There is also considerable interaction with the experimental departments of the School. Research in plasma astrophysics is carried out as part of the activities of the Special Research Centre for Theoretical Astrophysics. Research related to laboratory plasma physics is concentrated on low frequency waves in non-uniform magnetized plasma and processes in low temperature plasmas. Work in electromagnetism involves rigorous solutions of diffraction problems by singly and doubly periodic bodies, and study of fields in optical fibres of nonstandard geometries and devices. Investigations of nonlinear propagation and solitons on fibres are also carried out.
Research consists of four main programs.
Various aspects of detector physics for medical physics and other applications. These research programs involve participation in overseas collaborative experiments as there are no high energy accelerators in Australia. In addition, however, there is an active Australian-based program in computer simulations, electronics development and testing, and the analysis of results. The main interest of the Department is in scanning laser microscopy and related techniques in industrial inspection, Fourier optics, and image processing. Another major activity is in adaptive optics for both astronomical telescopes and confocal microscopes.