The quantum mechanical laws that govern microscopic matter can have startling manifestations in our macroscopic world. The group is interested in these manifestations, particularly when they show up in solids. Topics of exploration include solid state quantum computation, quantum dynamics of superconductor vortices, and quantum size effects in nanostructures. This graph provides an example of recent work in which we find four-body interactions can be strong enough to disrupt proper functioning in a spin-based quantum computer Here is a second sample research result -- a plot of macroscopic quantum tunneling rates of a superconductor vortex .