Research
The scientists at the institute conduct research in many areas, such as elementary particle physics, quantum and laser physics, and the physics of condensed matter and complex systems. Embedded in an interdisciplinary environment of working groups at other faculties and research centers, as well as the Fraunhofer Institutes in Freiburg, we are situated in an attractive and diverse research environment.
Research groups
Research report
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FreiDok plus (Research report of the Institute)
Research report of the Physics Institute in the institutional repository of the University of Freiburg. FreiDok plus represents the university’s publication platform, university bibliography, and research documentation system.
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Publications (Scientific articles)
Articles published in scientific journals by members of the Physics Institute
Collaborative research and graduate training
At the Physics Institute, many exciting research topics are addressed within many individual research projects. In addition, there are numerous funded collaborative projects that enable joint, interdisciplinary research at the highest scientific level.
Graduiertenkolleg RTG 3186 – Looking for signposts towards the New Standard Model of particle physics (NewSM)
While the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics describes collider data with remarkable precision, it leaves fundamental questions unanswered, such as the nature of dark matter, the origin of the SM flavour structure, neutrino masses, and the matter–antimatter asymmetry of the Universe.
This Research Training Group (RTG) will address these challenges through a broad, integrated programme combining theory and experiment. By linking collider precision measurements, direct searches for new particles, and theoretical developments across different sectors of the SM and possible extensions, the RTG aims to find the first signposts towards the New SM.
Research Training Group (RTG 2717) – Dynamics of Controlled Atomic and Molecular Systems
The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the project with nearly six million euros over four and a half years. Starting in January 2022, 14 doctoral candidates investigate matter at the quantum level, both in Freiburg and as part of an exchange program in Vancouver, Canada. Precisely controlled atomic and molecular samples, isolated, for example, in molecular beams, cluster beams, or special traps, play a key role in this research area for understanding the dynamics underlying these processes. The new Research Training Group (RTG) at the University of Freiburg, in collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, aims to investigate and control the electron and nuclear dynamics of systems in precisely defined quantum states.
DFG Research Unit (FOR 5099) – Reducing complexity of nonequilibrium systems
The aim of this research unit is to develop a systematic approach to describe dynamics and dissipation in complex systems far from equilibrium. To this end, various approaches are being considered, such as generalized Langevin and Master equations, Fokker-Planck theories, and their consistent combination with atomistic models like classical molecular dynamics simulations. Employing a broad range of methods – from fully quantum mechanical descriptions to classical simulations – the research unit will investigate non-equilibrium phenomena in a variety of systems, including transport processes in nanostructures and biomolecules, as well as different forms of friction and other dissipative effects. The overall goal of the research group is therefore the development of efficient and accurate theories, models, and computational methods that allow for a simplified description of non-equilibrium processes in complex systems.
Members:
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Stock, Prof. Dr. Michael Moseler, Prof. Dr. Joachim Dzubiella, PD Dr. Steffen Wolf, Prof. Dr. Heinz-Peter Breuer, Prof. Dr. Michael Thoss, Prof. Dr. Tanja Schilling
Collaborative Research Centre (SFB 1597) – Small Data
In SmallData, we address data analysis and modeling in small data settings, i.e., when there is only little information in a dataset at hand, due to a small number of observations that carry relevant information, relative to the complexity of novel patterns to be uncovered or the level of heterogeneity across observations.
Research Training Group (RTG 2044) – Mass and Symmetries after the Discovery of the Higgs Particle at the LHC
– Funding ended 2024 –
The discovery of the Higgs boson at the CERN particle physics facility in Geneva, Switzerland, is considered a milestone in science, but further fundamental questions remain unanswered in particle physics. These include a precise understanding of mass production, the unification of the fundamental forces, and the nature of dark matter, which is indirectly observed in astrophysics. The funded graduate program “Mass and Symmetries after the Discovery of the Higgs Boson at the LHC” aims to help answer these questions.
The physicists involved in the research group participate in the precise measurement of the Higgs particle as well as in searches for new particles through theoretical predictions and through the analysis of measurement data from the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, at CERN.
Cooperations and participation in research centers
Some of the professors and lecturers at the Physics Institute have joint appointments at external institutes in Freiburg:
- Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE)
- Fraunhofer-Institute for Mechanics of Materials (IWM)
- Fraunhofer-Institute für Physical Measurements Techniques (IPM)
- Fraunhofer-Institut for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF)
- Institute for Solar Physics (KIS)
Members of the institute also conduct research programs at one of the academic centers or research centers of the University of Freiburg:
- Freiburg Materials Research Center (FMF)
- Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies (FIT)
- Freiburg Center for Data Analysis, Modeling and AI (fdmAI)
- Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS)
- Bernstein Center Freiburg
Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)
The Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute of Physics consults and advises the institute in all aspects of its academic research and education program.
Members of the last advisory board (April 2022):
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Domcke, TU München
Prof. Dr. Enrique Fernandez, IFAE Barcelona
Prof. Dr. Erwin Frey, LMU München
Prof. Dr. Thomas Gallagher, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Prof. Dr. Nigel Glover, University of Durham
Prof. Dr. Martina Havenith, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Prof. Dr. Anthony J. Leggett, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Prof. Dr. Johanna Stachel, University of Heidelberg
Prof. Dr. Marc Vrakking, MBI Berlin
During its meeting in April 2022, this council evaluated the research and educational activities (from 2018 to 2021). The activity report and public lectures with poster presentations by scientists from the institute provided a comprehensive overview of the various research activities at the institute.