The research conducted by the faculty, staff, and students in the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Physics Department is vibrant and cutting edge across the broad scope of most subfields in physics.
The discovery ofÌýthe Higgs boson was madeÌýat theÌýCERN supercollider, in a collaboration involving our high energy physics faculty. Nobel-prize caliber research is carried out in studies of quantum gases and quantum optics. Condensed-matter theorists and experimentalists unravel the mysteries of many-body systems, including liquid crystals and the quantum mechanical nature of the electrical and magnetic behavior of materials.
Other areas of interest include the physics of nuclei, both lowÌýand high-energy plasmas, and an exciting thrust into the behavior of ultrafast laser pulses and the response of atoms, molecules, and solids to such novel light sources. Novel studies of physico-chemical reactivity are also underway at temperatures a mere whisper above absolute zero. The burgeoning subjects of biophysics and nanoscience continue to thrive and grow here, along with energy science, geophysics, physics education research, and other interdisciplinary fields.