Stephen in Cardiff, May 2014
Stephen Powell
I am an Associate Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nottingham, and a member of the Condensed Matter Theory group.
- Email:
- Phone: +44 115 74 84726
- Office: C139
- Departmental web page
Biography
- 2013– : University of Nottingham
- 2012–2013: Assistant Professor, Nordita
- 2009–2012: JQI Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Maryland, supervisor: Sankar Das Sarma
- 2007–2009: Postdoctoral Research Assistant, University of Oxford, supervisor: John Chalker
- 2002–2007: Ph.D., Yale University, adviser: Subir Sachdev (thesis)
- 1998–2002: M.Phys., Christ Church, University of Oxford
Research
My research, in theoretical condensed matter physics, investigates the properties of novel phases of matter, with the aim of understanding their unconventional phenomena and the physical systems in which they occur. The approach is mainly through the concept of frustration, which describes systems where interactions compete against one another and simple ordered states cannot be formed. Instead, strong correlations and large fluctuations can coexist, leading to an abundance of exotic phases and phenomena. Examples include so-called "spin liquids", states characterised by the presence of topological order and the emergence of fractionalised excitations.
Teaching
- PHYS1001 From Newton to Einstein
- PHYS3015 Theory Toolbox
- PHYS4029 Order, Disorder and Fluctuations
- MPAGS SM2 Classical and Quantum Phase Transitions