Condensed Matter Physics

Condensed Matter Physics (CMP) examines the phases of matter and remarkable properties that emerge in materials containing large numbers of interacting particles, in the quest to understand the organizing principles that give rise to the collective behavior.  CMP at Rice has particular strengths in quantum materials (in which quantum degrees of freedom, often strongly interacting, lead to emergent superconducting, magnetic, and topological states) and nanophotonics/optical probes of condensed matter systems.