Physics
The physics minor program is designed for students who wish to acquire an understanding of basic physics, either to support their major program or to satisfy their interest and curiosity. The program offers a sufficient and consistent formation that will prepare interested students for graduate study in physics. See Physics Minor Education for more details.
Our MSc and PhD programs have been designed to improve the quality of research as well as the future researchers and academicians in the field of Physics. We aim to become a center of excellence in theoretical and experimental studies in the fields of Astronomy and Cosmology, Condensed Matter, and Quantum Physics. See Graduate Program Requirements for more information.
High Energy Astrophysics research at Sabanci University concentrates on the structure, dynamics, and evolution of neutron stars, black holes, white dwarfs, matter in their environments, as well as the radiation emitted by these compact objects. Instrumentation research with room temperature semiconductors is also pursued. Detailed information on high energy astrophysics can be found at Astrophysics and Space Forum web pages. http://astrons.sabanciuniv.edu/asf
The Experimental Condensed Matter Physics Group mainly focuses on the electronic and magnetic properties of nanostructures and low dimensional electronic systems under extreme physical conditions (temperatures near absolute zero and very high magnetic fields). Specimens are patterned by electron beam lithography and have features down to a few tens of nanometers.
The theoretical nanophysics group focuses on fundamental physics problems that arise in nanometer scale objects. Recent research interests of the group were on quantum transport in nanostructures, mesosopic physics, graphene physics, spintronics, spin Hall effect and topological insulators. The quantum information group is working on quantum entanglement and decoherence - not only fundamental concepts of quantum mechanics but also important challenges in the construction of quantum computers.
String theory is considered to be the best candidate for a quantum theory of gravity. In mathematics, bosonic string states and vertex operators offer the most direct representation of the Monster, the biggest simple finite group. The structure constants of the Fake Monster Lie algebra can be shown to be identical with 3-string amplitudes.
Concepts from physics are applied to problems in molecular biology in two complementary ways. On the one hand, because the biological function of life's molecules is constrained by their physical and chemical properties, it is important to describe the functional transformations these molecules undergo using the language of chemical physics. On the other, the most successful experimental techniques for probing the structure and dynamics of biomolecules at atomic resolution exploit the fundamental physical properties of these molecules, like their interaction with mechanical and electromagnetic forces.