This year, the CUPC and the University of Toronto have an excellent collection of labs for delegates to visit.
The Department of Physics
Condensed Matter
John Wei - Nanoscale Research in Quantum Materials
The Wei group is devoted to nanoscale study of unconventional superconducting and magnetic materials. The research is intended to examine the electronic properties of these materials at very short length scales, where the quantum ordering effects occur coherently without being averaged out over macroscopic distances, and manifest themselves as novel phenomena. It involves an unique combination of cryomagnetic, nanoprobe and nanofabrication techniques. Detailed understanding of these unconventional materials is of fundamental importance to condensed matter physics, and could also lend them to novel technological applications, ranging from superconducting to spintronic devices, as well as elements for quantum computation.The group has been interested in the unconventional superconductivity and magnetism which occur in several families of novel electronic materials. These include the high-Tc copper oxides, the heavy-fermion intermetallic compounds and the half-metallic transition-metal oxides.
Stephen Julian - Quantum Phase Transitions and Quantum Criticality, de Haas van Alphen Measurement, High Pressure Experiment, Heavy Fermions, and Other Correlated Electron Systems
Professor Julian's group focuses on "quantum complexity? -- the quantum properties of systems with many degrees of freedom. Many of these systems exhibit complex behaviour in the form of ?emergent? properties, or properties that one would not easily predict based on the study of the behaviour of an isolated sub-unit of the system. One such system of interest to the group is the high-temperature superconductor; it is clear that superconductivity originates from interactions between the electrons and ions in the copper-oxide lattice, and the behaviour of isolated ions and electrons is extremely well understood, but despite intense experimental and theoretical research, the way that the superconductivity emerges from the collective behaviour of huge numbers of electrons and ions remains elusive.In the laboratory, the group is studying a number of crystalline metals and oxides, including ruthenates, cuprates, vanadates, and heavy fermion metals. The primary experimental methods are quantum oscillations (in particular the de Haas van Alphen effect), magnetotransport, and high-pressure applied using clamp or anvil cells. A particular focus of the research is on quantum phase transitions, but there is also interest in general issues of the electronic structure of metals.
Young-June Kim - Inelastic X-ray and Neutron Scattering, Doped Mott Insulator, High Temperature Superconductors, Orbital Physics in Transition Metal Oxides, Quantum Magnetism
Professor Kim's group's main interest is in strongly correlated electron systems. A variety of materials are studied, including high temperature superconductors and geometrically frustrated spin systems, and are investigated through x-ray and neutron scattering experiments. One such area is nanoscale charge inhomogeneity in quantum materials: in many quantum materials such as high-temperature superconductors, electron charges often arrange themselves in orderly pattern called "charge ordering". These charge orderings are mostly short ranged over 10-20 nanometers, and understanding these patterns is believed to be very important in elucidating electron correlates in these technologically important materials.Another area of research is in charge, spin, and orbital excitations in quantum materials, which focuses on the unusual electronic properties of the carrier doped ?Mott? insulators, such as the superconducting lamellar copper oxides. Electrons in these materials are neither localized as in insulators nor delocalized as in metals, so it is extremely difficult to understand their electronic behavior. The key objective is to understand the evolution of electronic structure and collective excitations in high temperature superconductors by carrying out a systematic resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) and spectroscopic ellipsometry studies.
Quantum Optics
Henry van Driel - Coherent Control, Plasmonics, Spintronics
Professor van Driel's group carries out research to measure and control optical and electronic prroperties of semiconductors on very short time scales. Using femtosecond pulses and quantum interference of optical absorption pathways they generate and control electrical and spin currents in a variety of materials such as silicon, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. 'Coherent control' is the use of quantum interference between multiple transition pathways linking the same initial and final states; the group explores coherent control processes in semiconductors via phase-related optical beams, examining both the electrical and spin current dynamics. The group's research interest in the area of plasmonics encompasses both fundamental and applied aspects of metal physics. Recently, the group has investigated the nonlinear absorption properties of thin gold films.Dwayne Miller - Coherent Control of Complex Systems, Femtosecond Electron Diffraction, Multidimensional Coherent Spectroscopy of Liquids and Biological/Molecular Systems, Solid State Laser Development
The Miller group's research is in the fields of biological and chemical physics. The group has developed the Collective Mode Coupling Model to explain how proteins coarse grain sample their complex potential energy surface (sample nuclear configurations in carrying out their evolutionary programmed function). This model provides a simplified basis for understanding the key fundamental aspects of the structure-function correlation.The Miller group made a major advance in ultrabright electron source technology in which they were able to directly observe atomic motions in real time during structural changes. This was the first study to capture atomic motions faster than collisions could wash out force correlations and constitutes the first so called "Molecular Movie" in this context. In addition to this work, the group is exploring Quantum Control of biological processes as well as fundamental issues of weak field control.
