Contact
Prof. Dr. Alan T. Huckleberry
Komplexe Analysis
Faculty of Mathematics
Phone: 0234/32-23326
E-Mail: ahuck@cplx.ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Funded since 2003
Link
Chaos and disorder in minuscule systems
Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 12: Symmetries and Universality in Mesoscopic Systems
They trace electrons in superconductors losslessly transporting electric currents and carry out research about carbon-nanotubes and Bose-Einstein condensates: mathematicians and physicists of the universities of Bochum, Duisburg-Essen and Cologne (head institution) cooperate with the University of Düsseldorf and the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw in the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre: “Symmetries and Universality in Mesoscopic Systems”. The SFB thematically belongs to theoretical physics, but it couldn‘t work without mathematics. Teams with members of both subjects are working in most of the sub-projects.
The scientists analyse areas which are invisible to the human eye: physical systems the size of which lies in the so-called mesoscopic scale, ie between a few nano- and micrometres. The physical behaviour of such systems is determined by quantum theory – but only, if the temperature is below a certain degree. In this case it is a mesoscopic system characterized by chaos and disorder: it shows grave fluctuations in measurable variables, e.g. electrical conductivity.
The basic mechanisms according to which chaos and disorder in these systems lead to universal characteristics are analysed by the researchers – taking into consideration determining mathematical structures, especially symmetries. Thus open mathematical questions are to be answered in order to create a deeper physical understanding.
