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About IPST
The primary mission of the Institute for Physical Science and Technology
(IPST) is to foster excellence in interdisciplinary research and education
at the University of Maryland. The Institute strives to provide an environment
in which both theoretical and experimental research can flourish. Current
research programs are in the areas of Biophysics, Chaotic Dynamics, Chemical
Physics, Optical Physics, Space and Upper Atmospheric Physics, Scientific
Computation, and Statistical Physics. The Institute takes pride in the
fact that one third of the Distinguished University Professors on campus
hold appointments in IPST and that several of its faculty are members
of the National Academy of Science. A few of the research topics of current
concern to Institute faculty are:
- A study of the properties of fluids which are far from equilibrium.
Theories for the properties of superfluids, fluids in glasslike states,
and fluids near critical points are being developed.
- Studies of electrons in the upper atmosphere. The Institute has a
radio telescope at the South Pole to support these studies.
- Computation and Visualization in Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydro-dynamics.
- A study of nonlinear mathematical systems which show very irregular
or chaotic behavior.
- The application of new laser technologies to atomic and molecular
spectroscopic studies and to probing the properties of the Earth's atmosphere.
- Studies of ionized gases in space varying from theoretical investigations
of shock waves to experimental programs using packages on several spacecraft.
- Zeno Experiment
- Development and application of the tools of non-equilibrium statistical
mechanics to the control of nano-structures on surfaces.
The Institute has approximately thirty faculty
members, most of whom hold a joint appointment with an academic unit.
The majority of the joint appointments are with Physics, Mathematics,
Chemistry, and Engineering. The Institute offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees
in Chemical Physics and provides financial support and faculty supervision
for approximately sixty graduate students. Graduate students are drawn
from various disciplines including Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, and
Engineering.
Updated 8/10/06
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AMO Group: Image of protons
generated via dissociative-ionization of H2.
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