Condensed Matter Physics

Experimental

Chicago physics faculty conduct a broad program of experiments in condensed matter phenomena. The main site of this research is the interdisciplinary James Franck Institute. Topics of study include 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-Tc 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.
View the experimental condensed matter faculty.

Theoretical

Chicago physics faculty conduct a wide range of theoretical investigations into condensed matter phenomena. The main site of this research is the interdisciplinary James Franck Institute and the Kadanoff Center for Theoretical Physics . Topics of study include 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.
View the theoretical condensed matter faculty.

Experimental Condensed Matter Faculty


David Awschalom

Professor.

For more information about Professor Awschalom, please visit his webpage.


Philippe Guyot-Sionnest

Professor.

For more information about Professor Guyot-Sionnest, please visit his webpage.


Andrew Higginbotham

Andrew Higginbotham

Assistant Professor

For more information about Professor Higginbotham, please visit his webpage.


William Irvine

Professor.

For more information about Professor Irvine, please visit his webpage.


Heinrich Jaeger

Distinguished Service Professor.

For more information about Professor Jaeger, please visit his webpage.


Woowon Kang

Professor.

For more information about Professor Kang, please visit his webpage.


Sidney Nagel

Distinguished Service Professor.

For more information about Professor Nagel, please visit his webpage.


Theoretical Condensed Matter Faculty


Luca Delacrétaz

Assistant Professor

For more information about Professor Delacrétaz, please visit his webpage.


Kathryn Levin

Professor.

For more information about Professor Levin, please visit her webpage.


Michael Levin

Associate Professor.

For more information about Professor Levin, please visit his webpage.


Peter Littlewood

Professor.

For more information about Professor Littlewood, please visit his webpage.


Ivar Martin

CASE Senior Scientist.

For more information about Professor Martin, please visit his webpage.


Arvind Murugan

Assistant Professor.

For more information about Professor Murugan, please visit his webpage.


Dam Thanh Son

University Professor.

For more information about Professor Son, please visit his webpage.


Vincenzo Vitelli

Professor.

For more information about Professor Vitelli, please visit his webpage.


Pavel Wiegmann

Professor.

For more information about Professor Wiegmann, please visit his webpage.


Thomas Witten

Professor Emeritus.

For more information about Professor Witten, please visit his webpage.


Wendy Zhang

Associate Professor.

For more information about Professor Zhang, please visit her webpage.


AFFILIATED FACULTY


Aashish Clerk

Professor of Molecular Engineering.

For more information about Professor Clerk, please visit his webpage.


Liang Jiang

Professor of Molecular Engineering.

For more information about Professor Jiang, please visit his webpage.


Shuolong Yang

Assistant Professor in Molecular Engineering.

For more information about Professor Yang, please visit his webpage.


Ruben Verresen

Postdoctoral Researcher at Harvard and MIT

Ruben will join UChicago as an Assistant Professor (starting August 2024)