The sections of the on-line physics brochure summarize the major research areas in physics. Positions for new students are normally available in all these fields. Each section lists not only the major research topics, but also the professorial and research faculty and some recent publications.

Some students admitted into one option later find that their interests are better served by one of the many research groups outside their initially chosen field. It is usually quite easy to carry out physics-related research in another department while still working on a physics Ph.D. Some of the wide range of related fields available at Caltech are the following:

Applied Nuclear Physics - Radiation damage and surface physics; neutron physics and nuclear reactors.

Chemical Physics - Surface chemistry and physics; many-body effects in molecules and solids; laser spectroscopy. Ultra-fast laser techniques. Behavior of polymers.

Fluid Physics - Molecular and continuum fluid dynamics; superfluidity, turbulence, vapor explosions; rarefied gas dynamics. Pattern formation in multi-component systems.

Geophysics and Mineralogy - Optical, infrared, and magnetic properties of minerals; their behavior under high shock pressures; planetary interiors.

Materials Science - Diffusion in solids; dislocations, fracture, and crystal growth; electronic and magnetic properties of metals and alloys, and amorphous metallic materials; polymers and visco-elasticity; thin film reactions and epitaxial growth. Development of analytical techniques in electron microscopy.

Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy - Theoretical and experimental plasma physics; plasma waves, microwave techniques, tokamaks.

Quantum Electronics and Optics - Physics of chemical and semiconductor lasers; integrated optics; nonlinear optics; microwave, submillimeter-wave, far-infrared, and optical devices. Micro-fabrication of detector arrays.

Semiconductor Physics - Semiconductor physics, with emphasis on surfaces, interfaces, and defects; superlattices; novel devices. Fabrication and application of compound semiconductor materials.

Computation and Neural Systems - Studies in biological and applied neural networks centered on an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program involving aspects of neurobiology, computer science and statistical physics.

Planetary Science - Studies in nucleosynthesis and nucleocosmochronology, and isotopic effects. Observational and theoretical research on planet and atmosphere formation and evolution.

Applied Mathematics - Nonlinear waves; theoretical fluid dynamics; numerical analysis and scientific computation; perturbation theory; bifurcation theory; numerical fluid dynamics.

Quantum Chemistry - Ab initio calculations of wavefunctions for molecules and solids. Molecular dynamics simulations based on forces derived from the ab initio calculations.