The theoretical condensed matter group is involved in research in four main areas:

• quantum many-body theory of systems involving strong correlations and/or disorder
• statistical mechanics
• biological systems
• systems far from equilibrium

The first area includes such phenomena as high-temperature superconductivity, the quantum Hall effect, quantum magnetism, mesoscopics, localization, and quantum chaos.

Statistical mechanical problems include the behavior of spin glasses, glasses and other complex systems, magnetism, and the vortex state of superconductors.

Work on biological systems addresses phenomena at the molecular level, such as the dynamics of protein self-assembly and molecular motors, as well as at the cellular scale and beyond, concerning chemotaxis and pattern formation.

Finally, the study of highly nonequilibrium systems embraces phenomena such as chemical networks, neural networks, morphogenesis, and evolution. In all of these endeavors the theory group enjoys close contact with experimental condensed matter and biophysics efforts within the Physics Department and in related departments on campus.