Cambridge Condensed Matter Theory Programme Grant
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
As theoreticians, we construct models of physical and chemical processes that are generally inspired by experimental discoveries, we generalise these models and their solutions to make predictions for new experiments, and we transfer the concepts and theoretical tools which emerge from the solution of these models to other areas of research, in a concerted interdisciplinary effort. In short, the role of theory is to understand known phenomena observed in the laboratory or in everyday life, and to predict new physical processes and phenomena.Our theoretical research is both about making calculations, to quantitatively understand and predict the behaviour of matter, but also about making models to illuminate the landscape of emergent behaviour in physics, chemistry, material science, and biology. The role of theory includes both fundamental knowledge creation and practical applications of modelling for new and existing technology. The applications of our activity are as various as ultracold atoms, semiconductor devices and DNA assembly.Starting from first principles on the microscopic level (as embodied in the Schrdinger equation) electronic, mechanical and structural properties of molecules and materials can now be calculated with a remarkable degree of accuracy. We work on developing and refining new computational tools and applying them to a broad spectrum of fundamental and applied problems in physics, chemistry, materials science and biology.Solids and fluids often show unusual collective behaviour resulting from cooperative quantum or classical phenomena. For such phenomena a more model-based approach is often appropriate, and we are using such methods to attack problems in magnetism, superfluidity, nonlinear optics, mesoscopic systems, complex fluids and solids, andbio-polymers. Collective behaviour comes even more to the fore in systems on a larger scale. As examples, we work on self-organising structures in soft condensed matter systems, non-linear dynamics of interacting systems, and models of biophysical processes, all of which bridge the gap between molecular and mesoscopic scales.
Organisations
Publications
Pickard CJ
(2010)
Aluminium at terapascal pressures.
in Nature materials
Pickard CJ
(2011)
Predicted pressure-induced s-band ferromagnetism in alkali metals.
in Physical review letters
Cole DJ
(2011)
Interrogation of the protein-protein interactions between human BRCA2 BRC repeats and RAD51 reveals atomistic determinants of affinity.
in PLoS computational biology
Kibalchenko M
(2011)
Magnetic response of single-walled carbon nanotubes induced by an external magnetic field.
in ACS nano
John S
(2011)
Spectroscopic method to measure the superfluid fraction of an ultracold atomic gas
in Physical Review A
Kaewmaraya T
(2011)
Theoretical investigation of xenon-hydrogen solids under pressure using ab initio DFT and G W calculations
in Physical Review B
Wójs A
(2011)
Search for non-Abelian statistics in half-filled Landau levels of graphene
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Dziedzic J
(2011)
Minimal parameter implicit solvent model for ab initio electronic-structure calculations
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Hiscock T
(2011)
Solar to electrical conversion via liquid crystal elastomers
in Journal of Applied Physics
Drummond ND
(2011)
Quantum Monte Carlo study of a positron in an electron gas.
in Physical review letters
Zaccone A
(2011)
Quantifying the reversible association of thermosensitive nanoparticles.
in Physical review letters
Morris A
(2011)
Energetics of hydrogen/lithium complexes in silicon analyzed using the Maxwell construction
in Physical Review B
Gomes FL
(2011)
Reconstruction of rat retinal progenitor cell lineages in vitro reveals a surprising degree of stochasticity in cell fate decisions.
in Development (Cambridge, England)
Ejima S
(2011)
Ising deconfinement transition between Feshbach-resonant superfluids.
in Physical review letters
Blundell J
(2011)
Semiflexible filaments subject to arbitrary interactions: a Metropolis Monte Carlo approach
in Soft Matter
Wo´js A
(2011)
Skyrmions in a Half-Filled Second Landau Level
Sun J
(2011)
Controlling the bonding and band gaps of solid carbon monoxide with pressure.
in Physical review letters
Seth P
(2011)
Quantum Monte Carlo study of the first-row atoms and ions.
in The Journal of chemical physics
Huggins DJ
(2011)
Thermodynamic Properties of Water Molecules at a Protein-Protein Interaction Surface.
in Journal of chemical theory and computation
Modes CD
(2011)
Blueprinting nematic glass: systematically constructing and combining active points of curvature for emergent morphology.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Pickard CJ
(2011)
Ab initio random structure searching.
in Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal
Kita Y
(2011)
Ab initio quantum Monte Carlo study of the binding of a positron to alkali-metal hydrides.
in The Journal of chemical physics
Bhaseen M
(2011)
Magnetic properties of the second Mott lobe in pairing Hamiltonians
in Physical Review A
Price H
(2011)
Skyrmion-antiskyrmion pairs in ultracold atomic gases
in Physical Review A
Klein AM
(2011)
Universal patterns of stem cell fate in cycling adult tissues.
