Chris Akers Portrait

Chris Akers

Assistant Professor • PHYS Faculty Mentor (Student's Last Name: A - B)
Physics
Office Hours: Monday 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. • PHYS-BA Mentoring Form • Research interests I am interested in combining quantum mechanics and gravity, especially by thinking about quantum mechanical aspects of black holes and the AdS/CFT correspondence (our best theory of quantum gravity so far). To this end, I often use the tools of quantum information theory and quantum computation, and I am interested in expanding these connections. How can...
Dana Anderson Portrait

Dana Z. Anderson

Professor • Fellow - JILA • Glen Murphy Endowed Chair - CEAS
Physics
Research Interests: I'm interested in nonlinear optics, atom optics and optical precision measurements. In nonlinear optics, I study photorefractive systems for measurement and information processing, especially self-organized information processing. Our group is currently investigating acoustic and RF antenna-array signal processing and sensing of chemical vapors. Atom-optics research centers on the development of atom waveguides, atom "chip" technology, and the use of Bose-Einstein condensates to make practical devices. The group is...
aerial view of campus

José Aumentado

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Paul Beale Portrait

Paul Beale

Professor • Director - Alumni Relations
Physics
Research Interests: Theoretical Physics, thermodynamics and statistical mechanics of condensed matter systems: exact calculations involving the two-dimensional Ising model, solid-liquid transitions in systems of small molecules, thermodynamic integration methods and their applications to equilibrium solids and grain boundary kinetics, phase transitions in systems of particles with soft repulsive interactions, mean-field theories of liquid crystal systems. Selected Publications: "A new class of scalable parallel pseudorandom number generators based on Pohlig-Hellman exponentiation...
Andreas Becker Portrait

Andreas Becker

Distinguished Professor • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests: I am interested in the analysis and simulation of ultrafast phenomena in atoms, molecules and clusters, in particular attosecond electron dynamics, coherent control and molecular imaging. My research interests are related to the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of ultrafast phenomena in atoms, molecules and clusters interacting with intense laser pulses. Laser systems currently generate light pulses with field strengths exceeding that of the Coulomb field within an...
Portrait of Joseph Berry

Joseph Berry

Associate Professor • Senior Fellow - RASEI
Physics
Meredith Betterton Portrait

Meredith Betterton

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: I'm interested in the physics of cell division and related biophysics. My current projects address motor protein dynamics and microtubule length regulation, cytoskeletal active matter, mitotic spindle assembly and regulation, chromosome segregation in cell division, and disordered proteins in the nuclear pore complex. Recent Publications: H.-S. Kuan and M. D. Betterton, "Motor protein accumulation on antiparallel microtubule overlaps," arXiv:1509.07219 (2015). R. Blackwell, O. Sweezy-Schindler, C. Baldwin, L. E...
John Bohn Portrait

John Bohn

Research Professor • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests: My primary research centers on the theory of collisions between trapped atoms and molecules in a dilute gas at milliKelvin temperatures and below. In this novel energy regime, tiny energy splittings (due, for instance, to magnetic interactions or molecular rotations) dominate the collision dynamics. My goal is to unravel these delicate energy exchanges and assess their response to external electromagnetic fields. More broadly, I'm looking for novel approaches...
Daniel Bolton Portrait

Daniel Bolton

Associate Teaching Professor • PHYS Faculty Mentor (Student's Last Name: S)
Physics
Office Hours: Thursday 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. via Zoom, and Friday 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. in DUAN F1033 • PHYS-BA Mentoring Zoom Link • PHYS-BA Mentoring Form • Research Interests: Dr. Bolton was originally trained in theoretical nuclear physics. He now works in the field of Physics Education Research. Dr. Bolton enjoys studying how students learn physics, especially at the introductory level.
Michael Calkins Portrait

Michael Calkins

Associate Professor • PHYS Faculty Mentor (Student's Last Name: C - D)
Physics
Office Hours: Wednesday 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. in DUAN F727 • PHYS-BA Mentoring Form • Research Interests: My research interests can be broadly classified as geophysical and astrophysical fluid dynamics (GAFD). Some of the problems in which I’m interested are the generation of planetary magnetic fields via the inductive action of turbulent motions, and the physics of fluid motion in planetary atmospheres. Research in GAFD requires an interdisciplinary approach that...
Gang Cao Portrait

Gang Cao

Professor
Physics
Office Hours: Tuesday 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. in DUAN F519 • Research Interests: It is widely recognized that whoever controls materials controls technology. Our research has focused on the discovery, synthesis, and study of novel quantum materials. It encompasses a methodical search for new quantum materials and a systematic effort to elucidate and control novel quantum states in these materials. We are particularly interested in strongly correlated materials with strong...
John Cary Portrait

John Cary

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: My research is in plasma and accelerator physics, especially as analyzed by nonlinear dynamics and advanced computational methods (massively parallel, object oriented). I'm working on applications to accelerator lattices and instabilities, advanced acceleration concepts, transport in fusion plasma confinement systems, plasma turbulence. Selected Publications: Ariniello R, Doss CE, Lee V, Hansel C, Cary JR, Litos MD. "Chromatic transverse dynamics in a nonlinear plasma accelerator." PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH. 4...
Noel Clark Portrait

