Introducing the LPMMC
A word from the directors :
The LPMMC was founded in 1990 by Roger Maynard, professor of condensed matter theory at the Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, and Alain Pasturel, research director at the CNRS in physico-chemistry. In its original form, the “postulant team” of the University of Grenoble (born under the name of “numerical experimentation”) had two main vocations. First, this new laboratory was to initiate a new way of doing physics, intermediate between theory and experiments, and facilitated by the new generation of powerful computers. Second, by being housed in the premises of the newly created Maison des Magistères on the “Louis Néel” campus of the CNRS, with the Doctoral School of Physics of the university, the laboratory became the first pied-à-terre of the university on the CNRS campus.
The omnipresence of computers in all fields of science naturally shifted the emphasis of our research on the physics under study. This is how the name of the laboratory evolved into “Laboratory of Physics and Modeling of Condensed Matter” (LPMMC). In 1998, the laboratory was officially recognized as a Joint Research Unit, with the University of Grenoble and the CNRS as main partners.
The laboratory has since attracted many young researchers seeking employment either at the CNRS or the University of Grenoble. In 2021 the LPMMC consists of a single team, organized into four research axes: quantum physics, statistical physics, many-body physics, and mesoscopic physics. Many different research topics are studied in the laboratory: quantum thermodynamics, quantum vacuum, quantum mechanics of anyons, quantum correlations in composite quantum systems, turbulence, imaging and radiative transfer, excitons-polaritons, random matrix theory, quantum liquids, ultra-cold fermionic atoms, quantum solitons, integer and fractional quantum Hall effects, Anderson localization, heat transfer in nanostructures, superconductor-insulator transition in Josephson junction chains, to mention a few. The different members of the LPMMC – coming from no less than 10 different countries – are theorists working in close collaboration with the experimental teams in Grenoble, in France, and around the world. During the 2015-2019 period, the LPMMC members have published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals. All in all, more than 150 invited lectures or seminars were given around the world, and more than 30 scientific events were organized.
The LPMMC plays a central role in various local, national and international projects. At the local level we can mention the Grenoble-Alpes Center for Theoretical Physics (CPTGA), the LabEx LANEF, and the Nanosciences Foundation. At the national level, the laboratory is very involved in the CNRS Research Groups (GDR’s) COMPLEX, Quantum Mesoscopic Physics, Cold Atoms and Quantum Information. Finally, active collaborations exist with many countries in Europe and throughout the world.
LPMMC directors since its creation:
Roger Maynard, co-founder and director of the LPMMC 1990-2002
Alain Pasturel, co-founder and co-director of the LPMMC 1990-2005
Frank Hekking, Director of LPMMC 2003-2006 and 2012-2014
Bart van Tiggelen, Director of LPMMC 2007-2012
Anna Minguzzi, director of the LPMMC since 2014-2020
Serguei Skipetrov, director of LPMMC since 2021
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