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.