Noel Clark

Professor of Distinction • Director - Soft Materials Research Center
Physics
Background: Noel Clark received his PhD in Physics from MIT in 1970. He subsequently held the positions of Research Fellow and Assistant Professor of Applied Physics at Harvard, before moving to the University of Colorado in 1977. Research Interests: Research in Professor Clark's group is directed toward understanding and using the properties of condensed phases, ranging from experiments on the fundamental physics of phase transitions, such as melting, to the...
Ian Coddington

Ian Coddington

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Research Interests Quantum Electronics and Photonics.
Eric Cornell Portrait

Eric Cornell

Professor Adjoint • Fellow - JILA • Nobel Laureate - 2001
Physics
Research Interests: I am interested in precision measurements and Bose-Einstein condensation and related topics in ultracold atoms. I do experiments in Bose-Einstein condensation and related topics in ultracold atoms. More recently, I've been involved with an experiment to put an improved limit on the electron electric dipole moment. Still more recently, I've started a project to develop technology for extracting electricity from waste heat. Selected Publications: For a list of...
John Cumalat Portrait

John Cumalat

Professor of Distinction
Physics
Research Interests: Experimental Particle Physics, Charm Physics, Beyond the Standard Model Physics, LHC, particle detector technology and instrumentation I have broad interests in particle physics. I am presently involved in the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider studying the possibility of observing Zprime decays to tau tau. In addition I am involved in generic research involving the use of diamonds as a particle sensor in future experiments in the...
Jose D'Incao Portrait

Jose D'Incao

Associate Research Professor • Associate Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests: The core of my research profile lies on the study of correlations in few-body atomic systems, i.e., systems with three or more atoms, at ultracold temperatures. Such systems are of fundamental importance for ultracold quantum gases, e.g., Bose-Einstein condensates and Degenerate Fermi gases. Collisions involving few atoms can determine the stability/lifetime of ultracold gases and allow for the control of the interactions in the system and the access...
Portrait of Jan Deca

Jan Deca

Lecturer • LASP
Physics
Tom DeGrand Portrait

Thomas DeGrand

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: I am a theoretical physicist interested in the strong interactions, the part of the Standard Model responsible for the confinement of quarks and gluons into protons, neutrons, nuclei and related objects. My research uses a mix of analytic calculations and numerical simulation on small and large computers. The objects of my studies are systems that really exist (studying the properties of the known elementary particles) as well as...
Tasshi Dennis

Tasshi Dennis

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Research Interests: I am the leader of the quantum networking and transduction project within the Communications Technology Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Our project involves the design and fabrication of quantum transduction devices, their bi-directional operation between the microwave and optical domains, and their use in the networking of superconducting quantum computers. We are exploring both squeezed states and single photons as the distributed entanglement...
Daniel Dessau Portrait

Daniel Dessau

Professor • Adjunct Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests: Professor Dessau's research interests center around using femtosecond optics and electron spectroscopic tools for the study of the electronic structure, magnetic structure, and phase transitions of novel materials systems such as high temperature superconductors (HTSCs or cuprates) and colossal magnetoresistive oxides (CMRs or manganites). Selected Publications: Y. Cao, J.A. Waugh, N.C. Plumb, T.J. Reber, S. Parham, G. Landolt, Z. Xu, A. Yang, J. Schneeloch, G. Gu, J.H. Dil,...
Oliver DeWolfe Portrait

Oliver DeWolfe

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: I am interested in string theory and supergravity, their applications to other phenomena via holography, particle physics, cosmology and quantum field theory. String theory is a leading candidate for a theory of quantum gravity, and also provides a framework for the unification of the forces of nature. It has both "direct" applications, by which one can investigate questions about the evolution of the early Universe, the nature of...
Michael Dubson Portrait

Michael Dubson

Teaching Professor of Distinction • Associate Chair - Undergraduate Studies
Physics
Selected Publications: “Faculty Disagreement about the Teaching of Quantum Mechanics”, M. Dubson, S. Goldhaber, S. Pollock, and K. Perkins, PERC Proceedings : Ann Arbor (2009). "Developing and researching PhET simulations for teaching quantum mechanics" , S.B.McKagan, K.Perkins, M.Dubson, C.Malley, S.Reid, R.LeMaster, and C.E.Wieman, Amer. J. Phys. 76 , 406 (2008). "3 or 4 Golden Rules of Lecture", M.Dubson, Phys. Teach. 45 , 252 (2007). "Photon-by-photon post-processing correction of pointing errors...
Portrait of Nuris Figueroa Morales

Nuris Figueroa Morales

Assistant Professor
Physics
Research Interests In our lab, we study the complex interactions between microorganisms and their environment. Using tools of microfluidics, quantitative video microscopy and image analysis we investigate the transport of microorganisms: from natural and complex environments, like viscoelastic and anisotropic body fluids; to the effect of the topology of the confining structures, like medical catheters or porous media; to untapping the potential of new “active” systems propelled by swimming microorganisms...
Noah Finkelstein Portrait

Noah Finkelstein

Professor • Vice Chair • Fellow - Center for Stem Learning
Physics
Research Interests: Noah Finkelstein is a Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. He serves as a PI of the Physics Education Research (PER) group and was a founding co-Director Center for STEM Learning, which has served as one of eight national demonstration sites for the Association of American Universities’ (AAU) STEM Education Initiative. He co-directs the national Network of STEM Education Centers. Finkelstein’s research focuses on studying...
Xun Gao

