NBIA MSc Day 2020

Research

THEORETICAL PARTICLE PHYSICS
The search for the most fundamental interactions in Nature probes the shortest distances ever reached. Right now, a major impact comes from the experimental front, in particular from CERN, the LIGO and VIRGO gravitational wave observations, from neutrino experiments, and, remarkably, from cosmology. In the theoretical particle physics group at the NBIA we explore all these frontiers and have a strong focus on modern amplitude calculations, including understanding General Relativity from scattering amplitudes.

THEORETICAL ASTROPHYSICS
This line of research at the NBIA spans a variety of topics, using a broad range of theoretical techniques and numerical tools. Topics of interest include: accretion flows around young stars and compact objects, the formation of black hole binary systems and subsequent mergers, the interstellar medium, the intergalactic medium in galaxy clusters, as well as the early evolution of our solar system and exoplanetary systems. We have access to powerful computer resources and interact on a daily basis with the Computational Astrophysics Group at the NBI.

NEUTRINO ASTROPHYSICS
These are exciting times for neutrino astro-physicists, with the IceCube telescope paving the way for a new neutrino astronomy era. The prime focus of the NBIA neutrino astrophysics group is to shed light on the role of neutrinos in astrophysical environments, such as core-collapse supernovae and gamma-ray bursts, by adopting neutrinos to learn about the source properties. This new group has recently joined ongoing local efforts in astroparticle physics, aiming to place the NBIA at the forefront of an exciting and rapidly developing field.

BIOPHYSICS & ACTIVE MATTER
NBIA has recently launched an exciting new initiative to expand into soft matter physics and the hot topic of active, self-organizing matter: bacterial colonies, cellular tissues, or filaments inside living cells. A distinctive feature of these active materials is their ability to autonomously create coherent flows with the entire material moving as a unit. Such coherent flows of cells occur in vital biological processes - from wound healing and organ formation to bacterial invasion and tumor progression - and are the subject of intense studies due to their potential for medical intervention.

ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS & COSMOLOGY
The research carried out in this field by the group at the NBIA is at the boundary between fundamental physics and astrophysics/cosmology, investigating the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe, the nature of the dark matter (and of dark energy), the generation of the primordial fluctuations which seeded large-scale structure, and the sources and propagation of high energy cosmic radiation - charged particles, gamma-rays and neutrinos. An exciting new type of messenger augmenting this research are gravitational waves.

CONDENSED MATTER THEORY
The condensed matter theory group at the NBIA seeks to understand how to create, control, measure, and protect quantum coherence and entanglement in quantum many-body systems. This is crucial for building large controlled interacting quantum devices, such as solid-state qubits, nanowires and nanotubes. We maintain close links with the Center for Quantum Devices, with many opportunities for theory-experiment collaborations on these fundamental topics.