School of Mathematics
Our research in optical physics covers a wide range of theoretical and mathematical topics, from pure wave problems such as scattering and diffraction, optical phenomena in liquid crystals, cold atomic gases and quantum optics, to applied problems in the drawing of optical fibres. In addition to a network of international collaborations in Europe and the US, we have close connections with groups in the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford, Strathclyde, RHUL and UCL and we participate in the Collaborative Computational Project 2. Within Southampton, we work closely with the EPSRC Centre for Nanostructured Photonic Metamaterials, Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), e-Science Centre, the Institute for Complex Systems Simulations and the Schools of Physics and Astronomy, and Chemistry.
Liquid crystals are a partially ordered phase of matter. We study their phase transitions and their interaction with light.
Semiclassical approximations give great physical insight and lead to efficient computations of diffraction patterns.
Optical devices, from optical fibers to laser, can be represented using ordinary and partial differential equations.
Ultracold atoms have strikingly new properties used to test quantum mechanics and make very accurate measurements.
18 February 2010
26 January 2010
3 January 2010
2 October 2009
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