Current research is devoted to structural dynamics in chemistry and biology with focus on the physics of elementary processes in complex systems. At the Center for Physical Biology, the main research is in the development of four-dimensional (4D) ultrafast electron microscopy and diffraction for atomic-scale visualization in space and time. Together with spectroscopy and large-scale computations, the goal is to understand complexity and nature of physical, chemical and biological transformations.

Figure has been adapted from: A. H. Zewail, Visualizing Complexity: Development of 4D Microscopy and Diffraction for Imaging in Space and Time, in Visions of Discovery: New Light on Physics, Cosmology, and Consciousness, eds. R. Y. Chiao, W. D. Phillips, A. J. Leggett, M. L. Cohen, and C. L. Harper, Jr., Cambridge University Press, London, in press.

For an overview of current research directions, see recent reviews and perspective articles

• A. H. Zewail. Micrographia of the Twenty-First Century: From Camera Obscura to 4D Microscopy, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 368, 1191 (2010),

• A. H. Zewail. 4D Electron Microscopy, Science 328, 187 (2010),

• A. H. Zewail. Filming the Invisible in 4D: New Microscopy Makes Movies of Nanoscale Objects in Action, Sci. Am. 303, 74 (2010),

• A. H. Zewail. The New Age of Structural Dynamics, Acta Cryst. A 66, 135 (2010),

• D. J. Flannigan and A. H. Zewail. 4D Electron Microscopy: Principles and Applications, Acc. Chem. Res. 45, 1828 (2012),

• M. M. Lin and A. H. Zewail. Protein Folding: Simplicity in Complexity, Ann. Phys. 524, 379 (2012),

• D. Zhong, S. K. Pal and A. H. Zewail. Biological Water: A Critique, Chem. Phys. Lett. 503, 1 (2011),

• F. Carbone, N. Gedik, J. Lorenzana and A. H. Zewail. Real-Time Observation of Cuprates Structural Dynamics by Ultrafast Electron Crystallography, Adv. Cond. Mat. Phys. 2010, 958618 (2010),

• P. Baum and A. H. Zewail, 4D Attosecond Imaging with Free Electrons: Diffraction Methods and Potential Applications, Chem. Phys. 366, 2 (2009),

• D. Shorokhov and A. H. Zewail, New Light on Molecular and Materials Complexity: 4D Electron Imaging, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 131, 17998 (2009),

• H. S. Park, J. S. Baskin, B. Barwick, O.-H. Kwon and A. H. Zewail, 4D Ultrafast Electron Microscopy: Imaging of Atomic Motions, Acoustic Resonances, and Moiré Fringe Dynamics, Ultramicroscopy 110, 7 (2009),

• M. Chergui and A. H. Zewail, Electron and X-Ray Methods of Ultrafast Structural Dynamics: Advances and Applications, Chem. Phys. Chem. 10, 28 (2009),

• A. H. Zewail, 4D Ultrafast Electron Diffraction, Crystallography, and Microscopy, Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 57, 65 (2006),

• A. H. Zewail and J. M. Thomas, 4D Electron Microscopy: Imaging in Space and Time, Imperial College Press, London, 2010,

• Physical Biology: From Atoms to Medicine, ed. A. H. Zewail, Imperial College Press, London, 2008,

• Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology (UST),

• Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (LMS).