Department of Physics Research

This cluster focuses on radiative processes as they relate to radiative energy balance and climate and remote sensing of climate-related parameters from instruments deployed in space by NASA and other agencies. Radiative transfer modeling is combined with machine learning to train algorithms to retrieve atmospheric and surface information from satellite measurements. This information includes cloud and aerosol properties that affect weather and climate and surface parameters like reflectance of snow and ice as well as ocean parameters like chlorophyll concentration and abundances of dissolved and particulate matter in turbid coastal and inland waters. The following faculty perform research in atmospheric physics:

This cluster is at the forefront of materials and optics research in both classical and quantum domains. The active research topics cover novel two-dimensional materials and quantum dots, lithium niobate nanophotonics, classical analogy of quantum entanglement, mode-selective quantum frequency conversion, fast modulated lasers, and their applications in remote sensing, secured communications, quantum computing, and quantum machine learning. The following faculty perform research in experimental AMO physics:

Despite being over a century old, quantum theory still offers a wide range of open questions, puzzling phenomena and novel applications. We study quantum systems and phenomena that can be controlled and manipulated in a large variety of systems, such as cold atoms, photons, molecules and mechanical resonators. Our theory work spans different fields such as quantum optics, many-body physics, open quantum systems and quantum information science. Our research shows what novel applications can be achieved with quantum control, how unique quantum features can be characterized, how exotic quantum behavior manifests itself on novel scales and how the transition to classicality takes place. The following faculty perform research in theoretical quantum physics:

This area focuses on exploring the fascinating phenomena that arise when individual quanta of light, known as photons, interact with various forms of quantum matter such as atoms, molecules, mechanical oscillators, superconducting circuits, and even the environment. Our research groups delve into a wide range of topics, including quantum sensing, quantum super-resolution, quantum imaging, quantum measurement, condensation and superfluidity, quantum gravity, quantum navigation, wave-particle duality, single photon interferometry, cavity quantum electrodynamics, quantum noise, quantum-classical boundary, quantum information processing and computing. The following faculty perform research in quantum optics and information:

Quantum theory and gravity are both well-tested and well understood individually, but understanding their interface is one of the main challenges of modern physics. The advent of quantum technologies and the study of fundamental physics from the perspective of quantum information science has opened the door to explore this field from new perspectives. We study how gravity affects the dynamics of quantum systems, possible signatures of quantum gravity at low energies and how to use novel quantum technologies to probe how gravity and quantum mechanics meet in experiments. The following faculty perform research in gravitational quantum physics:

We synthesize and assemble novel 2D materials that are atomically thin metals, insulators, semiconductors, or ferromagnets and integrate them into on-chip quantum-photonic, nonlinear-optic, and nano-electronic devices. We also employ symmetry considerations and machine learning algorithms to design and develop novel functional devices and study fundamental properties of quantum materials at high magnetic fields and at cryogenic temperatures. These quantum materials are of vital importance for technological applications such as light manipulation, information processing, energy harvesting, or quantum sensing. The following faculty perform research in photonics and quantum materials: