Dr. Afshordi dabbles in Astrophysics, Cosmology, and Physics of gravity and is obsessed with observational hints that could help address problems in fundamental physics.
Professor Balogh's research uses the world’s largest telescopes to study the physical properties of distant galaxies. Through spectroscopy we can learn about the distances, ages, chemical composition and star formation histories of these galaxies.
Dr. Bizheva's research focuses on the development of novel optical imaging technology (Optical Coherence Tomography - OCT) that can be used in clinics to image various part of the human body for diagnostic purposes or for monitoring the outcome of drug therapy or surgery.
Dr. Broderick works to explain the fundamental physics of black holes and their observable characteristics. Black holes are sites where strong gravity dominates everything, from the dynamics of orbiting material to the shape of spacetime itself. As a result, they are the engines that power some of the brightest objects in the universe.
Professor Budakian's work in the past decade has focused on developing the experimental tools for ultra sensitive detection of electron and nuclear spins. He explores the application of these tools to address fundamental questions ranging from biology to quantum information.
Dr. Burkov is a theoretical condensed matter physicist, currently focusing on the effects of nontrivial electronic structure topology and electron-electron interactions on experimentally observable properties of quantum materials.
Dr. Campbell leads a highly multidisciplinary research group where they study ocular development, eye disease, and linear and non-linear optics of the eye. They investigate the fundamental refractive properties of the eye's components to improve diagnosis and therapy for various ocular conditions.
Soft matter is a cross disciplinary research field involving physics, chemistry, biology, and materials science. Dr. Chen uses basic tools such as statistical physics, field theory, neural networks, and computer simulations to study structural formation in polymers and liquid crystals.
Dr. Fich is an astronomer specializing in studies of star formation, the interstellar medium, and the structure of galaxies. His recent research activities have focused on “small scale” formation studies of low and intermediate mass stars, circumstellar disks, and the formation of proto-solar systems.
Dr. Forrest's research is focused on the behaviour of soft materials at the nanoscale. This includes self assembly of polymers, dynamics in thin films and near surface and interfaces. He has a long standing interest on the dynamics of glassy materials.
Professor Gingras’ main interests are in the field of theoretical condensed matter physics, with a focus on systems with random disorder. He is also interested in strongly correlated classical and quantum condensed matter systems subject to strongly competing, or frustrated, interactions.
In Professor Ha's research group, they explore a few theoretical problems in soft matter and biophysics, namely, chromosomes in living cells and lipid bilayer membranes.
The Quantum Materials Spectroscopy group, led by Dr. Hawthorn, studies Quantum Materials using resonant soft x-ray scattering and x-ray absorption spectroscopy at synchrotrons such as the Canadian Light Source. We use these tools to investigate intertwinned order in Quantum Materials and shed light on the long-standing mysteries of high temperature superconductors.
Dr. Hill's research is focused on the experimental study of materials whose exotic properties are dominated by the collective quantum mechanical nature of their electrons and defy explanation using current theoretical paradigms.
Broadly speaking, Professor Hudson's research is in observational and theoretical cosmology, particularly Galaxy Formation, and measuring the properties of dark matter and dark energy through Gravitational Lensing, Cosmic Flows and Large-scale Structure.
Stefan Idziak studies complex fluids using X-ray diffraction.
Contact information
Office: PHY 250
Phone: 519 888-4567 ext. 35580
Email: idziak@uwaterloo.ca
Dr. Rajibul Islam's research interests are in quantum information processing, in particular quantum simulation and computation. His research team is building a quantum simulator with laser-cooled trapped ions to simulate models of interacting quantum many-particle systems. Dr. Islam is also involved in building 'QuantumIon', a multi-user, open-access trapped-ion quantum computer at Waterloo.
Dr. Jamison's group uses lasers to cool atoms to within a few billionths of a degree of absolute zero, making the coldest systems in the known universe. At these temperatures, atoms can be made to mimic interesting quantum systems from condensed matter, nuclear, and high-energy particle physics. We can also use light to drive chemical reactions that form molecules at similarly low temperatures.
Dr. Jennewein's main research passion is how to achieve quantum communications and a Quantum Internet on a global scale. In particular he is currently pursuing the use of satellites to accomplish intercontinental distances, and is possible with today’s technology.
Dr. Kycia's group works on the experimental investigation of superconducting and quantum mechanical devices; in particular Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) and GaAs quantum dots (Spin Qubits). The experiments are run at ultra low temperatures (down to 0.004K).
Would using quantum mechanics for information processing be an impediment or could it be an advantage? This is the fundamental question in the field of quantum information processing (QIP). QIP is a young field with an incredible potential impact reaching from the way we understand fundamental physics to technological applications.
Dr. Leonenko leads a nanoscale biophysics research group which uses advanced scanning probe microscopy methods to study biophysics of lipids and lipid-protein interactions, interactions of nanoparticles with lipid membrane and monolayers, and to develop novel application of lipid films in biomedical nanotechnology and biosensing.
