Institute of Theoretical Physics

The Institute of Theoretical Physics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong carries a mission to enhance the quality of research and education by engaging its members in scholarly studies, and facilitating scientific interactions between young scientists and distinguished world leaders in the field. Its goals are: produce frontier research results, with their quality demonstrated by abundant publications of high impact, together with national/international awards granted to works conducted at or in association with the institute and honours granted to individuals for their contributions made during their affiliation with the institute; and gain recognition as the leading centre of Theoretical Physics in South China, also by hosting distinguished world leaders in the field as institute members and visiting scholars to conduct research with other institute members and visitors, and to participate in workshop/conference/seminars of the institute.

Director: Prof. C. N. Yang

The Hong Kong Institute of Quantum Information Science and Technology

The Institute will assemble multi-disciplinary expertise and therefore faculty members in various fields, including quantum physics, materials science and engineering, photonics, computational physics, nanotechnology, metrology, and quantum control theory, to tackle the grand challenges in implementation of quantum information processing in realistic systems. It will organize the members to conduct synergistic research in clusters, namely, in quantum sensing, solid-state quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum control. New growth points will be encouraged and incubated in the Institute. Workshops, seminars, advanced short courses, and prestigious conferences will be organized to facilitate collaborations within the Institute and beyond. The Institute will coordinate the Hong Kong scientists to form a quantum consortium and host joint research centres with external partners in China and other countries. The synergistic research will be facilitated by the Institute through leading and joining large-scale projects and programs in quantum information.

Director: Prof. R. B. Liu

Centre for Quantum Coherence

Quantum coherence is the origin of novel physics in quantum matters such as cold atoms/molecules, topological insulators, and superconductors, and is the basis for future technologies such as quantum communication, quantum computing, and quantum metrology. The research on quantum coherence is an exploding frontier of modern physics and calls for innovative efforts from both theorists and experimentalists. The centre has a mission to provide a platform for enhancing academic exchange and collaborations, both internally and externally. The Center aims to tackle some grand challenges in understanding and exploiting quantum coherence with a synergy of theoretical and experimental expertise from diverse backgrounds including quantum optics, atomic, molecular and optical physics, condensed matter physics, and materials science.

Centre Director: Prof. R. B. Liu

Centre of Optical Sciences

The centre, supported by the University, has a mission to promote research and teaching excellence in all areas of optical sciences. Due to the wide range of technological applications of optical sciences, much of the research is interdisciplinary, involving participation and collaboration of researchers from different specialty areas, namely, physics, chemistry, biology, electronic and information engineering. Student training with a focus on optical sciences is provided in the form of postgraduate studentships. The centre has laser light sources that operate from the VUV to mid-IR, with corresponding radiometric and spectroscopic detection systems. Additional hardware includes materials characterization instrumentation such as SEM and TEM for a comprehensive investigation of novel optical materials.

Centre Director: Prof. J. F. Wang