Research

ON THIS PAGE:

• Applied Physics [ Beam Physics, Microscopy, Nuclear Physics ]
• Astrophysics & Cosmology [ Theory, Experiment ]
• Atomic Physics
• Biological Physics
• Condensed Matter [ Theory, Experiment ]
• Elementary Particle Physics [ Theory, Experiment ]
• General Relativity

SEE ALSO:
Keywords
Enrico Fermi Institute [ Cosmological Physics, High Energy Physics,
...Laboratory for Astrophysics & Space Research, Particle Theory Group]
James Franck Institute [ NSF Materials Research Science & Engineering Center ]
Institute for Biophysical Dynamics

THEORETICAL PHYSICS

Astrophysics & Cosmology: Cosmology and elementary particle physics. Big-Bang nucleosynthesis. Tests of the Big Bang model. Ultra-high energy cosmic ray processes. Baryogenesis and cosmological phase transitions. Topological defects. Inflationary cosmology. Cosmic microwave background radiation. Dark matter. Formation of structure in the universe. The cosmological constant and dark energy. Aspects of string cosmology. Solar and stellar astrophysics. Astrophysical fluid dynamics. R.Rosner, Turner. See also: Experimental astrophysics, Center for Cosmological Physics. Related work by faculty in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Condensed Matter: Macroscopic dynamics of materials, interfacial singularities, and non-linear processes. Turbulent, chaotic, and stochastic behavior in hydrodynamic and other dynamical systems. Spatial self-organization in polymers, surfactant monolayers, colloids and cell assemblies. Physics of magnetic and superconducting materials (systems) driven by a strong interaction. Physics in low dimensions. Fermi liquid and non-Fermi liquid states in many body systems. High temperature superconductivity. Quantum phase transitions. Phase ordering kinetics and defect dynamics. Non-perturbative phenomena in electronic systems; strongly correlated electronic systems, magnetism. Transition between jammed and fluid states in granular matter, glass-forming liquids, and magnetic flux lattices. Integrable models of statistical mechanics and quantum field theory. Gruzberg, Kadanoff, Levin, Mazenko, Wiegmann, Witten, Zhang. See also: Experimental condensed matter physics, Materials Research Science & Engineering Center (MRSEC).

Elementary Particle Physics: String theory and unification, duality in gauge theory and string theory, solitons and topological structures, precision electroweak measurements, low-energy supersymmetry, CP violation, heavy quark physics, confinement in QCD, quantum theory of black holes, large extra dimensions, fermion mass hierarchy, integrable systems. Freund, Harvey, Kutasov, Martinec, Nambu, Oehme, J.Rosner, Sethi, Wagner. See also: Experimental elementary particle physics, Particle Theory Group.

General Relativity: Black holes. Asymptotic structure. Mathematical foundations of general relativity. Quantum gravitation. Quantum field theory in curved space-times. Lower-dimensional gravity. Alternative theories and experimental tests. Geroch, Wald.

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EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS

Astrophysics: Studies of the cosmic microwave background radiation spectrum and anisotropy with ground and space-based detectors. Search for polarization in the cosmic background radiation. Measurements of the Sunyaev-Zelodovich effect for clusters of galaxies. Measurements of intergalactic radiation fields. High energy gamma-ray astrophysics with atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. Development of giant air shower array (Auger Project) for investigation of the highest energy cosmic rays. Development of large detectors for high energy cosmic rays on space and balloon payloads. Experimental investigations of cosmic ray electrons and of the elemental and isotopic abundances of cosmic-ray nuclei over a wide energy range. Investigations of solar, magnetospheric, and heliospheric phenomena with satellite and deep space missions. Development of instruments to detect polarization in the far-infrared emission from interstellar clouds. Investigation of the magnetic field structure of dense cloud cores. Airborne and mountain-top polarimetry. Direct searches for non-baryonic dark matter. Carlstrom, Collar, Cronin, Hildebrand, Meyer, Müller, Swordy, Wakely, Winstein. Accelerator-based nuclear astrophysics experiments. Schiffer and colleagues in the Argonne National Laboratory Physics Division. See also: Theoretical astrophysics & cosmology, Center for Cosmological Physics.

Atomic Physics: Strongly interacting quantum gases. Laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms to study many-body physics at ultralow temperatures. Formation of ultracold complex molecules in Bose gases and Cooper pairing in Fermi gases. Scalable quantum manipulations using ultracold atoms in optical lattices. Tests of time-reversal symmetry by the attempt to detect a permanent electric-dipole moment in ²²⁵Ra. Atom Trap Trace Analysis method for dating long-lived cosmogenic isotopes. Cheng Chin, Zheng-Tian Lu.

