| Essentially everyone in the department has been continuously funded by NRC/NSERC for the past 28 years. In the past 10 years we have received over 2 million dollars from NSERC. In this period, research (operating) grants have totaled between $160K and $185K per year, 9 equipment grants have been received and one person has been a participant in a 3 year collaborative project. Previously one person held a 3 year strategic grant. Research Productivity has been very high. From 1988-97 over 220 papers were published from the department. Our members are involved in productive collaborations with researchers in 8 other Canadian universities and with over 20 groups in 11 other countries. |
| Our electron scattering laboratory, after some ground-breaking measurements of free-free electron transitions in the presence of an intense laser field is now studying laser-assisted electron-atom collision processes. Recent collaboration with JILA, University of Colorado using the Oak Ridge ion source has led to the measurement of cross-sections for electron impact excitations of multicharged ions that are of interest in plasma physics. See Barry Wallbank |
| Our experimental
condensed matter program deals with metal physics, magnetism and phase
transitions. These are studied using neutron scattering at the Neutron
Program for Materials Research of NRC at the Chalk River Laboratories of
Atomic Energy of Canada, and using dilatometry (thermal expansion and magnetostriction)
here at StFX.
Recently we have developed a novel capacitance dilatometer which makes it possible to carry out measurements of length changes, or position changes, as small as one Angstrom (sub-atomic sizes) at temperatures from near absolute zero to as high as 1500 degrees C. See Michael Steinitz. |
| The major part of the program in Condensed Matter and Biophysics Theory involves creating mathematical models of biological and other "soft interfaces" which are then studied, either analytically or using computer simulation. The work has developed from modeling lipid bilayers and monolayers to including the effects of macromolecules (e.g. proteins and DNA) interacting with them. The roles of electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding is being studied. Recent work involved cytochrome c and DNA interacting with mixed lipid membranes. Research is now being done on modeling the outer regions of bacteria. The work has applications to gene therapy, molecular imprinting and bacterial functions and defenses. Research is also being done on magnetic solids, on animal spatial movement and in food science. The program involves collaboration with researchers in Canada, the USA and in Germany. See David Pink. |
| The statistical physics group has done theoretical and computational studies of the critical properties associated with phase transitions in ferromagnets, polymers, spin glasses and high Te superconductors. It has also used these same techniques to study model systems in fields outside physics such as evolution, ageing and population stability. See Naeem Jan & Doug Hunter |
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