Physics Research at MIT

There are 4 main divisions within the physics department, and in many ways each division operates like a mini-department with its own colloquium series, degree requirements, funding peculiarities, and sense of community.

Besides the divisions within the physics departments, there are also inter-disciplinary research centers that contain groups from many departments, including physics.

We have also compiled a list of graduate student contacts, and their interests. Please make use of this resource and feel free to contact them!

Keeping this page complete and/or up to date is difficult. Please help by letting us know if we're omitting anything, links do not work, or emails do not get through!

Physics Department Divisions

ASTROPHYSICS

The astrophysics division is closely affiliated with the Center for Space Research. Facilities and research groups include:

• Chandra X-ray Observatory
• HETE (High Energy Transient Explorer)
• the George R. Wallace Jr. Astrophysical Observatory
• Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) (the Gravitation and Cosmology Research Group)
• the Magellan Optical Observatory
• the MIT Haystack Radio Observatory
• RXTE (Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer), and here.
• Space Plasma Group

CONDENSED MATTER, ATOMIC AND BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS

The many groups that work in this area are mostly divided between:

• Condensed Matter Theory
• the Center for Materials Science and Engineering
• the Research Laboratory for Electronics (Atomic Molecular and Optical, Plasma, Quantum-effect Devices, Surfaces and Interfaces)
• Biophysics group of Professor van Oudenaarden
• the Spectroscopy Laboratory

  Facilities available include:

• the Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory
• the Neutron and Synchrotron X-ray Scattering Facilities at Brookhaven National Laboratory

LABORATORY FOR NUCLEAR SCIENCE

The Laboratory for Nuclear Science is a very large entity! Along with the Center for Theoretical Physics, here are some of the other faces of the lab:

• the Bates Linear Accelerator Center
• Electromagnetic Interactions Group/AMS
• HERMES
• Lepton-Quark Studies
• Nuclear Interactions Group
• Particle Physics Collaboration
• Relativistic Heavy Ion Group (Phobos)
• Neutrino Physics

Research Centers

A fairly extensive list of research centers connected with MIT physics can be found here.

Here are also some MIT research centers.

Graduate Student Contacts

This is the most important part of this page. Please make use of it: if you have any questions about specific groups, general research areas, what it's like to go to MIT in physics, the graduate school process, that's what we're here for!

ASTROPHYSICS

• Sarah Vigeland Theoretical astrophysics

ATOMIC PHYSICS

BIOPHYSICS

CONDENSED MATTER

• Darius Torchinsky Time Resolved Spectroscopy of Energetic Materials Under High Pressure and Shock Loading (working in the group of Keith Nelson in the Chemistry Department)

EXPERIMENTAL PARTICLE PHYSICS

• Rebecca Russell Nuclear physics

MEDICAL PHYSICS

PLASMA PHYSICS

• James Dorris Experimental plasma physics, Magnetic influence of RF Breakdown
• Jing Zhou (China)Plasma Physics Theory

THEORETICAL HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS