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Department of Physics and Technology
Research groups

Research groups

Nye studenter snakker og spaserer mellom trivelige trehus på Nygårdshøyden
Photo:
Eivind Senneset

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Research at the Department of Physics and Technology has a very broad profile and is organised in 8 research groups:

Acoustics

Acoustics is a scientific field in which one studies vibrations and their propagation in the form of waves in all types of materials (gases, liquids and solids). Modern acoustics has many important societal and industrial applications, such as in the petroleum industry, medicine and material sciences.

The study of acoustics focuses on understanding the physical processes that take place in the interaction between sound waves and matter, and how these processes can be utilized in, for example, measuring instruments and methods.

Professor Per Lunde is the leader for this group and here is a link to the group.

 

Microelectronics

Electronics and measurement technology are an important part of our daily lives. The limits of what can be measured and controlled electronically are constantly being stretched, and our research group is actively participating in this. Our research activities go in two main directions: In microelectronics we are working on the development of new electronic circuits that can be used, for example, in new physics experiments, or we use advanced commercial microelectronics to solve measurement and control tasks.

Group contacts:

– Professor Kjetil Ullaland
– Assoc. Professor Johan Alme

Prof. Ullaland is the group leader. This is a link to the group's homepage.

Measurement Technology

In measurement technology, we utilize various chemical and physical properties of materials to develop sensors and instruments for a variety of applications. The multidisciplinary nature of instrumentation also requires extensive use of mathematics and informatics, for example for the development of electronic circuits, modeling, simulation and control of sensors and processes, as well as interpretation and processing of measurement data. Our students are offered interesting and relevant courses and Master's projects across a broad spectrum of theoretical to experimental areas.

Contact persons for Measurement Technology

This is a link to the group's website.

Nanophysics

Nanoscience includes the study of functional materials, systems or phenomena based on nanometer scale building blocks. The characteristics of interest are critically dependent on precisely this order of magnitude being maintained. This is usually due to quantum mechanical effects or that an extremely high proportion of atoms is on the surface of the nanoparticle. Nanoscience is dependent on the understanding and exploiting of the relationship between properties of nanoparticles and pores on the one hand, and desirable properties of the material and the overall system on the other.

Nanoscience research is highly interdisciplinary and takes place at the intersection of physics, chemistry and biology, and benefits in different ways from all three of these disciplines. Our research group mainly targets nanophysics, nanochemistry, nanobiology or nanobiomedicine, but will also come into contact with other relevant disciplines.

Typical problems in nanoscience:

Nanotechnological instrumentation and measurement techniques, nanostructured catalysts, natural nanoparticles and drops, nanomaterials, quantum control and dynamics, magnetic nanoparticles, protein structure and function, protein-surface interactions, protein dynamics, micro-contact printing, nanotoxicology.

Professor Bodil Holst is the leader for the Nanyphysics and Technology group.

 

Optics and Atomic Physics

In the field of optics and atomic physics, both theoretical and experimental studies of interactions between light and matter, where matter ranges from atomic and molecular to large geophysical systems, including fjords, coastal waters and the ice in the Arctic.

This is a link to the group’s website

 

Reservoir Physics – Energy Technology and CO2 Storage (CCUS)

Our group runs research and education within a broad field of expertise related to international petroleum activities, with particular focus on increased oil recovery from the Norwegian continental shelf.

Our main activities are:

1. Injection of CO2 and hydrocarbon gas for increased recovery2. Mobility control in heterogeneous reservoirs using foam and polymers3. Upscaling: From the laboratory to the field4. Gas production from methane hydrate5. Thermodynamic modeling of chemical processes6. CO2 storage

Professor Arne Graue is the leader of the Petroleum and Process Technology group. This is link a to the group’s website.

 

 

Space Science / Birkeland Centre for Space Science (BCSS)

The Center’s goal is to increase knowledge about electric currents around the Earth, particle precipitation from space, northern lights, gamma-ray bursts and other connections between the Earth and space.

The Birkeland Centre for Space Science is a Center for Outstanding Research (SFF) at the University of Bergen, with researchers affiliated with NTNU and UNIS

Professor Nikolai Østgaard is the leader for the Centre, og here is the group’s website.

Space Plasma Physics Group (SPPG)

Research in the Space Plasma Physics Group (SPPG) involves a combination of advanced space plasma simulations, as well as the analysis of data from missions such as NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) and ESA’s CLUSTER. In addition, we research and model space weather-relevant processes, and we are leading ESA’s Geomagnetic Expert Service Centre.

Professor Michael Hesse is the group leader. Read more about our work here.

Subatomic Physics

The group's activity is organized in four main areas:

• Nuclear physics
• Particle physics
Medical physics
Technology Transfer: proton CT

Experimental nuclear physics is an international activity. We are currently participating in experiments at CERN in Geneva, and at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Long Island, New York.

Much of our activity is linked to the accelerator Large Hadron Collider (LHC) where we participate in two ATLAS (particle physics) and ALICE (nuclear physics) experiments. Our group has been constructing the detectors for these two experiments, and we are now active in both operation of the detectors, data analysis and development of new detector technology with a view to upgrading the experiments. The research on the theoretical side focuses on the model building which is necessary for interpreting the experimental results from LHC.

Our focus on astroparticle physics is indirect detection of dark matter using cosmic gamma rays. We are part of the planning / building up the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory, and analyzing available data from existing observatories.

Professor Dieter Rörich is the group leader, and this is a link to the group's website.

Theory, Energy and Process Technology

Theory, Energy and Process Technology is an interdisciplinary research group concentrating on High Energy Subatomic Theory, Multi-Phase Systems, Process and Safety and Energy Physics.

Associate Professor Bjørn J. Arntzen leads the research group. This is a link to the group’s website.

 

Theoretical Physics

Theoretical physics aims to understand Nature on all scales: from elementary particles and forces to the evolution of the Universe. We do that by constructing models and performing calculations that involve both pen and paper and super-computers with thousands of processing units.

Our main interests include:       

  • atomic-level simulations    
  • atomic physics    
  • nuclear physics    
  • particle physics
  • astroparticle physics

You can find the web-pages for the group for theoretical physics here. The group leader is Konrad Tywoniuk and deputy-leader is Tatiana Kuznetsova.