Physics

At the forefront of current materials research, high-performance computing, and environmental science and management efforts, the Laboratory seeks solutions to energy-related problems through the exploration of physics, chemistry, engineering, applied mathematics and materials sciences. Established in the 1940s with the successful development of the most efficient process to produce high-purity uranium metal for atomic energy, the Lab now pursues a broad range of scientific priorities.

Argonne National Laboratory is one of the U.S. Department of Energy's largest research centers. It is also the nation's first national laboratory, chartered in 1946. Argonne is a direct descendant of the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory, part of the World War Two Manhattan Project. It was at the Met Lab where, on Dec. 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi and his band of about 50 colleagues created the world's first controlled nuclear chain reaction in a squash court at the University of Chicago. After the war, Argonne was given the mission of developing nuclear reactors for peaceful purposes. Over the years, Argonne's research expanded to include many other areas of science, engineering and technology -- some of which are highlighted in this virtual tour. Argonne is not and never has been a weapons laboratory.

JILA is making major contributions to two vibrant research areas in the field of atomic and molecular physics: ultracold matter and the control of atoms and molecules with ultrafast light. Ultracold atoms and molecules comprise novel forms of matter that form at temperatures below a few millionths of a degree above absolute zero (-459.67 F). Many of JILA's atomic physicists are studying the creation of these novel substances and investigating their properties, behavior, and interactions. In the process, they're learning first hand about the strange, hidden world of the nanocosmos where the laws of quantum mechanics predominate.

The mission of the Physical Research Lab is medium to long-term high-impact research primarily in areas of science and technology relevant to Lucent Technologies' focus on communications and networks. Specific areas of work include photonics components based on nonlinear optical materials and on semiconductors, etc.; physical optics; soft-condensed matter physics and technology, such as organic injection lasers and devices based on liquid crystals and polymers; physics of wireless propagation smart antennas; wireless components; information and communication theory; quantum information processing; biological computation including biology inspired algorithms and machine learning; nanoscale science and technology including nanoprobes for high resolution imaging of devices and materials; materials and condensed matter physics research including semiconductors such as nitrides, organic molecular crystals, new photonic materials; astrophysics and space science.

The primary goals of this experiment are to test for neutrino mass by searching for neutrino oscillations. Neutrino mass is important because it may lead us to physics beyond the Standard Model. Masses in the range accessible to MiniBooNE will expand our understanding of how the universe has evolved. The BooNE project began in 1997. The first beam induced neutrino events were detected in September, 2002.

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOEs Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

Welcome to the home page of Professor Jeff Kimble's quantum optics group at Caltech. The primary goal of our research is to study the quantum mechanics of open systems. "Real-world" quantum mechanics takes into account the dissipation and decoherence that arise from interactions of a quantum system with its environment. In studying the role of these processes, we learn about what is and might be possible: how we might make, study, and preserve quantum superpositions and other exotic states.

Topics include cosmology, black holes, cosmic strings, inflation, quantum gravity, movies, string theory, the holographic principle, M-theory, quantum cosmology, the hot big bang, galaxies and clusters, and relic radiation.

The Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems (CenSSIS) is a multi-university NSF ERC founded in 2000. Its mission is to revolutionize the existing technology for detecting and imaging biomedical, environmental, or geophysical objects or conditions that lie underground or underwater, or are embedded in the human body. The Center's unified, multidisciplinary approach combines expertise in wave physics (photonics, ultrasonic, electromagnetic,..), sensor engineering, image processing, and inverse scattering to create new sensing modalities and prototypes that may be transitioned to industry partners for further development. A key element of the CenSSIS education mission is to immerse students in efforts to solve important real-world problems such as noninvasive breast cancer detection or underground pollution assessment.

The Center for Superconductivity Research (CSR) at the University of Maryland was conceived in 1989 as an interdisciplinary center devoted to fundamental and applied research on superconductivity. Since then the CSR has evolved into an interdisciplinary research center that could more appropriately be called a Center for Superconductivity, Novel Materials and Nanoelectronics. This evolution has occurred as our outstanding faculty have moved into other areas at the forefront of research related to superconductivity. Our research impacts technology that is important for commercial and defense related applications, such as communications, digital and analog electronics, sensors, and computers.

The CPI is dedicated to the proposition that physical science and information science are interdependent and inseparable. Our research aims, on the one hand, to foster physical insights that can pave the way for revolutionary new information technologies, and, on the other hand, to stimulate new ideas about information that can illuminate fundamental issues in physics and chemistry.

CERN (Conseil Eurpeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire) is the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the world's largest particle physics centre. Here physicists come to explore what matter is made of and what forces hold it together. CERN exists primarily to provide them with the necessary tools. These are accelerators, which accelerate particles to almost the speed of light and detectors to make the particles visible. Founded in 1954, the laboratory was one of Europe's first joint ventures and includes now 20 Member States.

The mission of the Collider-Accelerator Department is to develop, improve and operate the suite of particle / heavy ion accelerators used to carry out the program of accelerator-based experiments at BNL; to support the experimental program including design, construction and operation of the beam transports to the experiments plus support of detector and research needs of the experiments; to design and construct new accelerator facilities in support of the BNL and national missions. The C-A Department supports an international user community of over 1500 scientists. The department performs all these functions in an environmentally responsible and safe manner under a rigorous conduct of operations approach.

The sole purpose of CMTC is to maintain sustained excellence in theoretical condensed matter physics (defined in the broadest possible sense) at the University of Maryland.

The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, providing more than 40 percent of total funding for this vital area of national importance. It oversees and is the principal federal funding agency of the Nations research programs in high-energy physics, nuclear physics, and fusion energy sciences. The Office of Science manages fundamental research programs in basic energy sciences, biological and environmental sciences, and computational science. In addition, the Office of Science is the Federal Governments largest single funder of materials and chemical sciences, and it supports unique and vital parts of U.S. research in climate change, geophysics, genomics, life sciences, and science education. The Office of Science manages this research portfolio through five interdisciplinary program offices: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, and High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics. In addition, the Office of Science sponsors a range of science education initiatives through its Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists program. The Office of Science also manages 10 world-class laboratories, which often are called the crown jewels of our national research infrastructure. The national laboratory system, created over a half-century ago, is the most comprehensive research system of its kind in the world. Five are multi-program facilities: Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory