Duke’s football stadium scoreboard is accustomed to displaying impressive images. On June 23rd, however, it had the privilege of displaying images unlike any other before: the cosmos, as seen in the first photographs released by the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. From the identification of its ideal site on a Chilean mountaintop 8,684 feet above sea level to the fine-tuning of its software, thousands of researchers have played a role in ensuring that the Rubin Observatory’s extraordinarily ambitious goal — to… read more about When a Picture Is Worth a Billion Worlds: Duke Cosmologists Celebrate the Rubin Observatory’s First Images »
Tucked into an old brick building near the Eno River, which once housed a textile manufacturing business, is Quadridox — a company whose founders want to change the future of airline travel, while also making health care diagnostic testing more accurate. Quadridox uses X-rays, but not the way doctors detect broken bones. Those X-rays make pictures by passing straight through objects. Quadridox’s X-ray diffraction imaging, on the other hand, is used to analyze the structure of materials by observing how X-rays bounce… read more about Hate Airline Security Lines? A New Technology May Ease Your Pain »
A Los Alamos collaboration with Duke researchers has replicated an important but largely forgotten physics experiment: the first deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion observation. As described in Physical Review C, the reworking of the previously unheralded experiment confirmed the role of University of Michigan physicist Arthur Ruhlig, whose 1938 experiment and observation of deuterium-tritium fusion likely planted the seed for a physics process that informs national security work and nuclear energy research to… read more about Duke Physicists Part of Team Recreating Forgotten Experiment Observing Fusion »
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility — commonly referred to as Jefferson Lab — has announced Jens Dilling, Research Professor in the Department of Physics as its new director, effective June 30. As a highly regarded physicist and national lab leader, Dilling brings more than 20 years of experience advancing science across the DOE. Most recently, Dilling was the associate laboratory director for neutron sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he led… read more about Jens Dilling Appointed Jefferson Lab's Next Director »
Duke Professor Emeritus of Physics Lawrence Evans passed away on Sunday, May 25, at the age of 92. A long-standing member of the Duke University family, Evans joined the faculty in 1963 as an assistant professor and would spend the next 27 years as an active member of the Physics Department, including serving as chair from 1987 to 1997. He was deeply involved in the university community more broadly and was a leader who helped shape faculty governance at the university. Evans continued to be engaged with the… read more about Physics Professor Lawrence Evans Passes Away »
When it comes to the tiny particles that make up our universe, do you think you know more than a seven-year-old? You might — if you’ve been reading the Meet the Universe! children’s book series authored by Assistant Professor of Physics Eve Vavagiakis, a cosmologist who studies the remnants of the Big Bang and builds telescope cameras with an unprecedented ability to measure the oldest light in the Universe.Vavagiakis’ interest in science began as young child, reading books about animal species… read more about If You Think Physics is Just for Grownups, Think Again »
Eight faculty in Duke University’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences have been honored with named professorships, effective July 1.These endowed positions recognize leadership and commitment to excellence in scholarship and research. Their recipients are outstanding teachers, mentors and researchers whose contributions are invaluable to the College of Arts & Sciences, as well as their students and colleagues.“Trinity is defined by the strength of its faculty, and we are extraordinarily fortunate to count these… read more about Eight Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Honored With Named Professorships »
Duke Physics Ph.D. alum Tyler Johnson was awarded the 2025 Springer Thesis Prize. Johnson’s award-winning thesis, “The First Indication of Neutrino-Induced Nuclear Fission,” will be published in a book series called “Springer Theses”.The series “Springer Theses” brings together a selection of the very best Ph.D. theses from around the world and across the physical sciences. The work reported in the thesis must represent a significant scientific advance.Johnson’s thesis, which was conducted under advising by… read more about Ph.D. Alum Tyler Johnson Awarded the 2025 Springer Thesis Prize »
Berndt Mueller, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Physics, has been elected as an honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for his contributions to theoretical nuclear physics. Mueller is internationally known for his work on quark-gluon plasma, the high-energy state of matter believed to have existed just microseconds after the Big Bang. His research has helped shape modern understanding of how the universe evolved from chaos to order, and has played a leading role in major international… read more about Trinity Physicist Berndt Mueller Elected Honorary Member of Hungarian Academy of Sciences »
The Duke Physics department invites all to a one-day symposium celebrating Professor Tom Mehen's career, collaborations and scientific legacy. Tom Mehen, who joined Duke in 2002, passed away unexpectedly at his Chapel Hill home on December 29, 2024, at the age of 54. Across his more than two decades at Duke, Mehen made substantial contributions in the field of quantum chromodynamics and the application of effective field theory to problems in hadronic physics. As a scientific and personal tribute to a very dear… read more about Tom Mehen Memorial Symposium - May 19, 2025 »
The Physics department celebrated its 2024-2025 graduates with a diploma ceremony on Sunday, May 11 at the Love Auditorium & Hall of Science, following Duke's main commencement event. The program included a celebratory lunch and a welcome address by Professor Steffen Bass, Chair of the Physics department. Following the welcome address, Professors Ayana Arce, Director of Undergraduate Studies, John Mercer, Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies and Mark Kruse, Director of Graduate Studies,… read more about Commencement 2024-2025 »