in Development (Cambridge, England)
Wójs A
(2011)
Composite Fermion Dynamics in Half-Filled Landau Levels of Graphene
in Acta Physica Polonica A
Drummond N
(2011)
Quantum Monte Carlo calculation of the zero-temperature phase diagram of the two-component fermionic hard-core gas in two dimensions
in Physical Review B
Möller G
(2011)
Structure and consequences of vortex-core states in p -wave superfluids
in Physical Review B
Lee D
(2011)
Breakdown of Counterflow Superfluidity in a Disordered Quantum Hall Bilayer
in Advances in Condensed Matter Physics
Béri B
(2011)
Z(2) topological insulators in ultracold atomic gases.
in Physical review letters
Bardwell DA
(2011)
Towards crystal structure prediction of complex organic compounds--a report on the fifth blind test.
in Acta crystallographica. Section B, Structural science
Kibalchenko M
(2011)
Structural Composition of First-Neighbor Shells in GeSe 2 and GeSe 4 Glasses from a First-Principles Analysis of NMR Chemical Shifts
in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Weerasinghe G
(2011)
Computational searches for iron carbide in the Earth's inner core
in Physical Review B
Zaccone A
(2011)
Network disorder and nonaffine deformations in marginal solids
in Physical Review B
Benetatos P
(2011)
Constrained random-force model for weakly bending semiflexible polymers.
in Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Klein AM
(2011)
Patterning as a signature of human epidermal stem cell regulation.
in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
Edge J
(2011)
Probing ultracold Fermi gases with light-induced gauge potentials
in Physical Review A
Radescu S
(2011)
Theoretical study of pressure-driven phase transitions in HgSe and HgTe
in Physical Review B
Simons BD
(2011)
Strategies for homeostatic stem cell self-renewal in adult tissues.
in Cell
Cooper N
(2011)
Optical flux lattices for two-photon dressed states
in EPL (Europhysics Letters)
Kim DY
(2011)
Predicted formation of superconducting platinum-hydride crystals under pressure in the presence of molecular hydrogen.
in Physical review letters
Blundell J
(2011)
The influence of disorder on deformations in semiflexible networks
in Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Levinsen J
(2011)
Topological p x + ip y superfluid phase of fermionic polar molecules
in Physical Review A
Béri B
(2011)
Local tensor network for strongly correlated projective States.
in Physical review letters
Description | Condensed Matter is intrinsically complex. The term refers to systems of vast numbers of atoms placed so close together that the electrons may no longer be confined to a single atom and the atoms interact strongly together. Perhaps not surprisingly, condensed matter systems can exhibit a vast array of different physical, chemical and/or biological properties, often on many different lengthscales. We should also remember that the fundamental equations of physics can usually only be solved exactly |
Exploitation Route | In some cases, there are opportunities for commercial exploitation of the methods we develop, particularly those involving computer modelling, but more realistically it is the novel phenomena and the systems and/or materials that exhibit them that will offer opportunities for commercial exploitation. As explained above we interact with many communities of other academic researchers. |
Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Healthcare,Manufacturing/ including Industrial Biotechology |
URL | http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/ |
Description | The Cambridge Theory of Condensed Matter Programme Grant was one of a long line of grants that provided long term flexible funding for the core activities of the research group. These grants have allowed us to be innovative, respond rapidly to research opportunities, take on long term riskier research and to support ongoing software development projects. The outcomes reported elsewhere give some indication of the impact of these grants which is clearly marked bymany metrics such as developing the research careers of out young researchers, awards and prizes to the PI and Co-Is and to software that is now sold commercially. |
First Year Of Impact | 2009 |
Sector | Chemicals,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics,Energy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
Title | CASTEP |
Description | A quantum mechanical atomistic simulation tool |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Impact | The software was originally licenced in 1994 but is continually upgraded and improved. It is sold commercially by Biovia (formerly Accelrys) with annual sales in excess of £1million and cumulative sales in excess of $30 |
URL | http://accelrys.com/products/materials-studio/quantum-and-catalysis-software.html |
Title | ONETEP |
Description | ONETEP is a linear scaling quantum mechanical atomistic simulation tool |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Impact | This software is continuously improved in terms of both functionality and speed. It has been sold commercially by Biovia (formerly Accelrys) since 2004 and now has commercial sales in excess of $4.5million |
URL | http://accelrys.com/products/materials-studio/quantum-and-catalysis-software.html |