今天，物理学的前沿领域是（非常）复杂的系统，软物质，纳米级系统，粒子物理学以及量子光学和量子纠缠物理学。我们的部门在所有这些领域都有教师。在纳米级物理学中，我们正在研究诸如柔软的有机材料在粘附到硬质材料时如何在原子级拉伸，以及单畴磁性纳米颗粒（即，纳米级的颗粒）的磁化动力学如何有助于改善磁性。记录技术。今天，成为天体物理学家可能是历史上最激动人心的时刻。技术突破，例如用于巨型望远镜的自适应光学系统（使它们能够清晰地观察地球大气层的光线），绕行的天基探测器和仪器以及超精密测量技术，彻底改变了我们检查宇宙的能
On the other hand, the humor of the quip does depend upon its sly reference to a genuinely distinguishing facet of physics: Physics is the broadest of the sciences, and more than any other seeks to explain the natural world in the most universal manner possible.<br><br>The sheer scale of what physicists study is dazzling: astrophysicists study galaxies so far from Earth that their distance (in miles) needs 22 zeros after the last digit, whereas particle physicists study subatomic particles so light that their weight (in ounces) needs 35 zeros before the first digit Optical physicists use ultrafast laser spectroscopy to directly observe atoms taking part in chemical reactions that last only a million billionth of a second, while just down the hall their colleagues may be studying data on other solar systems in our galaxy, to better understand how the Earth itself was formed 4.2 billion years ago. There is no other science which spans such a vast range of time, space, and matter as physics.<br><br>The other distinguishing hallmark of physics is its emphasis on basic knowledge. It has been said that the periodic table of the elements is chemistry, but understanding why the elements form a periodic table in the first place is physics. Physicists look for the hidden symmetries that underlie the natural world, and try to express them in the most universal terms possible.