Research

The Astrophysics group works primarily in helioseismology, developing foundational theories for understanding experiments amd data acquisition/reduction principally at 60-foot solar tower on Mt. Wilson. The Cosmology group is interested in a variety of scienitific issues including dark matter and dark energy models, the early Universe, cosmological parameter determination, data analysis and interpretation.

The Experimental Biological Physics group focuses on examining biology through the lens of physics has led to a more fundamental and quantitative understanding of many biological systems. The Theoretical Biological Physics group seeks a mechanistic understanding of biological phenomena in terms of physical models. Current research mainly concerns the physical basis for the organization, dynamics, shape, and signaling properties of cell membranes.

The Condensed Matter group is currently investigating a range of topics, including unconventional superconductivity, quantum spin liquids, solid state quantum computers, superfluidity of þHe, electron transport at low temperatures, two-dimensional inversion layers in semiconductors.

The members of the High Energy Theory group at USC are a very dynamic group whose contributions to the field have been widely recognized. Currently, the main emphasis of the group is on superstring theory and related topics.

Research in Quantum information processing studies the potential use of quantum mechanical systems–individual atoms, ions, photons, and nanoscale solid state devices–for information-processing tasks such as computation and communication.