Xun Gao

Assistant Professor • Associate Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests My research interests lie in finding quantum computational advantages, especially for solving practical problems. Examples include the power & limitations of near-term quantum devices, quantum machine learning and quantum optimization algorithms. I would also like to explore quantum error correction and quantum-inspired approaches to design classical algorithms.
Sample portrait

Scott Glancy

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Matthew Glaser Portrait

Matthew Glaser

Lecturer
Physics
Research Interests: I'm interested the statistical physics of soft condensed matter, including liquid crystals, colloids, and biomaterials. I'm interested in the equilibrium and nonequilibrium self-organization of soft condensed matter, including liquid crystals, colloids, and biomaterials. My research involves the use of computer simulation and modeling to advance basic understanding of a variety of problems in materials physics and biophysics, including nanostructure formation in bent-core liquid crystals, clustering instabilities and complex...
Vladimir Gorokhovsky Portrait

Vladimir Gorokhovsky

Lecturer • IMPACT
Physics
Research Interests My research interests are in the field of plasma processing technologies, plasma surface engineering, plasma-chemical modification of materials, plasma synthesis of nanomaterials, plasma-chemical synthesis, coating and functionalization of micro-and nano-powders, electric propulsion, plasma modeling, plasma diagnostics, experimental study of electric discharge plasma, arc plasma physics, hypervelocity dust impact phenomena, computational thermodynamics and kinetics, heat and mass transfer. Dr. Gorokhovsky is a co-investigator of the Institute for Modeling Plasmas,...

Seth Grable

Graduate Part-Time Instructor
Physics
John Hall Portrait

John Hall

Adjoint Professor • Fellow Adjoint - JILA • Nobel Laureate - 2005
Physics
Research Interests: Developing and applying innovative laser techniques to the study of fundamental physical constants and theories, and to advance measurement science. Dr. Hall was named a 2005 Nobel Laureate in Physics for his work on laser-based precision spectroscopy, including optical frequency comb technique. Selected Publications: For a list of Professor Hall’s latest publications visit https://jila.colorado.edu/publications/scientific/year?bibcite_year=&first_name=&last_name=&field_jila_pi_target_id=36&type=All
Anna Hasenfratz Portrait

Anna Hasenfratz

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: Professor Hasenfratz is a high energy theoretical physicist. Her research interest is the study of the properties of quantum field theoretical models like QCD that is believed to describe the strong interactions of elementary particles or the so called Standard Model that describes weak interactions and predicts the existence of the WB1 and Z bosons and the yet undiscovered Higgs particle. The perturbative (small coupling) properties of these...
Michael Hermele portrait

Michael Hermele

Waldo E. Rennie Endowed Professor
Physics
Research Interests: Michael Hermele is a theoretical physicist interested in quantum phases of matter, strongly correlated systems, and other aspects and areas of quantum many-body systems. His background is in condensed matter physics, and much of his recent work also draws on ideas from quantum information science, high-energy physics, and mathematical physics. More specific current interests include topological and fracton phases of matter, and solid state materials with strong spin-orbit...
Eleanor Hodby Portrait

Eleanor Hodby

Associate Teaching Professor • Director - Diversity Initiatives • PHYS Faculty Mentor (Student's Last Name: O-R)
Physics
Virtual Office Hours: Friday 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. • PHYS-BA Mentoring Zoom Link • PHYS-BA Mentoring Form •
Murray Holland Portrait

Murray Holland

Professor • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests The Holland theory group's research is on properties of quantum gases with a focus on transport in optical lattices and on strongly interacting superfluids. The group is also working on superradiant cavity QED with group-II elements to develop a mHz linewidth "laser." Selected Publications For a list of Professor Holland’s latest publications visit https://jila.colorado.edu/holland/publications/scientific/year
Mihály Horányi Portrait

Mihály Horányi

Professor • LASP
Physics
Research Interests: Theoretical and experimental investigations of space and laboratory complex (dusty) plasmas. Electrodynamic processes and their role in the origin and evolution of the solar system, comets, planetary rings, plasma surface interactions. Dust charging, in situ and remote observations of dust. Dusty plasma laboratory experiments and space hardware development. Selected Publications: M. Horányi, V. Hoxie, D. James, A. Poppe, C. Bryant, B. Grogan, B. Lamprecht, J. Mack, F. Bagenal,...
Loren Hough Portrait

Loren Hough

Associate Professor
Physics
Research Interests: Professor Hough currently studies intrinsically disordered proteins using solution NMR. Proteins containing disordered domains perform many important cellular functions. The aggregations of this family of proteins is implicated in neuodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. he has developed in-cell nuclear magnetic resonance techniques to study the disordered proteins that form the selective barrier of the nuclear pore complex. He is currently extending this in-cell method to...
Henry Kapteyn Portrait

Henry Kapteyn

Professor • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 1:30pm - 2:30pm Research Interests: Ultrafast laser technology, ultrafast dynamics in Molecular and materials systems, and development of tabletop coherent x-ray sources. My primary interest is in developing-- and making use of-- new tabletop "x-ray laser" light sources. 20 years ago, the process of "high order harmonic generation" (HHG) was discovered, where an intense short pulse laser focused into a gas at high intensity was...
Adam Kaufman Portrait

