Department of Theoretical & Astronomical Physics
Introduction:
Until 1995 Theoretical and Astrophysics group was active as one of the subgroups of the Physics Department. By developing the Physics department and becoming the Physics Department to Faculty of Physics, Theoretical and Astrophysics Department formed on 1995. This department with 14 faculty members (9 employed faculty and 5 retired faculty members), is the largest department of faculty of Physics, however considering the activity of the department on teaching, research, publication and projects make it as the one of the best department’s in faculty of Physics. Both orientations of this group include the following branches of study.
1) Theoretical physics:
- Quantum Information and computations, which is an interdisciplinary science, seeks to understand and analyze, process and transfer information and computing focused on the development of computer technology using the principles and foundations of quantum mechanics. The topics in this field are mostly based on the principles of quantum mechanics so that they can be used to do things that cannot be done in classical models or classical computers.
- Applications of explicit realizations of the classical Lie algebras and Lie groups to quantum mechanics, quantum optics and quantum fields, e.g., dynamical symmetry, coherent states, cat states, fuzzy physics, supersymmetry and parasupersymmetry, are of special interest. There is considerable interest in studying the Hopf structures and covariant quantum differential calculi on the standard quantized universal enveloping algebras of the complex simple Lie algebras, known as quantum algebras, and their corresponding quantum groups as symmetries of noncommutative spaces, as well as quantum superalgebras.
- Fundamental particle physics or high energy physics is one of the most important branches of physics that studies the properties and interactions of fundamental particles such as electrons, photons, neutrinos, etc. Over the past century, many theoretical and laboratory physicists have worked in this field and made important discoveries, such as: the introduction of a standard model of elementary particles, the discovery of a variety of elementary particles and mesons and baryons, the Z-boson and top quark, and the Higgs particle in 2012. Now one of the important issues in this field is the nature of dark matter and the neutrino problem, which requires beyond standard model. In recent years, many laboratories and accelerators have been developed to validate beyond standard particle models.
- Gravity and cosmology are one of the most popular trends in physics, which can be used to study the evolution of the universe from the beginning of creation until today. Gravity and cosmology deal with the beginning, evolution, large-scale structures, and end of the universe. The most important issues in this field can be considered the nature of dark matter and dark energy and the recognition of periods before the last scattering. In recent decades, according to the results of COBE, WMAP and PLANK satellites, significant progress has been made in the field of cosmology. It can also be said that the discovery of gravitational waves by VIRGO and LIGO experiments and the recording of the first black hole image can be considered as milestones in this field.
2) Astronomy and Astrophysics:
- The sun is one of the numerous stars in the universe, the main source of light, energy, heat and life on Earth. For the inhabitants of the planet, knowing, studying and investigating this source of life is of great importance. Important magnetic structures of the sun include flares, prominences, coronal loops, solar spicules, etc., which the study of each of these phenomena provides many information about the behavior of the sun and also the space weather. The upper atmosphere of the sun (chromosphere and corona), which is a very low-density and transparent region, has a very high temperature. This contradiction is one of the most important issues in solar physics, which is addressed to the coronal heating problem and the solar wind acceleration. The coronal Phenomena that occur in the Sun play an important role in the Earth's climate.
- In study of the binary stars and the extrasolar planets (or exoplanets), observation and analysis of data from the Kepler telescope and ground-based telescopes can provide useful information. The first scientific identification of an exoplanet was made in 1988. However, the first confirmation was made in 1992. As of early 2017, the number of detected exoplanets was 3,608, of which 2,702 were confirmed in 610 different planetary systems, and this number is increasing day by day. One of the valuable tasks in this regard is the analysis of optical curves and spectroscopic data.
The Department of Theoretical and Astrophysics, in addition to the bachelor's and master's degrees, is the most active group in the doctoral program. It started its activities in 1993 by accepting two people and so far a significant number of students have graduated with a doctorate degree. There are currently 18 doctoral students studying.
Programs: Under graduate, Master, PH.D degree in the following programs:
Astrophysics (Solar Physics and Stellar Physics) (Prof. Davood Jassur, Dr. Hossein Ebadi, Dr. Zahra Fazel, Dr. Mir Hojjat Kermani)
Quantum Information and Quantum Computing (Prof. Mohammad Ali Jafarizadeh, Dr. Mahdi Rezaei, Dr. Rahimeh Sofiani, Dr. Mahmoud Mahdian, Dr. Naghi Behzadi).
Gravity & Cosmology (Dr. Hossein Motavalli, Dr. Amin Rezaei)
Mathematical Physics (Prof. Mohammad Ali Jafarizadeh, Prof. Hossein Fakhri, Dr. Hossein Motavalli, Dr. Mahdi Rezaei)
Biophysics and Complex Systems (Dr. Hossein Motavalli, Dr. Mahdi Rezaei)
Physics of Elementary Particles (Dr. Amin Rezaei)
Research Labs:
We are collaborating with Khajeh Nasiredin Tousi observatory center: It is located on 45 km South of the Tabriz with latitude 38 degree North and longitude 46 degree East. There are two kinds of reflection and refraction Telescopes:
1) Two reflection Telescopes with Cassegrain focus and mirrors with the Diameters of 60 and 40 centimetres and focal number f/11.
2) One refraction 15 centimetre Telescope.
Other systems and equipment’s are as:
- One Channel Photometer with standard UBV filter.
- CCD Camera
- Hα filter for observation of Sun
- We are collaborating with University of Tabriz solar lab site which is equipped with siderostat.