Aephraim Steinberg - Quantum Information Processing
The Steinberg group's main interests are in fundamental quantum-mechanical phenomena, particularly quantum information processing and the control & characterization of the quantum states of systems ranging from laser-cooled atoms to individual photons. The group's experimental program is two-pronged, using both nonclassical two-photon interference and laser-cooled atoms to study issues such as quantum information & computation, decoherence and the quantum-classical boundary, tunneling times, weak measurement & retrodiction in quantum mechanics, and the control and characterisation of novel quantum states. The group is currently studying atom interference patterns generated by collisions of Bose-condensed atoms with optical barriers, and have also developed a dipole trap in order to study condensate collisions in a truly 1-dimensional geometry. Investigations are underway for the application of these geometries to the performance of quantum state tomography on expanding degenerate Bose gases. The group has several systems for the generation of pairs of photons with strong quantum correlations, and continue development of newer, more powerful sources. Such pairs have been the workhorse of most tests of quantum nonlocality, and at the heart of many proposals for quantum cryptography and computation.Joseph Thywissen - Ultra-Cold Atoms Laboratory
The Thywissen group works in the relatively new field of ultra-cold atoms. Gases are laser cooled, magnetically trapped, and then evaporatively cooled to several hundred nanoKelvin. At these temperatures atoms display their quantum statistical character. Bosons cooled to these temperatures undergo a phase transition and form a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC); if the atoms being trapped are fermions, they form a degenerate Fermi gas (DFG). These cold, dense gases are testing grounds for theories of condensed matter and quantum optics.Projects underway include number counting of BECs in double-well potientials (which realize a cold atom analogue of a Josephson Junction), using cold neutral fermions to study magnetism, and building a quantum simulator using fermions in an optical lattice.
Nonlinear Physics
Stephen Morris - Experimental Nonlinear Physics; Nonequilibrium pattern formation, convection in simplefluids and liquid crystals, segregation in granular media, geophysical patterns.
The Morris group studies nonlinear physics -- a catch-all term for the study of the dynamics of driven, open, non-equilibrium systems -- and is mainly concerned with the phenomenon of pattern formation. When a nonlinear, dissipative system (that is, one with friction) is driven hard enough, it will often undergo a symmetry-breaking instability which takes it to a regular pattern state. The pattern is a dynamical state sustained by the driving forces which can have a high degree of periodic order and symmetry, even while it is producing and exporting entropy. Patterns are simple examples of emergent, self-organized structures which exist under non-equilibrium conditions. Surprisingly ordered nonequilibrium patterns are found in many different places in nature, including convection cells in fluids, spirals in oscillatory chemical reactions, ripples on blown sand, and in many biological and geological processes. Current research includes experiments in the areas of electroconvection in suspended smectic films, Faraday patterns in surface waves, convection in chemical waves, Rayleigh-Bénard and Bénard-Marangoni convection, and Chladni patterns in vibrated plates.
Atmospheric Physics
Kim Strong - Spectroscopic Analysis of Trace Gas Concentrations in the Atmosphere
Professor Strong's research group studies atmospheric physics, and uses spectroscopic methods for remote sounding of atmospheric composition from ground, balloons, and satellites. Such measurements are used to investigate issues related to ozone depletion, air quality, and climate. Professor Strong runs the University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory (TAO), which includes both UV-visible and Fourier transform infrared spectrometers, and is a Complementary Station of the Network for Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change. TAO operates a high-resolution ABB Bomem DA8 Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, which is used to record solar absorption spectra on a daily basis for long-term measurements of stratospheric and tropospheric trace gases, urban pollution and mid-latitude atmospheric chemistry studies, and satellite data validation.
More to come from Physics...
The Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics
The Highbay is a facility for integration and testing of balloon borne stratospheric telescopes. We construct, integrate, and test balloon borne telescopes at this facility, before they are flown into the stratosphere. The instruments are typically 2-3 tonnes, and fly at an altitude of 35km for flights up to a month. We conduct research in sub-mm and mm astronomy, including star formation and cosmology. The Balloon Astronomy group is currently comprised of 1 prof, 1 pdf, 6 graduate students and one engineer.
The Department of Chemistry
Information to come (physical chemistry labs)
Special Lab Tours (External Tours)
University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies
Combustion & Propulsion, Flight Simulator, Flight Systems & Control, Fusion, MDO (Multidisciplinary Optimization (Aircraft Design), Space Flight Dynamics, Space Robotics, Structural Mechanic - More information to come
