Condensed Matter Physics

What are we doing in Condensed Matter Physics at Illinois?

The University of Illinois maintains a distinguished tradition of focusing on the collective properties of matter and the emergence of novel and unusual states of matter, such as superconductivity and superfluidity.

Research in these areas has been recognized by numerous major awards, including Nobel Prizes to John Bardeen and Anthony Leggett. However, the university is also distinguished by its strong contributions to the development of technology emanating from condensed matter physics, especially in the area of semiconductor physics.

Today, the condensed matter group is the largest focus area in the department, with vibrant programs in both theory and experimental work. Every area of modern-day condensed matter physics is represented at Illinois, together with numerous cross-disciplinary programs in atomic, molecular and optical physics, materials science, and even biology.

Faculty

Peter Abbamonte

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

104 Seitz Materials Research Lab

(217) 244-4861

Gordon A. Baym

Research Professor

Nuclear Physics

337C Loomis Laboratory

(217) 333-4363

Alexey Bezryadin

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

1016 Seitz Materials Research Lab

(217) 333-9580

David M. Ceperley

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2107 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 244-0646

Tai-Chang Chiang

Research Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

170 Seitz Materials Research Lab

(217) 333-2593

Bryan K. Clark

Assistant Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2111 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 244-2423

S. Lance Cooper

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

218 Seitz Materials Research Lab

(217) 333-2589

Karin A. Dahmen

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2127 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 244-8873

James N. Eckstein

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

1019 Seitz Materials Research Lab

(217) 244-7709

Thomas Faulkner

Assistant Professor

High Energy Physics

433 Loomis Laboratory

(217) 244-8598

Eduardo H. Fradkin

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2119 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 333-4409

Russell W. Giannetta

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

129 Loomis Laboratory

(217) 333-5882

Nigel D. Goldenfeld

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

3113 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 333-8027

Martin Gruebele

Professor of Chemistry and Physics

Biological Physics

A220 Chemical and Life Sci Lab

(217) 333-6136

Sascha Hilgenfeldt

Professor of Mechanical Science and Eng.

332D Mechanical Engineering Bldg

(217) 244-7252

Taylor L. Hughes

Associate Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2115 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 333-1195

Anthony J. Leggett

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2113 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 333-2077

Virginia Lorenz

Assistant Professor

AMO / Quantum Physics

337A Loomis Laboratory

(217) 300-3306

Gregory MacDougall

Assistant Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

216 Seitz Materials Research Lab

(217) 300-0147

Vidya Madhavan

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

1018 Seitz Materials Research Lab

(217) 300-1476

Nancy Makri

Professor of Chemistry

Condensed Matter Physics

A442 Chemical and Life Sci Lab

(217) 333-6589

Nadya Mason

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

1017 Seitz Materials Research Lab

(217) 244-9114

Munir H. Nayfeh

Professor

Cross-cutting Physics

407 Loomis Laboratory

(217) 333-3774

Philip W. Phillips

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2121 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 244-2003

Peter E. Schiffer

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

420 Swanlund Administration Building

Michael Stone

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2117 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 333-2891

Dale J. Van Harlingen

Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

211 Loomis Laboratory

(217) 333-3760

Smitha Vishveshwara

Associate Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2109 Engineering Sciences Building

(217) 333-4370

Lucas K. Wagner

Research Assistant Professor

Condensed Matter Physics

2131 Engineering Sciences Building

John H. Weaver

Professor of Materials Science and Eng.

Condensed Matter Physics

262 Seitz Materials Research Lab

(217) 244-3528

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Quanta Magazine's Q&A with Goldenfeld: Seeing Emergent Physics Behind Evolution

Quanta Magazine recently spoke with Goldenfeld about collective phenomena, expanding the Modern Synthesis model of evolution, and using quantitative and theoretical tools from physics to gain insights into mysteries surrounding early life on Earth and the interactions between cyanobacteria and predatory viruses. A condensed and edited version of that conversation follows.

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New class of insulating crystals hosts quantized electric multipole moments

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Princeton University have theoretically predicted a new class of insulating phases of matter in crystalline materials, pinpointed where they might be found in nature, and in the process generalized the fundamental quantum theory of Berry phases in solid state systems. What’s more, these insulators generate electric quadrupole or octupole moments—which can be thought of roughly as very specific electric fields—that are quantized. Quantized observables are a gold standard in condensed matter research, because experimental results that measure these observables have to, in principle, exactly match theoretical predictions—leaving no wiggle room for doubt, even in highly complex systems.

The research, which is the combined effort of graduate student Wladimir Benalcazar and Associate Professor of Physics Taylor Hughes of the Institute for Condensed Matter Theory at the U. of I., and Professor of Physics B. Andrei Bernevig of Princeton, is published in the July 7, 2017 issue of the journal Science.

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Condensed Matter Physics

New understanding of superconductor's 'normal' state may open the way to solving longstanding puzzle

Since the discovery two decades ago of the unconventional topological superconductor Sr₂RuO₄, scientists have extensively investigated its properties at temperatures below its 1 K critical temperature (Tc), at which a phase transition from a metal to a superconducting state occurs. Now experiments done at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the Madhavan and Abbamonte laboratories, in collaboration with researchers at six institutions in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, and Japan, have shed new light on the electronic properties of this material at temperatures 4 K above Tc. The team’s findings may elucidate yet-unresolved questions about Sr₂RuO₄’s emergent properties in the superconducting state.

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Gray tin exhibits novel topological electronic properties in 3D

In a surprising new discovery, alpha-tin, commonly called gray tin, exhibits a novel electronic phase when its crystal structure is strained, putting it in a rare new class of 3D materials called topological Dirac semimetals (TDSs). Only two other TDS materials are known to exist, discovered as recently as 2013. Alpha-tin now joins this class as its only simple-element member.

This discovery holds promise for novel physics and many potential applications in technology. The findings are the work of Caizhi Xu, a physics graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working under U. of I. Professor Tai-Chang Chiang and in collaboration with scientists at the Advanced Light Source at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and six other institutions internationally.

What is Condensed Matter Physics?

What are we doing in Condensed Matter Physics at Illinois?

Faculty

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