Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics

Our Research

How do you detect gravity waves produced 1.3 billion light years away, or image the structure and dynamics of a molecule just a few nanometres in size?  How do you investigate the physics of atoms cooled to a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero, or test quantum electrodynamics at the fifteenth decimal place?  How can we detect the quantum signature of a nanodiamond inside a living human cancer cell, or construct a quantum computer?

Atomic, Molecular and Optical (AMO) Physics is crucial to answering these and many other fascinating problems. It is a rich and diverse area of modern physics, involving the complex quantum physics of interactions between light and matter, from lasers to synchrotrons, from nano to intergalactic scales.  Researchers in the School of Physics are developing theoretical and computational approaches, and designing and constructing complex experiments in our own advanced laboratories and at international shared facilities.  They are extending our fundamental knowledge and understanding of AMO physics and applying that knowledge to real-world applications in science and technology.