Complex Systems covers a set of emergent fields represented at ICTP-SAIFR by

Modelling in Mathematical Biology

Roberto A. Kraenkel (IFT-UNESP)

Marcus A.M. de Aguiar (Unicamp)

Paulo I. Prado (IB-USP)

The group works with mathematical models in population biology and is oriented towards applications in ecology and epidemiology. Mathematical techniques are the usual ones from nonlinear dynamics. Recent topics that we have researched are modeling the effects of habitat fragmentation on species abundances and ecological factors affecting malaria epidemics.

Spatiotemporal chaos in Complex Networks

Hilda A. Cerdeira (IFT-UNESP)

Fernando F. Fagundes (USP Sao Paulo)

Koichi Sameshima (USP Sao Paulo)

Current research includes synchronization of chaotic systems; applications of techniques of complexity theory to the search of patterns on data from neurological diseases and financial markets.

The field of Condensed Matter Physics is where basic science and applications meet. The combined effects of quantum mechanics and Coulomb interactions between a large number of particles lead to the formation of basic building blocks in nature that when put together give rise to the rich phenomena that we see around us in our daily life. Our drive for ever smaller electronic devices have led to technological breakthroughs giving us an unique opportunity to observe and study the exotic quantum behavior of ultra-clean crystalline systems and low-dimensional nanometer sized electronic devices. Researchers at IFT-UNESP are working to develop a deeper theoretical understanding of the formation and the transport properties of these exciting new systems, which can provide further insights for future materials.

Current research topics include

1) Density Functional Theory applied to atoms molecules and solids

2) Electronic and transport properties of Nanoscopic systems

3) Quantum phase transitions in strongly correlated systems.

4) Effects of disorder in low-dimensional electronic systems.

Researchers at IFT-UNESP include:

Alexandre Reily Rocha

Recently there have been tremendous developments in the field of cosmology. The main areas of research range from theoretical to observational cosmology and astrophysics, galaxy surveys, theories of modified gravity, galaxy clusters, inflation and the cosmic microwave background.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of researchers in the Sao Paulo area:

IFT-UNESP:

Rogério Rosenfeld

ICTP-SAIFR:

Fabio Iocco

Rafael Porto

USP (Dep. of Mathematical Physics):

Élcio Abdalla

Raul Abramo

Marcos Lima

USP (Dept. of Astronomy)

Gastão Lima Neto

José Ademir S. de Lima

Claudia M. de Oliveira

Laerte Sodré Jr.

Topics of current research include Bose-Einstein condensation, soliton dynamics in cold-atom systems, superconductivity and superfluidity, quantum aspects of few-nucleon and few-atom systems such as light-exotic nuclei and three- and four-body recombinations in ultracold atoms.

Researchers:

Sadhan Adikhari (IFT-UNESP)

Marcelo Takeshi Yamashita (IFT-UNESP)

Lauro Tomio (IFT-UNESP)

Arnaldo Gammal (USP Sao Paulo)

Tobias Frederico (ITA-São Jose dos Campos)

Research in this area is concerned with understanding strongly interacting
matter in the light of the fundamental theory of quarks and gluons, quantum
chromodynamics (QCD). The strong interaction is responsible for nearly all visible
mass of the universe, and hadronic reactions shape structures that range from nuclei
to stars.

Current research topics address a broad range of problems concerned with the
confinement of quarks and gluons, the origin of the masses of the hadrons, and the
properties of the matter produced in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. A non-exhaustive
list of research topics includes:

1) Dynamics of phase transitions in QCD; equilibrium and nonequlibrium field theory
2) Electroweak properties of hadrons
3) Lattice field theory
4) Models of nonperturbative QCD; effective meson-baryon models
5) Nuclear many-body theories
6) Relativistic heavy-ion physics; quark-gluon plasma
7) Tests and consequences of fundamental symmetries

The research group at the IFT-UNESP comprises:

Adriano A. Natale (IFT-UNESP and UFABC)

Gastão Krein (IFT-UNESP)

Lauro Tomio (IFT-UNESP)

Marcelo Takeshi Yamashita (IFT-UNESP)

Ricardo D. Matheus (IFT-UNESP)

Sandra S. Padula (IFT-UNESP)

The group has close connections with scientists from other institutions in the state of
São Paulo:

Arlene Aguilar (UNICAMP-Campinas)

Attilio Cucchieri (USP-São Carlos)

Fernando S. Navarra (USP-São Paulo)

Frederique Grassi (USP-São Paulo)

Jorge Noronha (USP-São Paulo)

Marina Nielsen (USP-São Paulo)

Tereza Mendes (USP-São Carlos)

Tobias Frederico (ITA-São Jose dos Campos)

Yogiro Hama (USP-São Paulo)

Current research topics in Particle Physics include LHC Physics, Higgs Phenomenology, Neutrino Physics, Dark Matter, Astroparticle Physics and several Extensions of the Standard Model (supersymmetry, warped extra dimensions, composite Higgs, strongly interacting models, 3-3-1 models, etc).

