Mark Dennis

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I am a Reader in Research and former Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Theoretical Physics Group of the Physics Department, University of Bristol, UK. My research interests are primarily in the geometric and topological aspects of interference and field morphology, especially:

Singular and topological optics (singular lines and points of scalar, vector, and tensor wave fields), including optical vortices, wave dislocations and polarization singularities;

Fundamental wave physics, including interference, diffraction, scattering, reflection and polarization;

Statistical geometry and topology of random functions, and applications in quantum chaos, statistical optics, and cosmology;

Geometry and topology of knots, links, braids and ribbons;

Mathematical techniques for optical nanoscience, especially surface plasmonics, superresolution, optical lattices, and ray-based asymptotics.

My coworkers in Bristol Physics are James Ring, Felix Flicker, Sandy Taylor (PhD students), as well as Professors Michael Berry, John Hannay and John Nye. Former coworkers include Dr Robert King (PhD student), Dr Brina Crnko (visiting PhD student from University of Ljubljana), Dr Jörg Götte (Newton Fellow) and Dr Jari Lindberg (postdoc). I also frequently work with Professor Miles Padgett and the Glasgow Optics Group.

In academic year 2012-13, I am lecturing 4th year Relativistic Field Theory, am teaching part of 3rd year Methods of Theoretical Physics, and am co-teaching the 4th year current topics strand Foundations of Modern Physics. I am also responsible, with Professor James Ladyman, for the Joint School of Physics and Philosophy.

I am the editor for propagation, diffraction and scattering for the Journal of Optics and formerly an associate editor of Optics Express, and am on the committee of the Institute of Physics Optical Group, whom I represent on the board of directors of the European Optical Society.

Publications | Research Highlights