PHYSICAL ACOUSTICS

• Linear and non-linear scattering
• Formation of ultrasound beams
• Radiation force
• Generation of harmonics and intermodulated components
• Beams with angular momentum
• Acoustic imaging

DYNAMICS OF NONLINEAR AND QUANTUM SYSTEMS

• Propagation of linear and non-linear waves in heterostructures.
• Partially coherent light propagation in linear and non-linear medium.
• Optical systems described by non-Hermitian Hamiltonians.
• Non-Markovian dynamics at quantum dots.

COMPUTATIONAL AND THEORETICAL PHYSICS

• Phase transitions in magnetic systems and liquid crystals.
• Quantum magnetism.
• Neural networks
• Complex systems
• Electronic and structural properties of matter
• Exactly solvable models
• Quantum information theory
• Computational Physics
• Molecular physics

PHOTONICS AND COMPLEX FLUIDS GROUP

• Optical spectroscopy in solid medium doped with rare earth ions and transition metals;
• Thermo-optical properties at low and high temperatures;
• Phase transition in ferroelectric and photorefractive materials;
• Optimization of laser action on amorphous and crystalline materials;
• Third order non-linear optical processes in amorphous medium;
• Parametric mixing of waves, generation of harmonics and stimulated Raman scattering;
• Generation, amplification, propagation and interaction of optical solitons and Raman in different materials;
• Thermal and electronic non-linearities in photonic materials;
• Nonlinear optical characterization of complex fluids (liquid crystals, polymers, solutions with nanoparticles, etc.);
• Biophotonics

OPTICS AND MATERIALS GROUP

• Generation, amplification and optical compression of signals generated by parametric processes and by the soliton effect.
• Spatio-temporal propagation of light in non-linear media: non-conservative variational methods, numerical simulation and experimental methods
• Photon correlation and light propagation properties in linear and non-linear medium
• Models of interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter.

GROUP OF ANISOTROPIC LIQUIDS AND POLYMERS

• Dynamics of magnetic fluids - aims to study the hydrodynamic properties of magnetic fluids, with an emphasis on interfacial instabilities, pattern formation, nonlinear dynamics and rheology.
• Spectroscopic properties of multilayer systems - this line of research aims to study the propagation of electromagnetic waves in one-dimensional photonic crystals containing liquid crystals in their architecture.
• Phase transitions in freely suspended films - aims to use microscopic models of medium field to determine the role of surface effects, application of external fields and finite size effects in the phase transitions observed in freely suspended smectic films.
• Degradation of polymeric films - aims to investigate how the addition of nanoparticles or dyes affects the photostability of biocompatible polymeric films. In particular, optical tensiometry and spectroscopy techniques are used in the UV-VIS and FTIR regions.
• Viscoelastic properties of liquid crystals - aims towards the use of the photocorrelation spectroscopy technique (dynamic light scattering) to study the hydrodynamic modes of relaxation of liquid-crystalline systems in different confinement geometries, as well as in the vicinity of phase transitions.
• Nonlinear optics in liquid crystals and polymers - aims to study the effects of the addition of nanoparticles and dyes on thermo-optical and non-linear optical properties of liquid crystals and polymers, using Z scanning techniques (continuous and resolved in time) and real-time holography.
• Fluorescence of conjugated polymers - this line aims to characterize the emission properties of new polymer compounds, with an emphasis on the analysis of thermal and solvatochromic effects

GROUP OF TRANSPORT PROPERTIES IN LOW DIMENSIONALITY SYSTEMS
Leader: Francisco Anacleto Barros Fidelis de Moura

• Electronic states in disordered low dimensional systems
• Magnon propagation in disordered systems
• Electron-electron interaction effects
• Effects of electron-phonon interaction
• Transport properties in biological systems (especially segments of DNA)
• Numerical methods
• Vibrational properties in disordered systems