Adam Kaufman

Associate Professor Adjoint • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research interests: My research focuses on how to apply the tools of atomic, molecular, and optical physics to the microscopic investigation of quantum mechanics. I am interested in understanding and revealing the role of entanglement in complex quantum systems, both from a fundamental standpoint as well as for the purpose of understanding relevant condensed-matter models. I also investigate how to push the limits on our ability to retain quantum coherence...
Sascha Kempf Portrait

Sascha Kempf

Associate Professor • LASP
Physics
Office Hours: Friday 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Research Interests: Dr. Kempf specializes in dust detectors and analysis with CCLDAS.
Ed Kinney Portrait

Ed Kinney

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: My research is focused on the elucidation of how the basic constituents of the nucleon, quarks, are bound in a gluonic field. At present, we still have only basic one-dimensional momentum distributions of the quarks and gluons. Recent advances, both experimental and theoretical, have opened the possibility of learning about the true three-dimensional structure. My present research program is based on using high-energy polarized beams to explore the...
John Kitching

John Kitching

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Emanuel Knill Portrait

Emanuel Knill

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Minhyea Lee Portrait

Minhyea Lee

Associate Professor
Physics
Research Interests: My group studies quantum materials — crystalline solids with unusual physical properties arising from the quantum mechanical nature and interactions of electrons. Our interests include exotic magnetic phases and their low energy excitations, heat transport mechanisms, strong spin-orbit interaction, and its imprints on light-matter interactions. These topics are not only at the heart of exciting developments in quantum materials research but also have strong potential to play a...
Konrad Lehnert Portrait

Konrad Lehnert

Professor Adjoint • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests: Studying quantum coherence in macroscopic mechanical oscillators, developing quantum-coherent networks of microwave signals for control and measurement, and implementing quantum-limited measurements in astrophysics and condensed matter experiments. Selected Publications: For a list of Professor Lehnert’s latest publications visit https://jila.colorado.edu/lehnert/publications/scientific/year
Judah Levine Portrait

Judah Levine

Professor Adjoint • Fellow - NIST • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests: Developing statistical methods for estimating the performance of frequency standards and for distributing time and frequency information. My research work has two aspects: (1) Designing and implementing the statistical process that defines the reference for civilian US time, which is called UTC(NIST). This work includes developing measurement hardware for calibrating and characterizing frequency standards and algorithms for combining the data from multiple standards into a robust and statistically...
Heather Lewandowski Portrait

Heather Lewandowski

Professor • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Office Hours: Research Interests: My group studies collisions and reactions of simple cold molecules. Our ultimate goal is to understand the quantum mechanical processes involved in making and breaking a chemical bond. We aim to control the reacting molecules external and internal degrees of freedom in the quantum regime. To accomplish this control, we slow down a supersonically cooled molecular beam using time-varying inhomogeneous electric fields (Stark deceleration). The cold...
Michael Litos Portrait

Michael Litos

Associate Professor • EPEN Faculty Mentor • Director - Center for Integrated Plasma Studies (CIPS)
Physics
Office Hours: Please email michael.litos@colorado.edu to schedule an appointment • Visit Buff Portal Advising for Zoom link • Research Interests: Plasma, Lasers, and Beams Group: We conduct experimental research at the intersection of plasma, laser, and beam physics, with an emphasis on plasma wakefield acceleration. This research program combines local experiments at with collaborative work carried out at national laboratories.
Andrew Lucas Portrait

Andrew Lucas

Associate Professor
Physics
Research Interests I have worked on a variety of topics at the interface of condensed matter, high energy and mathematical physics. Recent interests include: bounds and constraints on transport and quantum information scrambling, the emergence of hydrodynamics in closed quantum systems (especially fluids of electrons in metals), and the AdS/CFT correspondence.
Portrait of Andrew Ludlow

Andrew Ludlow

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Research Interests Our research focuses on the development of optical clocks using ultracold atomic systems. By tightly confining ytterbium in the ideal potential of a magic-wavelength optical lattice, the lattice clock pushes the frontiers of atomic timekeeping. We explore enhanced quantum control, precision measurement, extreme laser frequency stabilization, and ultra-coherent atom-light interactions to advance state-of-the-art capabilities of the NIST ytterbium lattice clock. We leverage the extreme precision of optical clock...
Joseph MacLennan Portrait

Joseph MacLennan

Professor Attendant Rank • PHYS Faculty Mentor (Student's Last Name: J - L)
Physics
Office Hours: Wednesday 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. or by appointment • PHYS-BA Mentoring Zoom Link • PHYS-BA Mentoring Form • Background: Joseph Maclennan received his B.Sc.(Hons.) in Physics and Electronics from Rhodes University, South Africa, in 1980, and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Colorado in 1988. He then spent five years in the Physical Chemistry Department at the University of Mainz in Germany, the first two as...
Alysia Marino Portrait

Alysia Marino

Jesse L. Mitchell Endowed Chair • Professor
Physics
Research Interests: My research in experimental particle physics focuses on observations of neutrinos and making measurements of their basic properties. Neutrinos are elusive subatomic particles that are produced in large numbers in places such as the cores of stars, core-collapse supernovae, and the Big Bang. My research has focussed on making observations of neutrinos, and looking for evidence that neutrinos change from one flavor to another. Studies of neutrino flavor...
Angelo Mascarenhas Portrait

Angelo Mascarenhas

Lecturer • NREL
Physics
Research Interests My research is in the area of optical spectroscopy on semiconductor materials for photonics applications. It has focused on harnessing the material consequences of semiconductor alloy instabilities such as spontaneous ordering and spontaneous composition modulation for optoelectronic applications, and the study of abnormal as opposed to conventional substitutional semiconductor alloys. Other interests include understanding the peculiarities of light propagation in antisymmetric lattices and the application of Finsler geometry...

