Ben Knepper

I am a first-year theoretical physics PhD student at UC Berkeley, working on quantum gravity. My research interests also lie at the intersections with quantum information theory and non-equilibrium many-body physics, with a background in both theory and experiment.

I graduated from UC Berkeley in 2025 with B.A.’s in physics and philosophy, and a minor in mathematics. During 2026, I studied quantum reference frames as a visiting researcher with Dr. Philipp Höhn at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Qubits and Spacetime Unit, and at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Vienna. My bachelor’s thesis was co-advised by Dr. Daniel Carney (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab) and Prof. Luca Iliesiu (UC Berkeley) on quantum measurement theory in holography. Within Dr. Carney’s Quantum Measurements Group, I had also worked on the QuIPS quantum sensing experiment searching for sterile neutrinos. Between transferring to Berkeley from Cornell, I spent a year at Fermilab and the University of Chicago working on the BREAD axion dark matter quantum sensing experiment.

Within philosophy, some topics I am interested in include the philosophy of lawhood, relational and process metaphysics, and phenomenology. Broadly speaking, I am also curious about the relationship between philosophy and physics.