Professors involved in this research include:

Ricardo D. Matheus (IFT-UNESP)

Juan Montero (IFT-UNESP)

Adriano A. Natale (IFT-UNESP and UFABC)

Eduardo Pontón (ICTP-SAIFR)

Vicente Pleitez (IFT-UNESP)

Rogerio Rosenfeld (IFT-UNESP)

Fernando de Campos (UNESP-Guaratinguetá)

Ivone Albuquerque (USP Sao Paulo)

Gustavo Burdman (USP Sao Paulo)

Oscar Éboli (USP Sao Paulo)

Renata Zukanovich Funchal (USP Sao Paulo)

Marcelo Guzzo (UNICAMP)

Orlando Peres (UNICAMP)

Pedro de Holanda (UNICAMP)

Reserachers in Bose-Einstein condensation include

Sadhan Adikhari (IFT-UNESP)

Arnaldo Gammal (USP Sao Paulo)

whose research is described here.

The São Paulo Research and Analysis Center (SPRACE) was established in 2003 to support the participation in major high energy physics experiments. The group was part of the DZero Collaboration from Fermilab since 1999 and became member of the CERN CMS experiment in 2004. The main contribution of the SPRACE group to these collaborations has been on the processing and analysis of the data collected by the experiments. We have been exploring two important branches of fundamental science: the search for new phenomena beyond the Standard Model and the physics of quark-gluon plasma produced in heavy-ion collisions.

The SPRACE group includes:

Sérgio F. Novaes (IFT-UNESP)

Sandra S. Padula (IFT-UNESP)

Sunil M. Dogra (IFT-UNESP)

Eduardo de M. Gregores (UFABC)

Pedro G. Mercadante (UFABC)

The SPRACE group has been operating a Tier-2 class site (BR-SP-SPRACE) of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) together with the United States Tier-2’s from Caltech, Florida, MIT, Nebraska, Purdue, UCSD, Vanderbilt, and Wisconsin. BR-SP-SPRACE is the only official Tier-2 in Latin America and its operation has been a remarkable success. The expertise acquired by the group with the implementation of the SPRACE Cluster generated an important spin-off: the deployment of the first Campus Grid in Latin America – GridUNESP – that operates in close association with the US Open Science Grid (OSG) infrastructure.
The SPRACE group intends to maintain its successful role in the investigation of physical phenomena through the analysis of the data produced by the LHC, with the essential support provided by prominent theoretical physicists of different institutions.

In the field of Mathematical Physics, permanent researchers include:

Jose Francisco Gomes (IFT-UNESP)

Abraham Zimerman (IFT-UNESP)

Andrei Mikhailov (IFT-UNESP)

whose current research topics involve:

Algebraic aspects of Integrable Hierarchies, Vertex operators and classical soliton solutions, Integrability of models with defects of Backlund type, type I and type II Backlund transformations.

In the field of Gravitational Waves there is a new active group at ICTP-SAIFR. Presently the researchers in this field include

Riccardo Sturani (ICTP-SAIFR)

Odylio Aguiar (INPE)

Gravitational wave research has a high phenomenological impact as the large Gravitational Wave detectors LIGO and Virgo have been operating since 2010 at unprecedented sensitivity, and further increases of sensitivity are scheduled for their advanced runs due to start respectively in April 2015 and 2016.

Reasonable astrophysical estimates make plausible the detection of signals from coalescing binaries in the advanced detector era. Coalescing binaries represent one of the most promising sources for a first direct detection of gravitational waves, and their repeated detections could yield new information on both fundamental gravity and cosmology. To enable such first detection and to maximize the scientific exploitation of the data, it is crucial to develop a more accurate analytical knowledge of the 2-body problem in General Relativity and to develop data analysis methods specifically tuned to the experimental situation.

Applications are invited at any time for a two-year post-doctoral position (with possible renewal for a third year) in gravitational wave physics. The ICTP-SAIFR encourages applications from candidates interested in working on data analysis for gravitational wave detection, with particular emphasis on any of the following topics

• data analysis for gravitational signals from coalescing binaries
• theoretical modeling of the 2-body motion in gravity theories
• analytical modelling of gravitational waves from coalescing binaries

A PhD in Physics at the time the appointment begins is required. The annual salary (tax-free) is 70,800 reais with an additional 9,600 reais for travel and research expenses. Moving expenses to Brasil are also included. Candidates should fill the online application form for a postdoctoral postion at www.ictp-saifr.org and select the subarea “Gravitational Wave Physics” in Step 4 of the postdoctoral application form. The position is still open and can begin anytime after the candidate has been chosen.