Tyler McMaken

Graduate Part-Time Instructor
Physics
Tobin Munsat

Tobin Munsat

Professor • Chair
Physics
Research Interests: My research is in the general area of space plasma physics, cosmic dust, and planetary science. My primary work takes place at the Institute for Modeling Plasmas, Atmospheres, and Cosmic DusT (IMPACT, http://impact.colorado.edu ), where we have several parallel experimental and modeling efforts related to plasma/surface interactions at airless bodies, the evolution of planetary surfaces, the dynamics of cosmic dust, the physics of hypervelocity impacts at small scales,...
Margaret Murnane Portrait

Margaret Murnane

Distinguished Professor • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests: Ultrafast laser and x-ray science, ultrafast femtosecond-to-attosecond dynamics in molecular and materials systems, development of tabletop coherent x-ray sources and their application in science and technology. Nonlinear optics has revolutionized laser science by making it possible to efficiently convert laser light from one wavelength into another. My research exploits the extreme nonlinear optical process of high-harmonic generation, whereby light from an ultrafast laser can be coherently upshifted, resulting...
Jamie Nagle Portrait

Jamie Nagle

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: My current research is in the field of experimental high-energy heavy ion physics. The current theory of strong interactions (quantum chromodynamics QCD) predicts that nuclear matter at high density (higher than at the center of the Sun) and high temperature (hotter than at the center of the Sun) will undergo a phase transition, where the quarks and gluons are no longer confined to individual nucleons. The formation and...
Rahul Nandkishore Portrait

Rahul Nandkishore

Associate Professor
Physics
Research Interests: Complex systems of many interacting parts can exhibit emergent phenomena with no analog in systems with few degrees of freedom. I am broadly interested in understanding emergent phenomena, especially (but not exclusively) in quantum systems. I have worked on a broad range of problems (and my interests are ever shifting, so anything I write here will soon be out of date). To learn what I am currently working...
Ethan Neil

Ethan Neil

Associate Professor • EPEN Faculty Mentor
Physics
Office Hours: Friday 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. • Visit Buff Portal Advising for Zoom link • Research Interests Lattice gauge theory, physics beyond the standard model, collider and dark matter phenomenology, strongly-coupled quantum field theory. My research interests are in physics beyond the standard model, particularly its signatures in collider and dark matter experiments, and more generally in the physics of strongly-coupled elementary particles, which I study numerically using large-scale...
David Nesbitt Portrait

David Nesbitt

Professor Adjoint • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests: My research includes quantum-state-resolved laser spectroscopy and dynamics of van der Waals and hydrogen-bonded clusters, time-resolved kinetics of atmospheric radicals, crossed-beam studies of state-to-state inelastic and reactive dynamics, high-resolution laser spectroscopy of jet-cooled radicals and molecular ions, nonlinear frequency generation of narrowband tunable infrared laser sources, vibrationally mediated photochemistry in size/quantum state-selected clusters, alignment phenomena, collision dynamics of gases with thin films, and development of atomic force/scanning-tunneling methods...
Portrait Stand in

Scott Papp

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Research Interests: We construct different types of atomic clocks to generate optical frequencies that have demonstrated a fractional instability approaching 1 part in 10 18 and an absolute fractional frequency uncertainty below 10 -17 . We develop laser frequency combs to connect stable optical frequencies to each other and to microwave sources with an imprecision below 1 part in 10 19 . These state-of-the-art frequency combs are also developed for...
Scott Parker Portrait

Scott Parker

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: My research is in the area of kinetic theory and simulation of plasmas. Most of my current work is in the area of direct numerical simulation of tokamak plasma turbulence on large massively parallel computers. These simulations are done in a five dimensional phase space using newly developed particle-based methods. These calculations involve many millions of particles with self-consistently calculated electric fields. For the first time, these simulations...
Duane Physics Lawn

Hugo Pereira Da Costa

Lecturer • Los Alamos National Laboratory
Physics
Dennis Perepelitsa Portrait

Dennis Perepelitsa

Associate Professor
Physics
Office Hours: Wednesday 1:30pm - 3:30pm Research Interests: The experimental nuclear physics group at the University of Colorado studies the properties of the strong nuclear interaction, one of the four fundamental forces, under extreme conditions. When ordinary nuclear matter is subjected to sufficiently high temperatures and densities, the sub-atomic quark and gluon particles which comprise it become free and form a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). In the first few microseconds after...
Katherine Perkins Portrait

