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Theory of Condensed Matter
Theoretical Condensed Matter physics is about building models of physical processes, often driven by experimental data, generalising the solutions of those models to make experimental predictions, and transferring the concepts gained into other areas of research. Theory plays an important role in understanding known phenomena and in predicting new ones.
With over seventy members, the TCM Group is one of the largest research Groups in the Cavendish Laboratory, and the largest university Condensed Matter Theory group in the country. Able to trace its history back for over sixty years, it has been home to many leading theoreticians.
Starting at the first principles microscopic level - with the Schrödinger equation - many properties of materials can now be calculated with a high degree of accuracy. We work on refining and developing new calculational tools and applying them to problems in physics, chemistry, materials science and biology.
Solids often show unusual collective behaviour resulting from cooperative quantum or classical phenomena. For this type of physics a more model-based approach is appropriate, and we are using such methods to attack problems in magnetism, superconductivity, nonlinear optics, mesoscopic systems, polymers, and colloids.
Collective behaviour comes even more to the fore in systems on a larger scale. As examples, we work on self-organising structures in "soft" condensed matter systems, non-linear dynamics of interacting systems, the observer in quantum mechanics, and models of biophysical processes, from the molecular scale up to neural systems.
We welcome Dr Bingqing Cheng who has just joined the Group as a Junior Research Fellow of Trinity College. She has recently completed her PhD at EPFL, working on statistical mechanics and atomistic modelling.
Congratulations to Nontawit Cheewaruangroj for passing his PhD viva. Nontawit is going on to work on public policy in science and technology for the Thai government.
News archive(Click the above tab to reload the Seminars list.)
More seminars- Probabilistic neural network identification of an alloy for direct laser deposition Mater. Des. 168 107644 (2019)
- Intratumoral genetic and functional heterogeneity in pediatric glioblastoma. Cancer Research canres.3441.2018 (2019)
- Crypt fusion as a homeostatic mechanism in the human colon. Gut (2019)
- Theory of mechanochemical patterning in biphasic biological tissues. P. Natl Acad. Sci. USA (2019)
- Classification of topological insulators and superconductors out of equilibrium Phys. Rev. B 99 075148 (2019)
- The proneural wave in the Drosophila optic lobe is driven by an excitable reaction-diffusion mechanism. Elife 8 (2019)
- Imputation of Assay Bioactivity Data Using Deep Learning. J. Chem. Inf. Model. acs.jcim.8b00768 (2019)
- Peristaltic elastic instability in an inflated cylindrical channel Phys. Rev. Lett. 122 068003 (2019)
- Theory of phonon-assisted luminescence in solids: Application to hexagonal boron nitride Phys. Rev. B 99 081109 (2019)
- Role of defects in determining the magnetic ground state of ytterbium titanate. Nature Comm. 10 637 (2019)
- First-principles anharmonic vibrational study of the structure of calcium silicate perovskite under lower mantle conditions Phys. Rev. B 99 064101 (2019)
- Modular decomposition of protein structure using community detection J. Complex Networks 7 101 - 113 (2019)
- A single-cell molecular map of mouse gastrulation and early organogenesis. Nature 566 490 - 495 (2019)
- Structural and vibrational properties of lithium under ambient conditions within density functional theory Phys. Rev. B 99 014111 (2019)
- Direct evaluation of the force constant matrix in quantum Monte Carlo J. Chem. Phys. 150 034104 (2019)
- Slow growth of entanglement and out-of-time-order correlators in integrable disordered systems Phys. Rev. Lett. 122 020603 (2019)
- Prediction of pressure-induced stabilization of noble-gas-atom compounds with alkali oxides and alkali sulfides Phys. Rev. Mat. 3 015002 (2019)
- Halogen-bonded cocrystallization with phosphorus, arsenic and antimony acceptors. Nature Comm. 10 61 (2019)
- Metabolic regulation of pluripotency and germ cell fate through α-ketoglutarate. Embo J. 38 e99518 (2019)
- Competition for Mitogens Regulates Spermatogenic Stem Cell Homeostasis in an Open Niche. Cell Stem Cell 24 79 - 92.e6 (2019)
Theoretical Condensed Matter physics is about building models of physical processes, often driven by experimental data, generalising the solutions of those models to make experimental predictions, and transferring the concepts gained into other areas of research. Theory plays an important role in understanding known phenomena and in predicting new ones.