Professor Lu’s research programs cross disciplines in physics, chemistry, environment, climate, biology and medicine, particularly focusing on femtomedicine and cancer therapy, as well as the sciences of atmospheric ozone depletion (the ozone hole) and global climate change (“global warming”).
Dr. Lupascu is an experimental physicist interested in the quantum dynamics of various types of physical systems and the application of quantum effects to build new types of detectors and quantum information processors. His Superconducting Quantum Device lab focuses on experimental research with superconducting devices, ranging from quantum bits for quantum information experiments, to superconducting resonators for loss characterization, among other projects.
Professor Lütkenhaus' research group explores the interface between quantum communication theory and quantum optical implementations. They translate between abstract protocols (described by qubits) and physical implementations (described for example by laser pulses); they benchmark implementations to properly characterize quantum advantage and exploit quantum mechanical structures for use in quantum communication.
Professor Mann works on gravitation, quantum physics, and the overlap between these two subjects. He is interested in questions that provide us with information about the foundations of physics, particularly those that could be tested by experiment.
Dr. Mariantoni has a strong background in cutting-edge research on superconducting qubits and circuit quantum electrodynamics. He specializes in the experimental realization of low-level microwave detection schemes and pulsing techniques that allow for the measurement of ultra-low quantum signals generated by superconducting qubits coupled to on-chip resonators.
Dr. Matsen's research focuses on theory and simulations involving the self-assembly of nanostructured polymers, such as block copolymers, liquid-crystalline polymers, polyelectrolytes and polymeric brushes. While he continues to build on his reputation for self-consistent field theory (SCFT), Professor Matsen is currently developing the next generation of theoretical techniques, specifically field-theoretic simulations (FTS).
Giant black holes weighing upwards of one billion times the mass of the Sun are thought to lurk at the centers of all massive galaxies. Energy released by spin breaking and infalling matter onto such supermassive black holes may be regulating the growth of galaxies and clusters of galaxies.
Dr. Melko's research interests involve strongly-correlated many-body systems, with a focus on emergent phenomena, ground state phases, phase transitions, quantum criticality, and entanglement. He emphasizes computational methods as a theoretical technique, in particular the development of state-of-the-art algorithms for the study of strongly-interacting systems.
Dr. Muschik is an expert in the theory of quantum communication and quantum simulation. Quantum communication exploits the features of quantum mechanical systems for advantages in communication tasks, such as unbreakable security or significant reductions in the resources required to send a message.
Professor Percival's research interests focus on the properties of the Universe on the largest scales. Surveys of three-dimensional galaxy positions provide a wealth of data both on the physics just after the Big-Bang when the seed fluctuations that will grow through gravity to become galaxies were created, and on the physics driving the evolution of the Universe today.
Dmitry Pushin uses his broad background to apply quantum information processing methods to improve neutron interferometry, with the goal of making it accessible to the general scientific community as a resource for studying fundamental questions of physics, dark energy, phase transitions in condensed matter, magnetic materials in functional devices and materials science.
Dr. Resch uses experimental quantum physics to understand photon entanglement and quantum information science. His work focuses on generating new quantum states of light with applications ranging from quantum computing to future medical imaging.
Dr. Ronagh’s research interests involve algorithmic aspects of quantum computation. He explores novel applications of quantum computation by designing and analysing quantum algorithms for solving computational challenges wherein the classical state of the art is costly machine learning and high-performance computing.
Dr. Sanderson's research and that of his students focuses on the study of how matter interacts with intense Femtosecond laser pulses.
One of the ways which the interaction of matter with femtosecond laser pulses can be utilised is as a means of imaging some of the smallest fastest moving and most complex units of matter, molecules.
Dr. Scholz uses electron microscopy to determine the compositional and crystallographic structure of compounds. His facility houses a Philips CM20 Super Twin High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope, and he invites researchers to make use of this modern, high voltage equipment.
Dr. Senko’s research focuses on using trapped ions for quantum simulations and quantum computing applications. Her work also explores qudits and how to improve the efficiency of encoding a logical unit of information using the multiple levels of a qudit.
Donna Strickland is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo and is one of the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 for developing chirped pulse amplification with Gérard Mourou, her PhD supervisor at the time. They published this Nobel-winning research in 1985 when Strickland was a PhD student at the University of Rochester in New York state. Together they paved the way toward the most intense laser pulses ever created. The research has several applications today in industry and medicine — including the cutting of a patient’s cornea in laser eye surgery, and the machining of small glass parts for use in cell phones.
Dr. Taylor is using whatever tools he can, including numerical simulations, astrophysical theory and observational data, to try to figure what dark matter is, where it is, and how it behaves. His research includes gravitational lensing and dynamical studies of galaxy clusters, the properties of the smallest galaxies in the local universe, and the theory behind dark matter halos around galaxies and clusters.
Dr. Thompson works with self-consistent field theory and density functional theory.
Professor Yevick' s research group delivers practical, innovative and leading-edge solutions to industry while developing general physical and mathematical results and techniques that can be employed in wide areas of applied physics.
