Physics by the Lake

ELS: Electrons in Solids

Martin Lüders (Daresbury)

A quantitative understanding of bonding in condensed matter systems demands a solution of the many electron problem. This course will show how the many electron problem can be mapped onto single electron problems in an approximate way (Hartree and Hartree Fock approximations) and a formally exact way (density functional theory and the Kohn Sham equations). Further, some of the methodology used to solve the Kohn Sham equations in complex systems will be described. In the last part of the lectures, some examples will be discussed, which show how electronic structure theory was able to explain some selected phenomena.

Martin is a principal scientist at Daresbury Laboratories. His main research interests are in the field of material-specific electronic structure theory of correlated systems, including normal, superconducting and magnetic states. The aim is to develop and apply methods within the density functional theory (DFT) framework and beyond, which allow to study materials of current interest from first principles.

SCQ: Strongly Correlated Quantum Systems

Chris Hooley (St Andrews)

This course deals mainly with the influence of interactions on the electrons in materials. We begin with a review of second quantisation and the Fermi gas theory of metals, and then progress to Landau's Fermi liquid theory and the notion of quasiparticles. The effect of impurities on the Fermi liquid (including the Kondo effect) is discussed, and we then move on to consider how the Fermi liquid gives way to other phases as the interactions are increased, concentrating on the Stoner instability and the Mott insulator. We analyse the magnetism in the Mott insulating phase, developing the concept of spin waves. Finally, we make a survey of recent experiments, giving basic interpretations in terms of the concepts developed in the course.

Chris is a lecturer at the University of St Andrews. He works on various topics in strong correlations, including quantum dots, low-dimensional magnetism, atomic condensates, and the Invar effect.

STM: Statistical Mechanics

Richard Blythe (Edinburgh)

Statistical Mechanics aims to provide a macroscopic description of a physical system starting from knowledge of its microscopic properties. The methodology and techniques are widely used throughout condensed matter physics and are also today being applied to understand the dynamics of model ecologies, economies and societies. In these lectures, we will revisit the equilibrium properties of matter - such as phase transitions and universality - from the perspective of dynamics (as opposed to statics, as is typically done in undergraduate courses). Then we will examine successively further-from-equilibrium systems, ending with a discussion of fluctuations in driven systems, a subject currently generating considerable excitement in this field.

Richard is an RCUK Academic Fellow / Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. Since his PhD days, he has been researching models and theories for nonequilibrium dynamical systems. Applications of these models include transport in biological systems, traffic flow, population dynamics and language change.

BIO: Biological Physics

Sarah Harris (Leeds)
Andrea Jimenez-Dalmaroni (Imperial)

The four lectures will provide a basic introduction to the biology of the cell from a physicists point of view. Firstly, the fundamental biological building blocks (amino acids, nucleic acids, sugars and lipids) will be covered, as will basic cellular processes such as protein folding, transcription and translation. The importance of molecular motors, such as RNA polymerase, will be highlighted. The course will then discuss how a knowledge of the atomic and molecular interactions within and between biomacromolecules can help us to understand the underlying mechanisms in molecular biology, focusing on the importance of statistical mechanics in describing these processes. The various current methods for the physical modelling of molecular biology will also be discussed, along with future perspectives for the field.

Sarah Harris was appointed as a Lecturer in Biological Physics in the Polymers and Complex Fluids Group in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leeds in 2004. She became interested in using theoretical physics to describe biomolecules while studying physics in Oxford as an undergraduate. She subsequently obtained a PhD in Computational Biophysics from the School of Pharmacy in Nottingham in 2001, before spending three years working on nucleation as a postdoctoral research assisitant at University College London. She now has a lively research group working in the area of computational biophysics. The group use high performance supercomputers to model DNA, RNA and proteins, and to understand these molecules and their interactions from a physical point of view. Our current research projects include understanding the thermodynamics of molecular recognition, simulations of protein aggregation and atomistic models of DNA/RNA folding and topology.

Andrea did her PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Oxford, where she studied critical phenomena far from equilibrium using field theoretical techniques. During her postdoctoral work at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, and subsequently at University College London, her research became focussed on providing a theoretical understanding of biological systems at the scale of the cell. She is now a Junior Research Fellow at Imperial College London, where her work investigates how living cells regulate their polarity and reorganise their cytoskeleton in response to constraints in cell geometry.

