Springer Theses collects the "best of the best" PhD theses in Physics and Chemistry from around the world. Top-ranked research institutes select their best thesis annually for publication in this series. Nominated and endorsed by two recognized specialists, each thesis is chosen for its scientific excellence and impact on research.

Completed under the supervision of Martin Plenio at the University of Ulm, Ricardo's PhD research focused on understanding how the well-established equilibrium properties of phase transitions can be extended into a nonequilibrium scenario, going beyond the celebrated Kibble-Zurek mechanism of defect formation.

Ricardo is currently undertaking a research project in the realm of open quantum systems funded by the DfE-SFI investigator programme, which involves disparate aspects of light-matter interacting systems, quantum simulation and quantum information processing.