Katherine Perkins

Professor Attendant Rank • PHYS Faculty Mentor (Student's Last Name: M-N)
Physics
Office Hours: Tuesday 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. via zoom • https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/96198810865 • PHYS-BA Mentoring Form • Research Interests: Kathy Perkins is Director of PhET Interactive Simulations (2008-present) and Professor Attendant Rank in Physics, specializing in Physics Education and STEM Education Research. She previously served as Associate Director (2006-10) and Director (2010-16) of ’s Science Education Initiative. Her work currently focuses on advancing the design and classroom use of interactive simulations...
Tom Perkins Portrait

Tom Perkins

Professor Adjoint • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests My research focuses on single molecule measurements of biological systems. One outstanding question is: how do motor proteins transduce chemical energy into physical motion? Another is: how does the structure and dynamics of membrane proteins affect their functions? We specialize in developing and applying high precision measurements using optical traps and atomic force microscopes to answer these and other interesting questions. Selected Publications For a list of Professor...
Steven Pollock Portrait

Steven Pollock

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: Physics Education Research, including issues of teacher preparation, large-scale classes, and upper-division classes. Dr. Pollock studies student learning in large scale physics classes, and the constraints and opportunities involved in replicating "proven" curricular practices, as well as issues of gender gaps in introductory physics. He heads the K-12 Research Team for an NSF-funded research project to study the efficacy of the Learning Assistant program for preparing highly qualified...
Leo Radzihovsky Portrait

Leo Radzihovsky

Professor of Distinction
Physics
Research Interests: My interests span a spectrum of condensed matter, ranging from liquid crystals, colloids, membranes, rubber and other "soft" matter to degenerate atomic gases, superconductors, quantum Hall and other topological quantum systems. The unifying theme is the collective universal behavior that emerges at long scales and low energies, driven by a combination of strong interactions, fluctuations, and/or local heterogeneity. Selected Publications: A list of Professor Radzihovsky's latest publications can...
Markus Raschke Portrait

Markus Raschke

Professor • Adjunct Fellow - JILA
Physics
Faculty Appointments: Department of Physics Department of Chemistry Research Interests: Experimental nonlinear and ultrafast nano-optics. Spatio-temporal optical control, optical antennas, surface plasmon and phonon polaritons, extreme nonlinear optics, strong light matter interaction. Scanning probe near-field optical microscopy and spectroscopy, optical forces, and opto-thermal phenomena. Dynamics and phase behavior of complex oxides, semiconductor nanostructures, and polymer nano-composites. Selected Publications: For a full list of the Rasche Group's Nano-Optics publications, go to:...
Cindy Regal Portrait

Cindy Regal

Professor • Baur-SPIE Endowed Chair in Optical Physics and Photonics
Physics
Office Hours: Updated hours available at https://jila.colorado.edu/regal/teaching/courses Research Interests: My main research interest is engineering and exploring isolated quantum systems for quantum information and quantum optics. In particular I focus on manipulating single and few neutral atoms and the quest to control single phonons in mesoscopic mechanical oscillators. This experimental work relies upon low-loss optical interfaces and laser cooling and trapping techniques. Selected Publications For a list of Professor Regal’s...
Ana Maria Rey Portrait

Ana Maria Rey

Professor Adjoint • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests Our research interests are in the scientific interface between atomic, molecular and optical physics, condensed matter physics and quantum information science. Specifically, on ways of developing new techniques for controlling quantum systems and then using them in various applications ranging from quantum simulations/information to time and frequency standards. We want to engineer fully controllable quantum systems capable to mimic desired real materials as well as to develop advanced...
Dmitry Reznik Portrait

Dmitry Reznik

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: Professor Reznik's research focuses on using neutron, x-ray, and Raman scattering to investigate the physics of correlated electrons and electron-phonon coupling in perovskite oxides (including high Tc supercondcutors, manganites, etc.) and other exotic materials. The group of Prof. Reznik investigates complex solids by neutron, x-ray and Raman scattering. Of particular interest are exotic magnetic phases, electron-phonon interactions in perovskite oxides, and polaronic physics. The neutron and x-ray work...
Michael Ritzwoller Portrait

Michael Ritzwoller

Professor of Distinction
Physics
Research Interests: Professor Ritzwoller is an observational seismologist. His early work was mainly in normal mode seismology and helioseismology. Research in the last decade has concentrated on developing methods to focus seismic models derived from surface wave dispersion information to tectonic scales, particularly in the US and China. Recent emphasis has focused on developing methods for exploiting ambient noise and earthquakes in surface wave tomography and combining this information to...
Charles Rogers portrait

Charles Rogers

Professor • EPEN Faculty Mentor • Director - Faculty Success & Engagement
Physics
Office Hours: Tuesday 10:15 - 11:45 a.m. or by appointment • Visit Buff Portal Advising for Zoom link • Research Interests: Our group works in the general area of experimental condensed matter physics of thin films and very small systems. Presently, the group is working on the nanoelectromechanical behavior of nanowires and fabricated electromechanical structures, buried interfaces in photovoltaic systems, and surface molecular dipole systems. Nanoscale objects are made with...
Paul Romatschke Portrait