CAT: Physics of Ultracold Atoms

Marzena Szymanska (Warwick)

Over the last decade, laser and evaporative cooling techniques made it possible to produce quantum degenerate gases both of bosons and of fermions. At the same time, magnetically tuned Feshbach resonances allowed high precision control over interatomic interactions, which can be changed at will over a wide range. Following these technological developments, ultracold atomic and molecular systems have emerged as frontiers of modern many-body quantum physics, transcending the traditional barriers between fields. The aim of this course is to provide a general introduction to quantum coherence in ultracold atomic systems. After a brief introduction to experimental techniques of cooling, trapping and imaging, we will focus on theoretical concepts and state-of-the-art experiments on BEC and BCS-BEC crossover in atomic gases. Further, atomic interactions and Feshbach resonances, as well as dynamical effects across the crossover will be discussed in some detail. We will conclude by looking at some "hot" topics in the field such as imbalanced Fermi gases and optical lattices.

Marzena is a Lecturer in Physics at the University of Warwick since 2007. After her PhD in condensed matter theory at the University of Cambridge, and subsequent Research Fellowship at Gonville and Caius College, she moved to Atomic and Laser Physics sub-department at the University of Oxford, where she studied fermionic condensates. Her research interest include non-equilibrium condensation in dissipative and driven quantum systems; Bose-Einstein condensation and superfluidity in semiconductor microstructures (excitons, polaritons ...); and ultracold atomic Fermi gases, BCS-BEC crossover, Feshbach resonances, dynamical effects in Fermi systems.

IND: Industrial Applications of Statistical Physics

Peter King (Imperial)

Many industrial problems involve complex, disordered interacting systems. However, we only usually need to know properties of some average of the system - not the behaviour of all the individual parts. This means that statistical mechanics is the natural language required to formulate useful analyses of many industrial problems. Indeed there are so many potential applications, from financial forecasting, behaviour of complex processing plants, environmental (e.g. spread of pollutants), medical, food processing etc. that this course will concentrate on just a few. These will be image recognition and pattern formation (including some mention of granular media), flow in complex systems and (if time permits) decision making.

Peter King is professor of petroleum engineering at Imperial College London. He spent 18 years with BP applying renormalisation group and field theory to modelling flow in oil reservoirs and simulated annealing to help business decision making.

MES: Mesoscopic Physics and Quantum Coherence

Andrew Armour (Nottingham)

In order to be able to observe quantum interference effects in a given system its interactions with other degrees of freedom in its surroundings (the 'environment') must in general be very weak. The destructive effect that an environment can have on the quantum coherence of a systems is called decoherence. Solid state systems have proved an extremely fertile area for understanding how quantum superpositions can be suppressed by interactions with an environment. It has been possible to perform a wide range of interesting experiments to explore quantum coherence in these systems some of which have provided evidence for the existence of quantum superpositions in systems which could almost be described as macroscopic. In these lectures we will try to combine an introduction to the quantum formalism necessary to describe the dynamics of a system coupled to an environment (in essence a quantum mechanical version of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics) with illustrations of particular solid state systems whose quantum coherent properties have been explored in recent experiments on solid-state systems.

Andrew Armour's research is focussed on the behaviour of nano-electromechanical systems. In such systems mesoscopic electronic components are coupled to collective vibrational modes of nanomechanical elements. Of particular interest is the regime in which the mechanical degrees of freedom require quantum mechanics for their proper description. Such systems provide excellent theoretical and experimental models for the investigation of fundamental issues in quantum mechanics, such as entanglement and decoherence.

SFT: Soft Matter and Complex Fluids

Mike Evans (Leeds)

Why does milk curdle if you add orange juice? Why do opals seem to change colour when they move? Why do Formula 1 teams heat the tyres before a race? Look deeply into many semi-fluid materials, and you will find some elegant and subtle physics. We shall explore the unifying principles governing the properties of complex fluids, from molten plastics to mayonnaise, without the need to discuss any messy details of their chemistry.

Following his PhD from the University of Manchester, Theoretical Physics Department, Mike Evans spent six years doing postdoctoral research in Edinburgh University's Soft Condensed Matter group. Since 2001, he has been a member of the Polymers and Complex Fluids group at Leeds University's School of Physics and Astronomy, where he lectures, and researches non-equilibrium complex fluids and statistical mechanics.

SUP: Superfluids and superconductors

Derek Lee (Imperial)

Superfluidity, superconductivity and Bose Einstein Condensates (BEC) are all macroscopic coherent quantum states of matter. In this course, we shall introduce some of the basic principles and phenomena of BEC, superfluid Helium-4 and superconductivity. This will include phenomenological and microscopic theories, leading up to the Bardeen Cooper Schrieffer (BCS) theory of superconductivity.

Derek Lee is a Senior Lecturer in Physics at Imperial College London. His main interest in the physics of strongly correlated quantum fluids. He has worked on the theory of disordered superfluids, low-dimensional magnets, quantum Hall physics and high-temperature superconductivity. His most recent research concerns excitonic condensation, ultracold atoms and nanothermodynammics.