Theoretical Physics in Hamburg and Zeuthen

The Wolfgang Pauli Centre for Theoretical Physics is set in a very dynamical environment and it builds on unique experience in collaboration, in particular between theoretical and experimental physics. Research in theoretical physics has a long-standing tradition in Hamburg in several fields, such as particle physics, condensed-matter physics and optical physics. Building upon the seminal contributions to quantum mechanics by Wolfgang Pauli, research in quantum field theory and particle physics has been conducted for more than five decades by both DESY and Universität Hamburg, alongside a highly competitive and international experimental program in high energy physics, including PETRA, HERA, the LHC, Belle to name just a few experiments.

The breadth of the scientic activities was gradually extended to include many neighboring fields, such as lattice gauge theory, mathematical physics, string theory, particle cosmology, astroparticle physics etc. At the same time, the experimental program on the campus in Hamburg Bahrenfeld also diversified, profiting primarily from unique radiation sources. Currently there exist three such sources on campus, FLASH, PETRA III and the European XFEL. Theoretical research accompanied these developments. Condensed matter physics builds on world-known Hamburg scientists such as Otto Stern, Wilhelm Lenz and Ernst Ising who contributed central works at Universität Hamburg. Out of these fields, many new areas such as laser physics, cold atoms, quantum optics, atomic and molecular dynamics, theoretical chemistry, ultrafast processes etc. grew to maturity.