Dr Gillian Peach

I was an undergraduate and postgraduate at Royal Holloway College, University of London (1954-1960) graduating with a B.Sc in Mathematics in 1957 and a Ph.D in Theoretical Physics in 1961. Having been a Research Assistant at UCL, 1960-1965 and a Research Associate, University of Maryland, 1965-1966, I have been at UCL from 1966 onwards. I have been on the Editorial Board of Journal Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics and am currently Co-Chairman of the working group on line broadening for Commission 14 of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Research interests

My research involves the theoretical study of atomic and molecular processes that occur in low-energy and ultracold physics and in stellar astrophysics. Current research topics include:

• Ultracold collisions between atoms confined in traps
• Low-energy atom-atom collisions and applications to spectral line broadening
• Pressure broadening of spectral lines emitted in intense laser fields
• Polarization of radiation emitted by collisionally excited atoms
• The fundamental three-body problem: two-dimensional R-matrix methods for two-electron atomic systems

This research programme is conducted in collaboration with research groups in the UK, Australia and France.