With over seventy members, the TCM Group is one of the largest research Groups in the Cavendish Laboratory, and the largest university Condensed Matter Theory group in the country. Able to trace its history back for over sixty years, it has been home to many leading theoreticians.
Starting at the first principles microscopic level - with the Schrödinger equation - many properties of materials can now be calculated with a high degree of accuracy. We work on refining and developing new calculational tools and applying them to problems in physics, chemistry, materials science and biology.
Solids often show unusual collective behaviour resulting from cooperative quantum or classical phenomena. For this type of physics a more model-based approach is appropriate, and we are using such methods to attack problems in magnetism, superconductivity, nonlinear optics, mesoscopic systems, polymers, and colloids.
Collective behaviour comes even more to the fore in systems on a larger scale. As examples, we work on self-organising structures in "soft" condensed matter systems, non-linear dynamics of interacting systems, the observer in quantum mechanics, and models of biophysical processes, from the molecular scale up to neural systems.
News
We welcome Dr Bingqing Cheng who has just joined the Group as a Junior Research Fellow of Trinity College. She has recently completed her PhD at EPFL, working on statistical mechanics and atomistic modelling.
Congratulations to Nontawit Cheewaruangroj for passing his PhD viva. Nontawit is going on to work on public policy in science and technology for the Thai government.
Recent Publications
- Probabilistic neural network identification of an alloy for direct laser deposition Mater. Des. 168 107644 (2019)
- Intratumoral genetic and functional heterogeneity in pediatric glioblastoma. Cancer Research canres.3441.2018 (2019)
- Crypt fusion as a homeostatic mechanism in the human colon. Gut (2019)
- Theory of mechanochemical patterning in biphasic biological tissues. P. Natl Acad. Sci. USA (2019)
- Classification of topological insulators and superconductors out of equilibrium Phys. Rev. B 99 075148 (2019)
- The proneural wave in the Drosophila optic lobe is driven by an excitable reaction-diffusion mechanism. Elife 8 (2019)
- Imputation of Assay Bioactivity Data Using Deep Learning. J. Chem. Inf. Model. acs.jcim.8b00768 (2019)
- Peristaltic elastic instability in an inflated cylindrical channel Phys. Rev. Lett. 122 068003 (2019)
- Theory of phonon-assisted luminescence in solids: Application to hexagonal boron nitride Phys. Rev. B 99 081109 (2019)
- Role of defects in determining the magnetic ground state of ytterbium titanate. Nature Comm. 10 637 (2019)
- First-principles anharmonic vibrational study of the structure of calcium silicate perovskite under lower mantle conditions Phys. Rev. B 99 064101 (2019)
- Modular decomposition of protein structure using community detection J. Complex Networks 7 101 - 113 (2019)
- A single-cell molecular map of mouse gastrulation and early organogenesis. Nature 566 490 - 495 (2019)
- Structural and vibrational properties of lithium under ambient conditions within density functional theory Phys. Rev. B 99 014111 (2019)
- Direct evaluation of the force constant matrix in quantum Monte Carlo J. Chem. Phys. 150 034104 (2019)
- Slow growth of entanglement and out-of-time-order correlators in integrable disordered systems Phys. Rev. Lett. 122 020603 (2019)
- Prediction of pressure-induced stabilization of noble-gas-atom compounds with alkali oxides and alkali sulfides Phys. Rev. Mat. 3 015002 (2019)
- Halogen-bonded cocrystallization with phosphorus, arsenic and antimony acceptors. Nature Comm. 10 61 (2019)
- Metabolic regulation of pluripotency and germ cell fate through α-ketoglutarate. Embo J. 38 e99518 (2019)
- Competition for Mitogens Regulates Spermatogenic Stem Cell Homeostasis in an Open Niche. Cell Stem Cell 24 79 - 92.e6 (2019)