The following is a partial list of national, university, school and departmental awards presented to the members of the Class of 2025. In some awards where there are multiple winners, only members of the Class of 2025 are included. read more about Department Honors and Laurels for the Class of 2025 »
The arts play an important part of the Duke student educational experience, providing exceptional performing opportunities. The benefits extend to the wider community outside of Duke, from the many community members who are entertained by the students’ concerts, plays, dances, films and exhibits.Some of these young artists are heading into career in the arts; most will head into other fields. But all student artists will carry the memories of the art they did at Duke for the rest of their lives.Below are snapshots of a few… read more about The Class of 2025’s Got Talent »
A new “atlas” developed by researchers at Duke University School of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and the University of Pittsburgh will increase precision in measuring changes in brain structure and make it easier to share results for scientists working to understand neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. The tool, the Duke Mouse Brain Atlas, combines microscopic resolution, three-dimensional images from three different techniques to create a detailed map of the entire mouse… read more about Brain ‘Atlas’ to Help Study Neurological Disorders »
Graduating double major in Physics and Visual Media Studies with a concentration in Cinematic Arts, Nik Narain has been announced as this year’s recipient of the Louis Sudler Prize. Nik Narain has been selected for this award for his distinguished record of excellence in performance and creation in writing for stage/screen and comedy performance. read more about Nik Narain Receives the 2025 Louis Sudler Prize »
Over the past decade, two very different ways of calculating the rate at which the universe is expanding have come to be at odds, a disagreement dubbed the Hubble tension, after 20th-century astronomer Edwin Hubble. Experts have speculated that this dispute might be temporary, stemming from subtle shortcomings in observations or analyses that will eventually be corrected rather than from some flawed understanding of the physics of the cosmos. Now, however, a new study that relies on an independent measure of the properties… read more about The Hubble Tension Is Becoming a Hubble Crisis for Physicists »
The Fritz London Memorial Prize Selection Committee is proud to announce the winners of this year’s Fritz London Memorial Prize. The award is widely recognized as the highest international honor in low-temperature physics.The 2025 awardees are (in alphabetical order):Robert Hallock: “For his many innovative achievements in the physics of liquid helium films and his pioneering work on supertransport in solid helium-4, which includes the paradigm-changing discovery of giant isochoric compressibility.”John Saunders: “In… read more about Announcing 2025's Fritz London Memorial Prize Awardees »
DURHAM, N.C. -- One of the tiniest building blocks of the universe has a weigh-in problem, and Ashutosh Kotwal is determined to get to the bottom of it.For nearly 30 years, the Duke physicist has led a worldwide effort to hone in on the mass of a fundamental particle called the W boson.It’s the force-carrying particle that allows the Sun to burn and new elements to form, so it’s pretty important. Without it, the entire universe would be in the dark.But in recent years the W boson has been the source of a rift in the physics… read more about Weighing in on a Puzzling Particle Heavyweight »
“One could argue that this started over 25 years ago.” That’s how Steffen Bass described his collaboration with Assistant Professor of Statistical Science Simon Mak. Twenty-five years ago, however, Mak wasn’t even in high school.But this isn’t the story of a teenage prodigy. This is the story of how new tools, developed by a junior scientist thinking outside the box, can shed light on old questions — even if the questions are hidden within something smaller than an atom. Steffen… read more about From Nuclear Collisions to AI: How Machine Learning is Revolutionizing Nuclear Physics »
The Universe really seems to be expanding fast. Too fast, even. A new measurement confirms what previous — and highly debated — results had shown: The Universe is expanding faster than predicted by theoretical models, and faster than can be explained by our current understanding of physics.This discrepancy between model and data became known as the Hubble tension. Now, results published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters provide even stronger support to the faster rate of expansion. “The… read more about Dan Scolnic Shows that the Universe Is Still Full of Surprises »
Tom Mehen, a highly regarded member of the faculty in the Department of Physics, passed away unexpectedly at his Chapel Hill home last weekend. He was 54. Across more than two decades at Duke, Mehen made substantial contributions in the field of quantum chromodynamics and the application of effective field theory to problems in hadronic physics. His research was well-supported by grants from the Department of Energy and during his early years at Duke, he was recognized by the Department of Energy with the… read more about Physics Professor Tom Mehen Passes Away »
In early December with the fall semester coming to an end, two students — Ryan Henderson, and Margo O’Meara — showed up for Bradley Simmons’ djembe class at the Mary Duke Biddle Music Building on East Campus.O’Meara, a senior psychology major from St. Louis, is playing the goblet-shaped djembe drum, and Henderson, a senior physics major from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is playing accompaniment on the dundun and sangban drums.For a little more than three decades, Simmons has taught classes in West African and Afro-Cuban music… read more about The Meaningful Sounds of the Djembe Drum »
Nik (middle ) with members of the Mount Sinai Schiller Lab at Broadway Comedy Club in Hell’s Kitchen after a show. Photo courtesy of Nik Narain. Physics major Nik Narain has been obsessed with the brain since elementary school. “I’d spend most of my time either reading, researching, watching or creating videos about the brain,” he confesses. As a first-year student at Duke, Narain couldn’t decide which career to pursue: scientist or physician. He resolved the issue by taking… read more about Mind, Matter & Visual Media »