Instytut Fizyki Teoretycznej Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego prowadzi szeroki zakres badań w dziedzinie fizyki teoretycznej. Ponadto, Instytut angażuje się w badania interdyscyplinarne w ramach kognitywistyki i nauk o mózgu, rozwój komputerów kwantowych oraz eksplorację sztucznej inteligencji i uczenia maszynowego. W jego strukturach działa ponad 30 profesorów fizyki teoretycznej oraz kilkanaście grup badawczych, wspieranych przez międzynarodowy zespół młodszych naukowców, w tym stypendystów podoktoralnych i doktorantów.
Main research areas:
The fundamental interactions discovered so far in nature are described by two major physical theories. At large scales—ranging from cosmology to astrophysics—gravity dominates, and it is described by the general theory of relativity. In the microscopic world, fundamental interactions are described by the Standard Model of elementary particles, which encompasses the theories of electromagnetic, strong, and weak interactions, along with the resulting effective theory of nuclear interactions.
We conduct research on the properties and applications of both of these major theories, as well as on closely related topics in classical and quantum field theory, mathematical physics, and extensions or generalizations of currently known theories, such as string theory, quantum gravity, and modified theories of gravity.
Research Topics:
- Mathematical Physics and Field Theory
- Noncommutative geometry, quantum groups, conformal field theories, and matrix models
- String theory/gauge theory correspondence (AdS/CFT), the holographic principle
- Solitonic and oscillon solutions in classical nonlinear field theory
- Relativistic quantum mechanics and infrared properties of quantum electrodynamics
- Gravity, Astrophysics, and Cosmology
- Solutions to Einstein’s equations for pure gravity and in the presence of matter fields
- Gravitational waves, turbulent dynamics of nonlinear waves, dispersive differential equations
- Astrophysical applications of general relativity: modeling stars and their dynamics, matter accretion, black holes with surrounding matter
- Cosmological models and modified theories of gravity
- Quantum gravity in the frameworks of causal dynamical triangulations and loop quantum gravity
- Microscopic Physics
- Theoretical studies of the strong interaction and its application to phenomena investigated at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), using perturbative methods
- Theoretical analysis of hadron and nuclear structure using effective field theories and lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) calculations
- Relativistic hydrodynamics with spin, applied to nuclear matter and heavy-ion collisions
- Simulation of hadron and lepton collisions using Monte Carlo event generators
Quantum mechanics lies at the foundation of all known physical theories governing matter. Quantum phenomena are especially important in describing the properties of atoms, molecules, their assemblies, as well as in the theory of the condensed phase and nanotechnology. In quantum systems with a large number of degrees of freedom, a rich variety of phenomena and emergent properties arise, giving rise to the observed diversity in the behavior of materials. Deriving the properties of quantum systems from first principles is a grand theoretical challenge, the solution of which enables us to understand known material properties and design new materials.
Particularly exciting and rapidly developing research in recent years has focused on quantum many-body systems, including phenomena such as quantum entanglement, Bose-Einstein condensation, and superconductivity. Quantum effects also form the foundation of a new and rapidly evolving technology: quantum computing.
Research Topics:
- Quantum Many-Body Systems
- Theory of cold atom systems and Bose-Einstein condensates; quantum simulators
- Quantum many-body systems in external fields, Anderson localization, quantum chaos
- Out-of-equilibrium dynamics in quantum systems, quantum phase transitions, and transport; tensor networks
- Spontaneous breaking of time-translation symmetry, time crystals, timetronics
- Condensed Phase Theory
- Strongly correlated quantum liquids, spin-orbital order, and high-temperature superconductivity
- Electronic properties of two-dimensional materials: theory of graphene
- Topological crystalline systems
- Chemical Bonding Theory
- Quantum Computing and Quantum Information
- Geometry of quantum states and quantum entanglement; theory of quantum measurement
- Adiabatic quantum computing
- Quantum algorithms and computations on quantum computers
- Practical strategies for error mitigation and correction in quantum computing
The world around us is complex. The laws of nature are simple at the fundamental level, but when acting within systems with a large number of degrees of freedom, they give rise to qualitatively new properties and phenomena. In such systems, the microscopic deterministic description is replaced by a probabilistic one. Emergent properties are derived using statistical methods. A classical application of this approach is the explanation of phenomenological thermodynamics through statistical physics.
The foundations of statistical physics include theories of stochastic differential equations, nonlinear dynamics, and deterministic chaos, which make it possible to derive the properties of statistical systems from first principles. The methods of statistical physics are also successfully applied to describe complex systems that are not composed of elementary physical matter — in particular, for modeling social, biological, financial systems, and brain activity. Research in complex systems theory also encompasses neural networks and machine learning mechanisms.
Research Topics:
- Statistical Physics, Thermodynamics, and Stochastic Processes
- Stochastic and nonequilibrium thermodynamics, description of fluctuations and dissipation
- Stochastic resonance, anomalous diffusion
- Molecular chaos and the dynamics of self-organization
- Maximally random packing
- Modeling of Complex Systems
- Financial physics and econophysics; random matrices
- Heavy-tailed Lévy distributions
- Modeling of social networks
- Neural networks and machine learning; information theory
- Soft matter and modeling of biological systems
- Structure and phase transitions in liquid crystals
- Transport in molecular and biological systems
- Modeling of gene regulatory networks
- Statistical analysis of brain activity