Physics Home Page > Research Areas > Condensed Matter
The University of California at Santa Cruz is known for its strong graduate programs in theoretical and experimental high energy physics and astronomy. The Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics and the Lick Observatory support more than fifty graduate students in physics and astronomy.
Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science research has, over the last few years, increased tremendously in a effort to build this area of research to a comparable level. As part of this initiative, several condensed matter faculty have been hired in recent years and there are now eight (8) condensed matter faculty in our department. The department is very motivated to attract excellent students in condensed matter physics and has significant resources available to achieve this goal.
Experimental condensed matter physics faculty include Dave Belanger, Frank Bridges, George Brown, Sue Carter and Zack Schlesinger. Dave Belanger, from UC Santa Barbara, has interests which include phase transitions in systems with randomness or frustration. Frank Bridges, from UC San Diego, has interests which include structural aspects of condensed matter systems. George Brown, from Cornel, in addition to being the Department Chair, has interests which include sychrotron radiation research. Sue Carter, from University of Chicago via Bell Labs, has interests which include device physics, metal-insulator transitions, novel electronic systems and biophysics. Zack Schlesinger, from Cornell via IBM research, has interests which include strongly correlated electron systems.
Theoretical condensed matter physics faculty include Josh Deutsch, Onuttom Narayan and Peter Young. Josh Deutsch, from Cambridge, has interests which include biological physics. Onuttom Narayan, from Harvard, is a theorist with broad interests including the physics of phase transitions and non-equilibrium systems. Peter Young, from Oxford, has interests which include critical phenomena of disordered and quantum systems.
Condensed Matter Research Group Web Pages