Condensed matter physics involves the study of the properties of condensed systems of many particles, ranging over a wide variety of liquid and solid forms, both ordered and disordered. It is the largest field by far within the physics community, and also the field with the largest technological and societal impact.
The department covers many topics within condensed matter physics, including solid state, phase transitions and soft condensed matter. Examples include semiconductor physics, crystalline and amorphous assemblies of atoms or molecules, carbon nanostructures, the study of light-matter interaction, the physics of biological systems, and the study and development of new materials. New experimental tools are constantly being developed to probe matter over many length-, time-, and energy-scales.
The condensed matter physics faculty has active collaborations among its members, whose research activities include:
Physics of Defects and Impurities in Nonmetallic Solids
Soft Condensed Matter and Biological Physics
Charge Transport and Electronic Properties
Physics of Nanoscale Systems
Condensed Matter Optics
Phase Transitions