Research
Theoretical physics uses mathematics as a unifying language to describe the origin and structure of matter from (sub)atomic and molecular scales to stars and galaxies. The research focus at the ITP is organized in two themes:
- String Theory, Cosmology and Elementary Particles
- Condensed-Matter theory, Statistical and Computational Physics
Research topics in the ITP range from very fundamental issues about the quantum nature of black holes, the properties of elementary particles and the early universe, the modelling of the largest-scales of the Universe and gravitational wave signals, to questions about superconductivity at room temperature, the use of spintronics in memory devices, quantum computation, the properties of electrolytes, nanoparticles, and biological cells in relation to physical chemistry and biology. Surprisingly, the mathematical tools to study these questions are often very similar, so it is natural and beneficial from the point of view of a theoretical physicist to focus these themes into a single research institute.