The institute was founded in 1993 under the directorship of Peter Fulde as the first Max Planck Institute in the German state of Saxony. One research department (Electronic Correlations, Peter Fulde) is already complete and active, another is being set up (Atomic and Molecular Physics, J.-M. Rost), and a third is still in the planning stage. In addition, the institute maintains one autonomous and two similarly structured junior research groups: the Nonlinear Time Series Analysis Group (H. Katz), the Quantum Chaos and Mesoscopic Systems Group (K. Richter), and the Pattern Formation in Reaction-Diffusion Systems Group (M. Bär). Furthermore, the institute operates the Quantum Chemistry Research Group (U. Birkenheuer) within the framework of the Electronic Correlations Department. The institute maintains a large visitors program (approx. sixty postdoctoral positions for a maximum duration of two years). Also offered at the institute is an extensive seminar program with an average of ten seminars per year (average length four to six weeks and accompanied by workshops). The aim of the seminars is to highlight new directions in research and more quickly acquaint junior researchers with current research in new areas. Workshop topics have included quasiperiodicity, statistical physics, neural networks, topographical defects, macromolecular systems, and non-fermi liquids.

Some of the newest developments in the areas of solid-state physics and nonlinear processes are being investigated at the institute. The extremely complex problem posed by interactions between electrons in solids has seen considerable progress towards a solution. In a related matter, quantum chemistry aims to understand and predict the structure of complex molecules with the best possible accuracy. Nonlinear methods increase the yield of information gathered from the time series analysis of aperiodic changing magnitudes, such as studies examining fluctuations in heart rate during cardiological examinations, or vibrations of technical equipment used for diagnosis or the early detection of birth defects. New types of classical and quantum mechanical phenomena in electronic and optical nanostructures and microstructures are being investigated amidst increasing miniaturization and rapid developments in nanotechnology. The institute also investigates mechanisms and phenomena accompanying the spontaneous formation of structures in originally homogeneous chemical and biological mediums.



Nöthnitzer Str. 38, 01187 Dresden; Tel: +49.351.871.0; Fax: +49.351.871.1999;
E-mail: user@mpipks-dresden.mpg.de; Internet: www.mpiks-dresden.mpg.de
1999: 38 employees, including 20 scientists; as well as 94 junior and guest scientists

Scientific Members and Departments

Prof. Dr. Peter Fulde (solid state physics / quantum chemistry), Dr. Jan-Michael Rost (theoretical physics)