Paul Romatschke

Professor
Physics
Office: DUAN D137 Research Interests: Cold Dense Matter, Relativistic Viscous Hydrodynamics, Non-Abelian Plasma Instabilities, Nonlinear Gravity among other topics. Selected Publications: A. Kurkela, P. Romatschke, A. Vuorinen and B. Wu, Looking inside neutron stars: Microscopic calculations confront observations (2010). A. Kurkela, P. Romatschke and A. Vuorinen, Cold Quark Matter, Phys.Rev.D81:105021 (2010). Eduardo S. Fraga, Paul Romatschke, The Role of quark mass in cold and dense perturbative QCD, Phys.Rev.D71:105014 (2005). P...
Thomas Schibli Portrait

Thomas Schibli

Professor • Adjunct Fellow - JILA • EPEN Faculty Mentor
Physics
Office Hours: please email trs@colorado.edu with a couple of times that work for you. • A zoom link will be provided via email. Research Interests: We strive to advance science and technology in the fields of optics and photonics through advanced functional materials, novel laser systems and measurement techniques. Light has played an important role during the development of many topics in modern physics. Atomic, molecular, optical (AMO) physics certainly...
Yuan Shi

Yuan Shi

Assistant Professor • PHYS Faculty Mentor (Student's Last Name: G - I) • Fellow - Center for Integrated Plasma Studies (CIPS)
Physics
Office hours: Monday 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. in F813 or Zoom • PHYS-BA Mentoring Form • Research: The research in our group uncovers the synergy between plasma physics and quantum physics. We study how magnetic fields change laser-plasma interactions for fusion and photonics applications. We develop quantum algorithms for plasma-related problems and improve the performance of current quantum hardware. We explore field-theory models and use...
Raymond Simmonds

Raymond Simmonds

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Research Interests I have been working towards the advancement of measurement science using state-of-the-art superconducting circuit technologies. This typically involves quantum effects inherent to low temperature superconducting systems made with advanced photo and e-beam lithography to fabricate ultra-small quantum circuits. My research activities include superconducting Josephson junction-based quantum information and computing, the most novel superconducting integrated circuit technology being pursued at this time. In a similar way that cold atomic...
Daniel Slichter Portrait

Daniel Slichter

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Research Interests My research interests lie in experimental quantum information processing with trapped atomic ions, with an emphasis on developing new paradigms for scalable trapped ion quantum computing. Recent projects include performing high-fidelity two-ion entangling operations with microwave and rf fields instead of lasers, achieving entangled state fidelities rivaling those from best laser-based gates; using strong unitary squeezing of ion motion to enhance ion-ion interactions and to perform electric field...
Ivan Smalyukh Portrait

Ivan Smalyukh

Professor • Fellow - RASEI
Physics
Research Interests: We study organizing principles of mesoscale self-assembly phenomena that lead to creation of artificial materials and structures with emergent physical behavior and properties arising from the patterning of molecular order combined with the organization of nano- and micro-sized particles into precisely controlled configurations. These phenomena may enable technological breakthroughs in the development of flexible information displays, efficient conversion of solar energy to electricity, novel optically controlled materials capable,...
Graeme Smith Portrait

Graeme Smith

Associate Professor • Associate Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests My main research interests are quantum information and quantum computing. I try to identify the fundamental limits that physics places on communication, information processing, and sensing and understand the implications of these limits both in terms of practical technologies and fundamental physics. This involves finding new ways to think about information and computation, and new ideas for analyzing them. I have worked on error correction, quantum channel capacities,...
Kevin Stenson Portrait

Kevin Stenson

Professor • Associate Chair - Graduate Studies
Physics
Research Interests: I perform research with the CMS experiment , which is located inside the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. My main activity is searching for supersymmetry in all-hadronic modes. Supersymmetry (SUSY) predicts that all of the fundamental particles have supersymmetric partners (sparticles) that have heretofore been unobserved. SUSY is an attractive theory for three reasons. First, a sparticle may be the source of dark matter...
Shuo Sun Portrait

Shuo Sun

Assistant Professor • Associate Fellow - JILA
Physics
Office Hours: Monday 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Research Interests: Shuo Sun is an assistant professor of Physics and an associate fellow of JILA. His research lies in the areas of quantum optics, nanophotonics, and experimental quantum information science. His group studies strong light-matter interactions at the quantum limit by coupling solid-state artificial atoms with nanophotonic structures. The large flexibility in the design of nanophotonic structures offers an effective knob...
John Teufel Portrait

John Teufel

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Research Interests: In our group, we engineer superconducting microwave circuits to experimentally explore the role of quantum mechanics in macroscopic, mechanical systems. Combining the tools of nanolithography, cryogenic measurements, and microwave quantum optics, we fabricate circuits in which radiation pressure forces from microwave photons can be used to control and to measure mechanical motion at the quantum level. We are particularly interested in applications related to quantum information processing, precision...
James K. Thompson Portrait

James K. Thompson

Professor Adjoint • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests: My research focuses on understanding the interface between ultracold atoms and quantum optics - an understanding I plan to apply to the field of precision measurement. I am presently devising strategies to reduce the effect of the fundamental quantum noise that arises from Heisenberg's uncertainty relationship as applied to atomic spins. In one project, I work on non-destructively measuring and canceling out the quantum fluctuations in the collective...
Joel Ullom Portrait

