Condensed Matter Physics Theory

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Condensed matter physics is the study of the macroscopic properties of materials. It seeks to use the well-established laws of microscopic physics to predict the collective properties of very large numbers of electrons, atoms or molecules. 

Theoretical research in condensed matter physics is carried out in an interdepartmental group of the Departments of Physics and Applied Physics. Interests range from the study of electronic properties of semiconductor microstructures to those of the high temperature superconductors, as well as from quantum optics and optomechanics to quantum information processing. 

For further information see, Condensed Matter Theory web pageTheoretical Chemistry GroupCondensed Matter Geophysics

Topics

Faculty

Yoram Alhassid's picture Yoram Alhassid
Frederick Phineas Rose Professor of Physics
SPL 50
yoram.alhassid@yale.edu
203-432-6922
Research Website
Theorist

Current Projects:

The nuclear many-body problem; Femtoscience and nanoscience: nuclei quantum dots and nanoparticles; Cold atomic Fermi gases

Meng Cheng's picture Meng Cheng
Assistant Professor
SPL 54B
m.cheng@yale.edu
Research Website
He/him/his
Theorist

Current Projects:

Quantum criticality, Fractonic phases, Symmetric topological phases

Steven Girvin's picture Steven Girvin
Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics
YQI 403
steven.girvin@yale.edu
+1 (203) 432-5082
Research Website
Theorist
Leonid Glazman's picture Leonid Glazman
Donner Professor of Physics
SPL 55A
leonid.glazman@yale.edu
+1 (203) 432-6920
Research Website
Theorist

Current Projects:

Physics of mesoscopic solids: nonlinear Luttinger liquid, topological insulators, mesoscopic electron transport, edge states and collective excitations, quantum fluctuations of charge and spin.
 
Superconductivity: qubits, mesoscopic superconductors, properties of layered superconductors (including high-Tc materials)
 
Cold atoms: dynamics of low-dimensional quantum fluids
 
Sohrab Ismail-Beigi's picture Sohrab Ismail-Beigi
Strathcona Professor of Applied Physics
BCT 307
sohrab.ismail-beigi@yale.edu
+1 (203) 432-2107
Research Website
Theorist

Current Projects:

We study the physics of condensed matter systems, usually the solid state, using first principles or ab initio methods. We solve the quantum mechanical many-body problem of interacting electrons and ions to the best of our abilities, with the fewest approximations possible, and with no adjustable parameters or fitting. The cost is that the calculations must be done numerically and can be quite difficult to perform. The advantage is that the results are generally reliable and accurate, and hence can be compared with confidence to experimental findings to help understand, clarify, and even predict observed physical phenomena.
 
Christopher Lynn's picture Christopher Lynn
Assistant Professor
YSB
christopher.lynn@yale.edu
Theorist
Benjamin Machta's picture Benjamin Machta
Assistant Professor of Physics
YSB-C164
benjamin.machta@yale.edu
+1 (203) 432-3650
Research Website
He/him/his
Theorist
Corey O'Hern's picture Corey O'Hern
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
ML 203
corey.ohern@yale.edu
+1 (203) 432-4258
Research Website
Theorist

Current Projects:

Soft Matter Research: Quasi-one dimensional models for glassy behavior, the connection between percolation in configuration space and glassy dynamics, statistical mechanics of static and slowly flowing granular media, jamming in systems composed of anisotropic particles and with polymer constraints

Biological Physics Research: Smart, designer, protein-based nanogels; understanding the structural and mechanical properties of epithelial cells, Nanoscale approaches to screening small molecule inhibitors of toxic amyloid species in neurogegenerative disease; protein folding and misfolding

David Poland's picture David Poland
Associate Professor of Physics
SPL 53B
david.poland@yale.edu
432-6959
Research Website
He/him/his
Theorist
Shruti Puri's picture Shruti Puri
Assistant Professor of Applied Physics
YQI
shruti.puri@yale.edu
203-436-9329
Research Website
Theorist

Current Projects:

Quantum error correction when the noise is biased, Scalable fault-tolerant quantum error correction with bosonic qubits

Diana Qiu's picture Diana Qiu
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
WC Energy Sciences Ctr
diana.qiu@yale.edu
+1 (719) 2106447
Research Website
Theorist

Current Projects:

Exciton Transport & Diffusion; Time-Dependent Phenomena; Heterojunctions, Interfaces and Substrates; Defects

Nicholas Read's picture Nicholas Read
Henry Ford II Professor of Physics and Professor of Applied Physics and Mathematics
SPL 55B
nicholas.read@yale.edu
+1 (203) 432-5042
Research Website
Theorist
John Schotland's picture John Schotland
Professor of Mathematics
DL 429
john.schotland@yale.edu
203-432-7055
Research Website
Theorist

Current Projects:

The study of problems at the interface of optical and condensed matter physics

Ramamurti Shankar's picture Ramamurti Shankar
J.W. Gibbs Professor of Physics
SPL 55
r.shankar@yale.edu
+1 (203) 432-6917
Research Website
Theorist

Current Projects:

Quantum field theory

A Douglas Stone's picture A Douglas Stone
Deputy Director, Yale Quantum Institute & Carl A. Morse Professor of Applied Physics and Physics
YQI 436/437
douglas.stone@yale.edu
203-432-4279
Research Website
Theorist

Current Projects:

Quantum transport phenomena in disordered media, mesoscopic electron physics, non-linear and chaotic dynamics, quantum and wave chaos, quantum measurement and quantum computing. Laser physics, non-linear optics, microcavity and random lasers.
 
John Wettlaufer's picture John Wettlaufer
A.M. Bateman Professor of Geophysics, Mathematics and Physics
john.wettlaufer@yale.edu
+1 (203) 432-0892
Research Website
Theorist

Current Projects:

Stochastic processes, asymptotic analysis and other approaches and methods from modern applied mathematics and physics, along with numerical simulations to probe a broad range of problems including the microscopic theory of melting, the mechanisms underlying cosmogony, climate dynamics, information theory and turbulence.