Physics

Field Description

The graduate physics program is designed to give students an adequate background in the concepts and techniques of theoretical and experimental physics in preparation for careers at the most advanced level in research or teaching.

Research and Study Opportunities

Theoretical physics -- Condensed Matter. Subjects for study include mesoscopic systems and random matrix theory; collective properties of Bose and Fermi condensates; density functional theory (electronic and liquid) with applications to surface growth and interfaces, defects in solids, matter under extreme conditions, and nanophysics; statistical mechanics and critical phenomena applied to crackling noise, dynamical systems, biological systems, and quasicrystals; inverse problems in protein crystallography; strongly interacting electron physics of magnetism, superconductors, and disordered systems.

Theoretical physics -- Particle and Astrophysics. Physics of extra dimensions and supersymmetry, mechanisms for electroweak symmetry breaking, collider phenomenology; lattice gauge theories; particle astrophysics and cosmology; string theory and its application to cosmology, brane world; field theories; astrophysics; black holes; and general relativity.

Experimental particle physics. Our research uses the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, which is the first collider to explore the TeV energy scale, where the Standard Model of particle physics must break down unless new phenomena appear. Cornell is a member of CMS, one of two detector collaborations for elementary particle physics at the LHC. Research topics include mechanisms for electroweak symmetry breaking, including the Higgs mechanism and alternatives, scenarios for physics beyond the Standard Model such as supersymmetry, extra dimensions and new strong interactions, top quark physics, and dark matter. Cornellians are designing online software for the pixel detector, developing strategies for identifying electrons in the electromagnetic calorimeter, writing analysis software capable of handling petabytes of data distributed world-wide, and ensuring that the trigger will successfully pluck new physics out of the huge background of conventional processes. In the next few years, they will also start developing hardware upgrades of the pixels and the trigger.

Accelerator Physics. The electron-positron collider CESR at Cornell University is used as a test-bed for accelerator physics and for X-ray science. Having this large accelerator on campus provides a unique opportunity for students interested in many aspects of accelerator physics. Currently, CESR is testing design concepts for the Linear Collider, which will be the world's largest high-energy physics accelerator. Accelerator research also includes an active program to develop the superconducting radio-frequency cavities needed for the next generation of electron-positron colliders and for future X-ray facilities. The group is also developing a new X-ray facility, the Energy Recovery Linac, for the Cornell campus that offers students the unique opportunity to join a large-scale science project in an early state where many phenomena are still unknown, many parameters need to be computed, and many important decisions are being made.

Experimental condensed matter physics. Subjects of study include nanostructures and quantum transport; superfluid, solid, and supersolid helium; atomic-resolution STM and tunneling spectroscopy; photoemission spectroscopy; high-temperature superconductivity; nanomagnetics; new forms of scanning-probe microscopy; nanomechnanical systems and limits of quantum measurement; disordered and glassy systems; UV, optical, infrared, and microwave spectroscopies; charge density waves; single-molecule biophysics; molecular motors; protein crystals; complex fluids, polymer networks, and colloids; grapheme, carbon nanotubes and related physics; X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy; and the development of new X-ray sources and high-speed detectors.

Contact Information

Website: http://www.physics.cornell.edu
Email: physics@cornell.edu
Phone: 607 255-7561

117 Clark Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853

Subject and Degrees

Physics (Ph.D.) (Ithaca)

Concentrations by Subject

Physics

experimental physics
physics
theoretical physics

Faculty

James Paul Alexander

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental high-energy physics

Tomas Alberto Arias

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: condensed-matter theory

Neil William Ashcroft

Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
Concentrations: Physics: physics
Research Interests: theoretical condensed-matter physics

Ivan Bazarov

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental particle physics

Rachel Bean

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: astrophysics

Eberhard Bodenschatz

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental condensed-matter physics

Robert Alan Buhrman

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: basic and applied condensed-matter physics

Itai Cohen

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental condensed matter physics

Csaba Csaki

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: theoretical particle physics

James C. Seamus Davis

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental solid-state physics

Gerald Francis Dugan

Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: accelerator physics

Veit Elser

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: theoretical condensed-matter physics

Eanna E Flanagan

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: general relativity; theoretical astrophysics; gravitational wave astronomy

Carl Peter Franck

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental liquid physics; x-ray physics

Lawrence K Gibbons

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental elementary-particle physics

Paul H. Ginsparg

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: theoretical particle physics

Yuval Grossman

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: theoretical particle physics

Sol Michael Gruner

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: structure and properties of soft matter; biomaterials; x-ray instrumentation and methods

Donald L Hartill

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental high-energy physics; accelerator physics

Thomas Hartman

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: theoretical physics
Research Interests: theoretical particle physics

Georg Hoffstaetter

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental accelerator particle physics

Natasha Grace Holmes

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: physics and science education

Eun-Ah Kim

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: theoretical physics; condensed matter physics

Michael J. Lawler

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: theoretical physics; condensed matter theory

Andre Roger Leclair

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: high-energy theory

G Peter Lepage

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: theory of elementary particles; quantum-field theory

Stephen Levy

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental condensed matter physics

Matthias U. Liepe

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: accelerator physics

Kin Fai Mak

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental condensed matter physics

Jared Michael Maxson

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: accelerator physics

Liam McAllister

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: theoretical particle physics

Paul L. McEuen

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experiment solid-state physics

N. David Mermin

Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
Concentrations: Physics: physics
Research Interests: theoretical condensed-matter physics

Erich Mueller

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: condensed matter physics

Christopher R. Myers

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: theoretical physics

Matthias Neubert

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: theoretical high-energy particle physics

Michael Niemack

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: Experimental physics

Katja C. Nowack

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental condensed matter physics

Yuri F. Orlov

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: theoretical

Jeevak N Parpia

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: low-temperature physics

Juliet Ritchie Patterson

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental high-energy physics

Maxim Perelstein

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: theoretical particle physics

Daniel C Ralph

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental nanoscale physics

Brad Jared Ramshaw

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental condensed matter physics

John David Reppy

Campus: Ithaca - (Graduate School Professor)
Concentrations: Physics: physics
Research Interests: low-temperature physics

David L Rubin

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: high-energy particle accelerators

Anders Ryd

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental article physics

James Patarasp Sethna

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: plasticity and fracture of materials; dislocation dynamics; crack growth laws and stochastic fracture models; crackling noise and avalanche behavior in magnets, plastic flow and other systems; multiparameter fits to data; statistical mechanics; material science; dynamical systems and quantum physics

Jie Shan

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental condensed matter physics

Kyle Shen

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental condensed matter physics

Albert John Iii Sievers

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: solid-state physics

Eric D. Siggia

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: evolution of antibiotic resistance; evolution of biological networks; evo-devo; bioinformatics of gene regulation

Saul A Teukolsky

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: physics; theoretical physics
Research Interests: relativity and astrophysics

Julia Thom-Levy

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental partical physics

Robert Edward Thorne

Campus: Ithaca
Concentrations: Physics: experimental physics; physics
Research Interests: experimental condensed-matter physics; biological physics

Sze-Hoi Henry Tye