Bertrand I. Halperin

My research interests include various aspects of the theory of condensed matter systems and statistical physics. In the past few years, a major portion of this work has concerned properties of two-dimensional electron systems at low temperatures in strong magnetic fields, or "quantum Hall systems." Experiments on such systems during the 1980s and 1990s have revealed a succession of very surprising phenomena, which have required the introduction of a number of new theoretical methods of their explanation. I was involved in the development of several of these methods, and I am trying to improve their efficacy. My current research also includes the theory of electron states in small particles of a metal or semiconductor, as well as transport in inhomogeneous systems, and nuclear magnetic resonance experiments in porous media. Previous research interests have included quantum antiferromagnets in one and two dimensions; low-temperature properties of glasses, melting, and other phase transitions in two-dimensional systems; and the theory of dynamic phenomena near a phase transition.