Department of Physics of Complex Systems 

Gregory Falkovich, Head


The Department of Physics of Complex Systems has research programs in fundamental and applied physics. Research in optics includes holography, image processing, non-linear effects in optical fibers, electro-optics, planar optics and ultrafast optics, atomic lithography, laser cooling and trapping of atoms. In condensed matter, research is concentrated on theory and experiment (in particular equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical physics, clustering of data, protein folding, colloids, complex fluids, flame and wet front propagation, and membranes). Experimental and theoretical hydrodynamics concentrates on turbulence, spatio-temporal chaos, Rayleigh-Benard convection, and flows that contain polymers and particles. Statistics of nodal lines in quantum systems and turbulence are studied theoretically. Experimental bio-physics deals with bio-molecules, neural cultures, optical measurements of brain activity and physics of bio-systems.


N. Davidson 

Atomic optics, interferometry and chaos.

Bose Einstein Condensation in Ultra cold atomic gas.

Laser cooling and trapping of atoms.


E. Domany 

Development of tools and algorithms for large scale data analysis. Bioinformatics.

Computational Physics: equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics of spin glasses
E. Domany, A. P. Young (UCSC)

Analysis of high-throughput biological data (in particular, gene expression data)
E. Domany, Several research groups at Weizmann, in the USA and in Europe; see below.

  1.  Controlled experiments on cell lines and mice (with D. Givol, V. Rotter, Y. Groner, L. Sachs; D. Gazit (Hadassa))

  2.  Development of antigen chips, applications for autoimmune diseases (with I. Cohen)

  3.  Studies human cancer samples; leukemia (with E. Canaani; G. Rechavi S. Izraeli (Sheba))

  4.  Colorectal cancer; (with D. Notterman (UMDNJ), F. Barany (Cornell), P. Paty (MSK), A. Levine (Princeton))

  5.  Prostate cancer; (with Z. Eshhar, A. Orr (TA Sourasky));

  6.  Glioblastoma; (with M. Hegi, R. Stupp (CHUV))

  7.  Breast and cervical cancer (with J-P Thiery, F. Radvanyi, X. Sastre, C. Rosty (Inst Curie))


G. Falkovich 

Entropy production away from equilibrium.

Cloud turbulence and rain.


E. Moses 

Molecular Motor Assemblies and Cell Division.

EEG and Brain Activity.

Neuronal Chips.

High Resolution Imaging in Cells.


D. Mukamel

RNA and DNA denaturation.

Collective phenomena in systems far from thermal equilibrium.

Coarsening processes and slow dynamics.

Systems with long range interactions


A. Schwimmer

String theory.

Conformal field theory.

Dynamics of gauge theory.


Y. Silberberg 

Nonlinear optics and soitons.

Ultrafast optics and coherent control.

Nonlinear microscopy.


U. Smilansky 

Mathematical methods for Archaeological research.

Semi-classical quantization.

Chaotic scattering.

Quantum chaos.


J. Stavans 

Genetic Networks
J. Stavans, Uri Alon

  1.  The SOS response

  2.  The Lambda phage decision circuit

Single-Molecule Biological Physics.

  1.  Proteins of the bacterial chromosome

  2.  DNA motor proteins

Evolution.


V. Steinberg 

Physical hydrodynamics, pattern dynamics of non-equilibrium systems

  1.  Hydrodynamics of polymer solutions.

  2.  Turbulent mixing by polymers.

  3.  Dynamics and conformation of a single polymer molecule in complex flows.

  4.  Development of measurement of vorticity distribution in a turbulent flow.

  5.  Convective turbulence in a fluid near the gas-liquid critical point.

  6.  Microfluidics: mixing, cell separation,chaotic flows.