Physics

Research groups

The School of Physics is housed in the H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory that has recently undergone a major investment programme designed to create a new state-of-the-art research environment for both students and staff. 

The School of Physics has an immensely strong international reputation in a wide range of research fields. The research themes are as follows:

Astrophysics

Academic contact for enquiries: Dr Zoe Leinhardt zoe.leinhardt@bristol.ac.uk

Researchers within the Astrophysics theme study a range of important phenomena in the Universe, including extrasolar planets, black holes and their related relativistic phenomena, galaxies and clusters of galaxies, and cosmology. Observations are made with the world's best ground- and space-based telescopes across the electromagnetic spectrum. Theoretical work is closely tied to the interpretation of observational results, with numerical and computational studies making use of the University of Bristol's powerful supercomputing facilities. Students present their work to the wider scientific community at high-profile conferences and may be involved in one of the major international projects in which the group participates. The group provides a friendly and dynamic research environment. Graduate-level courses and training in observations, data reduction, and numerical techniques are offered.

Materials and Devices

Academic contact for enquiries: Dr Dong Liu dong.liu@bristol.ac.uk

The Materials and Devices theme covers topics that are driven by innovation and technology – the application of Physics to solve real-world problems. It exploits advances in engineered materials and devices that are crucial to the continued vitality of countless industries, and our postgraduates bridge the gap between science and engineering, becoming expert not only in their area of research but in material and device innovation in general. Key areas of research include semiconductor materials and devices, nuclear and aerospace materials, surface Physics and nanomaterials.

Specifically, the Centre for Device Thermography and Reliability (CDTR) is a world-leading group focuses on improving the thermal management, electrical performance and reliability of novel devices, circuits and packaging. The CDTR develops and applies new techniques for temperature, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity and traps analysis, especially for microwave and power electronic semiconductor devices, made of wide bandgap materials, such as GaN, SiC and diamond. The Interface Analysis Centre (IAC) is involved in research on materials and material surfaces, including strong activities in nanoscience and nuclear materials. The Advanced Mechanics of Advanced Materials (EMAM) group uses cutting-edge unique techniques to investigate the deformation and fracture of a large range of nuclear and aerospace materials ranging from nuclear graphite and ceramic-matrix composites to ultra-high temperature nuclear fuel particles and accident tolerant fuels collaborating with UK and international key players in the field. The Nanophotonics and Biophysics area focuses on the development, application and exploitation of novel imaging and characterisation techniques for biology and medicine. A particular strength is in Scanning Probe Microscopy and biophotonics, measuring sub-femtonewton optical forces at the nanoscale at high speeds. The surface physics aspect of the work involves catalysis and electro-deposited ultrathin films.

Quantum and Soft Matter

Academic contact for enquiries: Professor Walther Schwarzacher w.schwarzacher@bristol.ac.uk

Our aim is to find and understand new and exciting phenomena of quantum and classical matter. We are world-renowned for our research on high-temperature superconductors, solid-liquid interfaces, glasses, and proteins. Postgraduate students in our group conduct cutting-edge research and have made discoveries like the strange metal phase in cuprate superconductors published in the prestigious journal Nature in 2021. Our students use a wide range of experimental techniques including low temperature, high pressure (< 20 mK and up to 2 megabar), acoustic levitation, and state-of-the art optical techniques to probe phase transitions.

Quantum Engineering Technologies

Academic contact for enquiries: Dr Jorge Barreto g.barreto@bristol.ac.uk

Quantum technologies can perform certain tasks beyond the capabilities of classical systems, such as factoring large numbers or simulating the behaviour of quantum systems. The theme explores fundamental aspects of quantum physics, as well as work towards future photonic quantum technologies, by generating, manipulating and detecting single photons and probing the quantum systems that harness these photons. Students who join the research group typically work in one of three key areas of research:

• Quantum computing and quantum simulations
• Quantum communications
• Quantum sensing and metrology.

Students can explore a range of theory and experimental topics to devise and demonstrate new devices and protocols for quantum information processing, including quantum simulations, quantum computing and quantum key distribution.

Particle Physics

Academic contact for enquiries: Dr Konstantinos Petridis konstantinos.petridis@bristol.ac.uk

The Particle Physics theme is at the forefront of the data analysis and upgrade of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) and Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiments at the CERN LHC. Within CMS, the focus is on the search for Supersymmetry and Dark Matter (DM), as well as studying properties of the top quark. Within LHCb, the focus is on pioneering new methods to measure CP violation, the asymmetry between matter and antimatter, and studying rare decays of beauty hadrons in order to discover new particles and forces. The theme is also involved in future neutrino experiments such as DUNE, and direct DM detection experiments such as LZ. Furthermore, the theme is involved in developing novel detector technologies and systems, including applications outside particle physics, such as homeland security and medical imaging. Bristol PhD students will usually join one of the experiments and undertake physics analysis as their main activity, and will also be involved in some aspect of the detector operation. Students can also work on new particle detector techniques using CVD diamond, novel integrated detectors, or other future experiments that the theme is actively involved in.

Theoretical Physics

Academic contact for enquiries: Dr Stephen Clark stephen.clark@bristol.ac.uk

Theory is an essential complement to experimental physics, guiding and interpreting real-world results. Bristol has a very distinguished heritage in theoretical physics, including the discovery of the Aharonov-Bohm effect in 1959 and the geometric or Berry phase in 1983. In soft condensed matter we apply methods from algebraic and geometric topology to study solitons, topological defects and other structures in liquid crystals. Furthermore, we are interested in novel computational techniques applied to topological phase transitions and machine-learning methods applied to problems in statistical physics. Our condensed matter research focuses on unconventional and novel phases in the spin, charge, and superconducting order of complex materials. In particular, we predict experimental observables, such as electronic, thermodynamic and transport properties induced by symmetry-breaking transitions, as well as the behaviour of many-body systems driven far from equilibrium. Our quantum information research focuses on fundamental problems, such as paradoxes and nonlocality, ultimately to understand why quantum mechanics has the counterintuitive properties it does. We are also interested in the foundations of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics applied to small quantum systems.