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| Tsampikos Kottos,
assistant professor of physics, teaches classical dynamics this fall. |
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| Posted 11.16.05 |
Physics Department Welcomes New Assistant Professor
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Tsampikos Kottos’
research field is so narrow he often has to measure it in nanometers.
Kottos, who joined the Physics Department as an assistant professor in
August, is an expert in mesoscopic physics, non-linear dynamics and theory
of quantum chaos. Mesoscopic systems, such as semiconductors, metal wires,
small metal grains or semiconductor quantum dots, can range in size from
1/1000 of a millimeter to one nanometer.
Kottos, who came to Wesleyan from Germany, has a bachelor’s of arts in
physics, a master’s of arts in solid-state physics and a Ph.D from the
University of Crete, Greece. His thesis was "Electron Dynamics and diffusion
properties in 1D and quasi-1D random lattices."
Recent studies on classical chaotic dynamics in quantum observables have a
range of applicability covering areas from mesoscopic, atomic and molecular
physics to acoustics and microwaves.
He has published more than 40 papers on mesoscopics, mathematical physics
and computational modeling of complex systems. Topics include random matrix
theory, semi-classics, and quantum graphs; theory of driven chaotic
mesoscopic systems; computational foundations for modeling quantum transport
in complex structures; and control of chaos through impurities. In April, he
served as guest editor in a special issue of “Journal of Physics A:
Mathematical and General” on the topic “Trends of Quantum Chaotic
Scattering.”
Kottos has presented his research at more than 35 universities and international conferences.
Kottos received a United States European Office of Air Force Research and
Development Fellowship in 1997, and was a Feinberg Fellow between 1997-99.
Since 2000, Kottos has devoted his research time to developing a theory of
driven chaotic mesoscopic systems and instability of quantum dynamics. As a
result, he received a grant in 2002 from the German-Israeli Foundation for
Scientific Research and Development.
Recently, Kottos received funding from the Max-Planck-Institut für Physik
komplexer Systeme-Dresden to organize an international conference on
“Aspects of Quantum Chaotic Scattering.”
This fall he is teaching a course on classical dynamics.
Kottos says teaching and research activities co-exist in a positive way at
Wesleyan. He also admires the strong colleagueship at the university.
“For every problem that I had, there was at least one person to help me find
a solution, and this is not only for work-related problems,” he explains.
“Coming from Europe to the United States is a big step. People in the
department and within Wesleyan have helped myself and my family to make the
transition very smooth.”
Kottos lives in Middletown with his wife Mania and his two daughters,
Rafaela and Eva-Maria.
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| By
Olivia Bartlett, The Wesleyan Connection
editor |
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