Joel Ullom

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Research Interests: My research is focused on developing superconducting electronics for sensing across much of the electromagnetic spectrum. For example, superconducting sensors can be used for high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy, and for the detection of astrophysical millimeter-wave radiation from the cosmic microwave background. Current research projects include very basic topics (what is the resistance mechanism in thin-film superconducting sensors?) and very applied topics (the construction and delivery of complete instruments to...
Keith Ulmer Portrait

Keith Ulmer

Associate Professor
Physics
Research Interests My research is in the field of experimental elementary particle physics, which explores the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions. I work with the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. The LHC represents the Energy Frontier of particle physics by providing very high energy proton-proton collisions, which are recorded and analyzed to study fundamental interactions. My current effort...
Dmitri Uzdensky Portrait

Dmitri Uzdensky

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: I am a theoretical plasma physicist with a broad range of scientific interests that include both basic plasma physics and its applications to understand various natural phenomena, usually those involving magnetized plasmas far beyond Earth. Thus, my main interests lie in the realm of Plasma Astrophysics, including High-Energy Astrophysics, but I am also strongly interested in various topics in Space Physics and Solar Physics, as well as certain...
Stephen Wagner Portrait

Stephen Wagner

Professor Attendant Rank
Physics
Research Interest: My current research is mostly on the CMS experiment at the LHC at CERN (Geneva, Switzerland), but I also work some on the BaBar experiment at SLAC (where I was employed from 1989 thru 2004) and on proposed electron-positron linear colliders (CLIC, ILC).
Portrait of Xu Wang

Xu Wang

Lecturer • LASP
Physics
Colin West Portrait

Colin West

Associate Teaching Professor • Associate Chair - Engineering Physics • EPEN Faculty Mentor
Physics
Office Hours: Wednesday and Friday 12pm - 1pm or by appointment • Visit Buff Portal Advising for Zoom Link • Research Interests Dr. West's background is in computational quantum theory. He is interested in the interface between quantum systems and classical computing, including classical simulation of many-body quantum systems, classical computing in quantum cryptography, and quantum approaches to problems in classical computing and complexity theory. Most recently, he is investigating...
Carl Wieman Portrait

Carl Wieman

Senior Advisor to PhET • Nobel Laureate - 2001
Physics
Research Interests: Carl Wieman is currently the director of the Science Education Initiative at the University of Colorado and a similar program at the University of British Columbia. These collaborative initiatives are aimed at achieving highly effective, evidence-based science education for all post-secondary students by applying the latest advances in pedagogical and organizational excellence. These efforts support work at the departmental level to achieve sustained widespread improvement in learning, based...
Bethany Wilcox Portrait

Bethany Wilcox

Assistant Professor
Physics
Research Interests Bethany Wilcox is a member of the Physics Education Research group. Her research interests include understanding and addressing students' difficulties utilizing sophisticated mathematical tools and techniques in the context of physics problem solving. In addition to investigating students' difficulties in the context of a single course, she is also interested in understanding how these difficulties change longitudinally as students advance through the curriculum and encounter these mathematical tools...
Aerial view of flatiron mountains

Donald Wilkerson

Associate Teaching Professor
Physics
Andrew Wilson Portrait

Andrew Wilson

Lecturer • NIST
Physics
Research Interests My group performs quantum information experiments with trapped atomic ions. High-fidelity coherent control of atoms is used to explore applications of quantum entanglement ranging from quantum logic and computing to quantum-enhanced precision measurement. A major focus of my research is the development of techniques and tools that will be needed in large-scale, fault-tolerant, quantum-information processors. My labs are part of the NIST Ion Storage Group and located on...
David Wineland Portrait

David J Wineland

Professor Adjoint • Nobel Laureate - 2012
Physics
Jun Ye Portrait

Jun Ye

Professor Adjoint • Fellow - JILA
Physics
Research Interests Our research group explores the frontiers of light-matter interactions, where novel atomic and molecular matters are prepared in the quantum regime and light fields including both continuous wave and ulrashort pulses are exquisitely controlled. The experimental effort builds on and further advances precision measurement, ultracold atoms and molecules, quantum metrology, and ultrafast science and quantum control. We develop new technologies in the areas of high precision laser spectroscopy,...
Shijie Zhong Portrait

Shijie Zhong

Professor • PHYS Faculty Mentor (Student's Last Name: T - Z)
Physics
Office Hours: Tuesday 9:00am - 11:00am in DUAN F713 or via PHYS-BA Mentoring Zoom Link • PHYS-BA Mentoring Form • Research Interests: Our research interests have been primarily in understanding the physical processes that control the evolution of terrestrial planets (Earth, Moon, Mars, ...). Modern space exploration has provided high resolution gravity and topography data about many planets. Other observational techniques including seismology and in-situ sampling have revealed the structure...
Eric D. Zimmerman Portrait

Eric D. Zimmerman

Professor
Physics
Research Interests: My field of interest is experimental particle physics, and my research centers on two neutrino experiments: E898 (BooNE) at Fermilab , and T2K at J-PARC . Selected Publications: 1. E. Abouzaid et al., Dispersive Anaysis of K0 Lμ3 and K0 Le3 Scalar and Vector Form Factors using KTeV Data,” arXiv:0912.1291 [hep-ex], submitted to Phys. Rev D. A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo et al., “A Search for Core-Collapse Supernovae Using the...