David Branning joined Trinity's Physics Department in 2005. His research area is quantum optics, the study of single particles of light, called photons. The surprising, "non-classical" behaviors of photons can be used for applications such as quantum cryptography, quantum computation, and even to test the foundations of quantum mechanics. 

Prof. Branning is the Faculty Adviser to the Trinity College chapter of the Society of Physics Students, whose activities include an annual Physics Fair for middle-schoolers and the Friday afternoon film series "Cosmic Cinema: Films about Science, Technology, and Imagination."

Before coming to Trinity College, Prof. Branning worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Selected Publications:

• D. Branning and M. Bermudez, "Testing quantum randomness in single-photon polarization measurements with the NIST test suite," Journal of the Optical Society of America B 27, 1594 (2010)
• D. Branning, S. Bhandari, and M. Beck, “Low-cost coincidence-counting electronics for undergraduate quantum optics,” American Journal of Physics 77, 667 (2009)
• M. Ericsson, D. Achilles, J. T. Barreiro, D. Branning, N. A. Peters, and P. G. Kwiat. “Measurement of geometric phase for mixed states using single-photon interferometry,” Physical Review Letters 94, 050401 (2005)
• N. Peters, J. B. Altepeter, D.Branning, E. Jeffrey, T. C. Wei, and P. G. Kwiat. "Maximally Entangled Mixed States: Creation and Concentration," Physical Review Letters 92, 133601 (2004)
• J. L. O’Brien, G. J. Pryde, A. G. White, T. C. Ralph, and D. Branning. “Demonstration of an all-optical quantum controlled-NOT gate,” Nature 426, 264 (2003)
• A. L. Migdall, D. Branning, and S. Castelletto. "Tailoring single-photon and multiphoton probabilities of a single-photon on-demand source.," Physical Review A 66, 053805 (2002)
• D. Branning, A. Migdall, and A. V. Sergienko. "Simultaneous measurement of group and phase delay between two photons," Physical Review A 62, 063808 (2000)
• D. Branning, W. P. Grice, R. Erdmann, and I. A. Walmsley. "Engineering the indistinguishability and entanglement of two photons," Physical Review Letters 83, 955 (1999)

Selected Presentations:

• "Of Gods, Dice, and Spooky Actions at a Distance: Introduction to Bell's Inequality," Lecture, St. John's College, MD (2006)
• “The Mind-Boggling Adventures of the Photon Twins," Jan Minkowski Memorial Lecture, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (2002)
• “Parametric Downconversion II – The Twins Grow Up," Mandel Symposium, Eighth Rochester Conference on Coherence and Quantum Optics, Rochester, NY (2001)

• National Science Foundation RUI: Time-dependent inhibited spontaneous emission, 2009-2011
• NASA Connecticut Space Grant College Consortium Faculty Research Grants, 2006 - 2011
• National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1999
• University of Rochester Graduate Student Teaching Award in Physics, 1993
• U.S. Department of Education Fellowship, 1992