Physics Research at MIT

There are several 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 Department, there are also interdisciplinary research centers that contain groups from many departments, including physics.

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)
• 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

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

Here are also some MIT research centers.