joseph Henry Prize, Princeton University
  • 2008 Fulbright Science and Technology Award
  • 2003 Praemium Bohemia Prize for representation of the Czech Republic at the IPhO