Research
Physics addresses the most fundamental questions of existence, from the very nature of matter to the origin of the Universe, and from the cosmological to the sub-nuclear. Our researchers are using data from JWST to study the atmospheres of exoplanets, all the way to analysing data from CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Our School's research is diverse, wide-ranging and exciting.
Physics is pivotal to shaping the technologies of the future and our research spans a wide range of disciplines and areas, and is organised around six main themes. These themes are:
- AstrophysicsOur Astrophysics theme specializes in cosmology, the formation of clusters and galaxies, active galaxies, high-energy astrophysical processes and the formation of extrasolar planets.
- Materials & DevicesOur Materials & Devices theme works to understand and control structures on a length scale from the Angstrom to the micron to affect the physical behaviour of materials, create new materials and to develop new techniques to probe the structure of materials.
- Particle PhysicsOur Particle Physics Group theme to understand the fundamental building blocks of matter and how they interact with each other and is currently involved in two experiments based at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
- Quantum Engineering TechnologiesOur Quantum Engineering Technologies theme is exploring fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics and working towards future photonic quantum technologies by generating, manipulating and measuring single photons and the quantum systems that emit them.
- Quantum & Soft MatterOur Quantum & Soft Matter theme are working to understand new phenomena of quantum and classical matter, studying soft materials like liquid crystals and colloids as well as solid matter ranging from superconductors to insulators.
- Theoretical PhysicsOur Theoretical Physics theme work on a broad range of problems, from understanding the unique peculiarities of quantum mechanics to explaining the statistical structure of complex liquids, all of which underpins wider research in the School.