Biological Physics: Cells are dynamical systems that evolve far from the equilibrium, but they are also reliable machines able to perform sophisticated computations: they can sense and interpret signals associated with external environmental cues. Our biophysics groups are interested in characterizing the organizing principles of biological networks that govern essential cellular processes such as the ability to sense, transmit and generate signals. For example, some dynamic composite polymer networks display the properties of a mechanical machine (see Gardel) that can process, transmit and generate forces to govern the migration and the division of a cell. Other examples include networks that behave like evolvable chemical computers (see Cluzel) and are responsible for controlling the expression of genes and the motion of cells. Throughout the study of these complex networks we hope to identify some general physical aspects of biological organization. This research offers interdisciplinary training opportunities for individuals with either a biological or physical sciences background. Techniques involved in biophysics depend on the expertise of non-linear dynamics, computational biology, lasers, time-resolved fluorescence, confocal microscopy, protein-engineering, signal transduction, gene expression, mathematical modeling, large-scale simulations, stochastic and self-assembly processes, optical and holographic traps, single-molecule biophysics. Cluzel, Gardel.

Condensed Matter: Optical and electronic transport in normal and superconducting nanocrystals and arrays. Collective effects at ultra-low temperatures including the (fractional) quantum Hall effect, vortex tunneling, metal-insulator transitions, and magnetic quantum critical points. Symmetry-breaking and fluctuations in heavy fermion, organic, and high-T_c superconductors. Nonlinear dynamics and flow properties of granular materials. Scaling behavior of liquid flow and droplet breakup. Mathematical analysis and computer simulation of singularity formation. Universal scaling behavior of relaxation phenomena in supercooled liquids and glasses. Microscopic kinetics and dynamics of phase transitions in colloidal suspensions. Manipulation by dynamic optical holographic traps. Molecular regulation within living cells. Self-assembly and morphology of ultrathin polymer films. Cluzel, Eastman, Gardel, Guyot-Sionnest, Jaeger, Kang, Nagel, Rosenbaum. See also: Theoretical condensed matter physics, Materials Research Science & Engineering Center (MRSEC).

Elementary Particles: Measurements of properties of the top quark. Searches for supersymmetric particles, the Higgs boson, and other new physics. Precision tests of the standard model in W and Z decays. Studies of pbar-p interactions at center-of-mass energies of 1800 GeV. High-precision measurement of CP violation parameters in K decays; high-sensitivity search for rare K decays and for CPT violation. High-precision measurements of hyperon rare decays. High-precision measurements of electroweak interactions at LEP, both near the Z⁰ and at center-of-mass energies up to 200 GeV. Searches for new physics including the Higgs boson and supersymmetry; precision measurement of M_w. Preparation for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC (high-energy pp interactions at 14 TeV). Research and development on muon colliders and neutrino factories. Use of facilities at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and at CERN. Blucher, Cronin, Frisch, KJ Kim, Merritt, Oreglia, Pilcher, Shochet, Wah, Winstein, YK Kim. See also: Theoretical elementary particle physics, High Energy Physics (HEP).

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APPLIED PHYSICS

Beam Physics: Investigation of particle and photon beams and their mutual interactions with the goal of developing novel accelerators or radiation devices. Some current topics are production and acceleration of high-brightness electron beams for linear colliders and free electron lasers; beam dynamics in ionization cooling for muon colliders and neutrino factories; self-amplified spontaneous emission for intense, coherent x-rays; miniature IR radiation source via Smith-Purcell process using electron microscope beams. Theoretical and experimental programs at the Enrico Fermi Institute on campus, at the Argonne National Laboratory Advanced Photon Source, and the A0 facility in Fermilab. KJ Kim.

Ion and Electron Microscopy: Development of high resolution scanning ion and electron microprobes, imaging microanalysis by secondary ion mass spectrometry, application of imaging microanalysis to study advanced ceramics, visualization of dynamic processes and of biological matter. Crewe, Levi-Setti.

Nuclear Physics: Studies of the nuclear many-body system. Nuclear structure and interactions, nuclear reactions in astrophysics, nuclear matter under extreme conditions, precision measurements of critical information to nucleosynthesis along the r- and rp-process paths. Low-energy experiments in fundamental interactions and symmetries. Production, cooling and trapping of rare isotopes, R&D for the Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) project. Non-nucleonic degrees of freedom in nuclei and phenomena requiring a quark description. Savard, Schiffer, and colleagues in the Argonne National Laboratory Physics Division.

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