Physics Department Welcomes New Assistant Professor

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.”