The research interests of the Institute for Theoretical Physics concern the physics of nonlinear and interacting systems far from equilibrium. Applications lie in the areas of semiconductor physics (quantum transport, nanostructures), quantum optics (photonic systems, artificial quantum systems), soft condensed matter, and biological physics (complex fluids, active systems).

Statistical physics forms the link between microscopic and macroscopic physics, and as such, the link between the different research groups of our Institute. Using its tools, we develop and study a hierarchy of models bridging wide temporal and spatial scales, from microscopic many-body theory, to macroscopic self-organisation,  and to the control of complex systems.