Research in TCM

Soft Condensed Matter

The Soft Condensed Matter group focuses on elastic, hydrodynamical and optical aspects and material properties on mesoscopic scales, the Chemistry group is using statistical mechanics and simulations to explore complex fluids on molecular and nano- scales. This research is led by Prof Mark Warner.

Electronic Structure

Electronic structure theory has provided research scientists both in academia and industry with an unprecedented ability to make first principles predictions of a wide range of physical and chemical properties of a diverse range of systems limited solely by the available computational power. Genuine academic research, therefore, now lies beyond the standard application of density functional methods. Our research is to develop new methods with greater accuracy (Quantum Monte Carlo) or wider applicability (such as linear scaling for Density-Functional Theory, first-principles molecular dynamics, and time-dependent DFT for non-adiabatic problems), and on novel applications of these methods in physics, biology, chemistry and materials science.

This area of research in TCM is led by Professors Payne, Needs and Artacho.

Collective Quantum Phenomena

Collective phenomena are the defining feature of condensed matter. Our researches in this area are bound together by using common tools - especially field theoretic methods - to address different physical problems. These include the development of ordered quantum states, for example quantum Hall systems, superconductivity and magnetism in strongly correlated metals, Bose-Einstein condensation of dilute gases and of excitons in semiconductors, and quantum critical phenomena in general. Much of our work is motivated by experiment and often in direct collaboration with experimental groups.

This area of research in TCM is led by Professors Cooper, Littlewood, Khmelnitskii and Simons.

Mind-Matter Unification Project

The project is concerned primarily with the attempt to understand, from the viewpoint of the theoretical physicist, what may loosely be characterised as intelligent processes in nature, associated with brain function or with some other natural process.

This research is led by Professor Brian Josephson.

TCM is also pleased to collaborate closely with the Biological Physics Sector in the Cavendish, and Theoretical Chemistry , along with many other groups in this University, in this country, and across the world.