Physics is the broadest of the sciences, and more than any other seeks to explain the natural world in the most universal manner possible. Physicists emphasize basic knowledge, looking for the hidden symmetries that underlie the natural world, and try to express them in the most universal terms possible. The breadth of problems studied in modern physics and astronomy is great. Our department has active research programs in areas ranging from theoretical astrophysics and observational astronomy to complex systems, condensed matter physics, atomic, molecular and optical physics, and nuclear and particle physics.
An Experimental Realization of the Leggett-Garg Test
Senior Lecturer Michael Smutko on the Retirement of the Space Shuttle As the Space Shuttle is retired, the future of manned space exploration is uncertain. Listen to Michael Smuko's interview with the Northwestern News Center here.
Northwestern Physicists Celebrate the Success of the CERN Large Hadron Collider
Research teams co-led by Northwestern physicists Michael Schmitt and Mayda Velasco celebrated the successful start-up of the 7 TeV physics program of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (located in Geneva, Switzerland). On Tuesday, March 30, 2010, proton beams were collided at energies 3.5 times higher than the energy of the Fermilab Tevatron. The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment delivered excellent data, thanks in part to the participation of the Northwestern team, which contributes substantially to the smooth operation of the hadron calorimeter and muon endcap subsystems. The LHC will run through the rest of 2010 and through most of 2011. Analysis of these data will open a new high-energy frontier, and help answer important questions about dark matter, the origin of mass, and the possibility of new symmetries of nature. Pictured: Steven Won, Andy Kubik, Radek OfierzynskiMayda Velasco. See the article featured in Northwestern's Office of Research Newsletter. |
CIERA Receives NSF Award for Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education Professor Vicky Kalogera is the principal investigator for a five year, $2.7 million grant to Northwestern's Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA). This Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education award is the first of its kind for Northwestern. The program, called "Reach for the Stars: Computational Models for Teaching and Learning in Physics, Astronomy, and Computer Science," will pair a graduate teaching fellow with a high school teacher to bring computational thinking to the classroom and train graduate students in communicting their research to people of all ages. Read more here.
New Study Provides Understanding of Network Synchronization  Assistant Professor Adilson Motter and collaborator Takashi Nishikawa examined how a network's
structure governs its synchronization.
They challenged prevailing paradigms by showing for the first time that synchronization-inhibiting structures can enhance synchronization when in presence of other such structures.
Their study was featured
by the Northwestern News Center, and their results, published in PNAS, can be read here.
X-Ray Diffraction Microscopy Achieves Highest Resolution on Whole Cells Ever Obtained Professor Chris Jacobsen, joint professor with Argonne National Laboratory, designed a lensless imaging research program at the Advanced Light Source of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Using soft X-rays in lensless imaging techniques enabled resolution of between 11-13 nm for whole yeast cells - the highest resolution ever achieved for biological specimens using this technique. See the full story here.
The Helium Crisis and its Impact on Science |
Quantum mechanics does not in general permit microscopic objects like electrons and atoms to be in a definite state at all times. But does this indefiniteness also extend to macroscopic objects? Or, as Einstein so pungently asked, "Is the moon there when nobody looks?" In 1985 Professor 
News
Undergraduate Physics & Astronomy Majors Awarded 2010 Summer Undergraduate Research Grants from the Office of the Provost
June, 2010 - Ian Lizarraga and Scott Phelan have been awarded Summer Grants of $3,000 to pursue indepedent research project this summer. Ian will be working with Prof. Adilson Motter and Scott will be working with Prof. Farhad Yusef-Zadeh.
Katherine L. Kriegbaum Scholarship Awarded to Danwen Song
June, 2010 - Undergraduate student Danwen Song (EC07) has been selected as a 2010-11 Katherine L. Kriegbaum scholar. Katherine L. Kriegbaum Scholarships are awarded by the Weinberg College Committee on Superior Students and Honors, and provide research grants for senior-year research projects. Danwen will be working in the lab of Professor Venkat Chandrasekhar studying ferromagnetic resonance phenomena in submicron size nanostructures.
Professor Prem Kumar Elected SPIE Fellow
The Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) has promoted Professor Prem Kumar to SPIE Fellow. SPIE is an internationals Society advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the science and application of light. Professor Kumar has joint appointments with the McCormick Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Department of Physics & Astronomy.
Michael Smutko Receives Teaching Award
Dr. Michael Smutko has been awarded the Charles Deering McCormick Lectureship of Teaching Excellence from the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences. Weinberg College Teaching Awards applaud excellence in instruction, significant contributions to curricular innovation, exemplary mentoring of research, and fostering of a sense of community both inside and outside the classroom.
Smadar Naoz Receives 2010 Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation Fellowship
April, 2010 - Postdoctoral researcher Smadar Naoz has been awarded the prestigious PPGF Fellowship, an award made to one postdoctoral candidate selected by the International Astronomical Union.
Smadar is currently working at the Northwestern University's Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) together with Professor Vicky Kalogera and with Professor Fred Rasio. As a PPGF Fellow, she plans to investigate the global properties of galactic globular cluster systems, using state-of-the-art cosmological simulations, as well as the connection between the early galaxies in the Universe, globular clusters and black holes.
Zachary Nicolaou Receives NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
April, 2010 - Undergraduate student Zachary Nicolaou has received a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, which will support his graduate studies for three years. Zachary works with Professor Adilson E. Motter on the study of networks that can exhibit negative mechanical or fluid-dynamical responses. In the past year, he has given talks about his research at the APS March Meeting and other major conferences. In the academic year 2010-11, he will study at the University of Cambridge as part of the Mathematical Tripos Program.
Andrew Kobach Receives DOE Office of Science Fellowship
April, 2010 - Graduate student Andrew Kobach has received a Graduate Fellowship from the Department of Energy which will fully support his studies for three years, in addition to providing support for travel and supplies. Andrew works with Professor Heidi Schellman on Fermilab's D0 experiment, specifically on measuring the anamolous Z-gamma coupling parameter by looking at Z(gamma)->mumu+gamma events.
