Gas phase optically pumped far infrared (OPFIR) lasers were once the most powerful sources of radiation in the challenging terahertz spectral region. Unfortunately, these lasers were enormous, often filling an entire optical table to produce milliwatts of power and requiring a different gas each time a different wavelength was needed. Consequently, when more compact, more tunable alternative sources of terahertz radiation were discovered, OPFIR lasers were largely abandoned. However, in the mid-1980’s… read more about Gas Phase Terahertz Lasers Make a Comeback »
Former Visiting Assistant Professor Hannah Petersen was awarded the 2018 Zimanyi Medal for her pioneering development of an event by event hybrid approach for high energy heavy ion collisions. The award was presented to Dr. Petersen at the Quark Matter 2018 conference in Venice, Italy. More information on the Zimanyi Medal may be found here. Photo credit: QM2018 read more about Former Visiting Assistant Professor Petersen Awarded Zimanyi Medal »
Earlier this month, QCD group graduate students Yingru Xu and Weiyao Ke traveled to Venice, Italy to present posters on heavy Quark transport and transport coefficients presented at the Quark Matter 2018 conference. See Prof. Steffen Bass' original Tweet here. read more about Graduate Students Xu and Ke Presented Posters at QM2018 »
Duke Physics graduate student Nurul Taimur Islam, who completed his Ph.D. with Prof. Daniel J. Gauthier, was recognized with the Springer thesis prize. Nominated and endorsed by two experts in the field, each year Springer publishes a series of theses in recognition of outstanding research and impact. Islam's thesis on high-rate, high-dimensional quantum key distribution will be featured in this year's Springer's series. read more about Grad Student Islam Recognized with Springer Thesis Prize »
The Department of Physics held its 2018 Diploma Ceremony on Sunday, May 13th at the LSRC's Love Auditorium and Hall of Science. Family, friends, and faculty gathered to honor five majors in Biophysics, eleven majors in Physics, two minors in Physics, one Masters degree, and fifteen Doctors of Philosophy. Some graduating plans we are proud to announce: Our undergraduates are going on to do amazing things in the fields of research, technology, data analytics, and medicine. Some are pursuing PhDs in places like… read more about Diploma Ceremony 2018 »
The 2018 diploma ceremony will be recorded and live streamed here. Feel free to share the link with any friends and family who cannot make it to the event. In order to view the recording live in real time, place the link in your browser and refresh at 12:00pm on Sunday, May 13th. read more about 2018 Physics Diploma Ceremony to be Recorded and Live Streamed »
Two members of Duke Physics' faculty were awarded distinguished professorships on May 2nd at the annual University Distinguished Professors dinner: Christoph Schmidt, Hertha Sponer Professor of Physics, effective July 1, 2018 Kate Scholberg, Arts & Sciences Professor of Physics, effective July 1, 2018 See DukeToday's press release and a full list of Duke's twenty-six 2018 distinguished professorships here. read more about Profs. Schmidt and Scholberg Awarded Distinguished Professorships »
The 2018 Daphne Chang Memorial Award was presented to senior Jane Park on April 24th at the annual Undergraduate Poster Session. Jane's research with advisor Prof. Sara Haravifard focuses on Synthesis, Characterization, and Inelastic Neutron Scattering Studies of Breathing Pyrochlore Ba3Yb2Zn5O11 and she will graduate with high distinction this May. The Daphne Chang Memorial Award is given each year to undergraduate… read more about 2018 Daphne Chang Memorial Award »
The Duke Physics Department held the 2018 Undergraduate Poster Session on Wednesday, April 23. It was well attended and provided students a platform to share their research and practice their public speaking skills. First place prize went to Jane Park, second place to Kya Sorli, and third place to Micaela Kulvaranon. More pictures can be viewed on our Flickr account here. Photo caption: Kya Sorli presents her second place poster. read more about 2018 Undergraduate Poster Session »
Prof. Kenneth Brown (Electrical and Computer Engineerin, Physics, and Chemistry) is leading a joint U.S. and Australia Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) looking at using spectator qubits to improve quantum computation in four physical platforms: ion traps, superconducting qubits, color centers in diamond, and donors in silicon. Qubits are the building blocks of quantum computers and the computational power of a quantum computer is limited by the quality of… read more about Prof. Brown Leads Initiative Using Spectator Qubits to Improve Quantum Computation »
Alum Katrina Miller (Physics, 2016) is a recipient of a 2018 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the Ford Fellowship. Miller was an undergraduate in Prof. Phil Barbeau's group before being accepted to the graduate school at the University of Chicago in the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics. She was a member of the COHERENT experiment and worked on the development of novel tracking radiation detectors. Read more about what Miller has been up to lately on the KICP… read more about Alum Miller Recipient of 2018 NSF Graduate Research and Ford Fellowships »
Prof. Roxanne Springer gave a keynote plenary talk on Feynman at the APS April meeting held in Columbus, Ohio. Click here for the meeting's full schedule along with Springer's abstract. The entire plenary session was recorded and can be viewed on YouTube here. Prof. Springer's talk "Feynman's Footprints: Quantum Field Theory in Nuclear and Particle Physics" starts at about 1:17. read more about Prof. Springer Delivered Plenary Talk at APS April Meeting »
Congratulations to Prof. Mark Kruse and Ken McKenzie! In the categories of Overall Rating of Course and Overall Rating of Instructor, their course evaluations were among the top 5% of all undergraduate instructors in Trinity College for the Fall 2017 semester. read more about Kruse and McKenzie's Course Evaluations Among Top 5% »
Undergraduate student John Franklin Crenshaw has been designated a Faculty Scholar for the Class of 2019 by the Academic Council's Faculty Scholars Committee. From the committee's chair: "This is the highest honor that the faculty of Duke University can award its undergraduates. Your mentors, your Director of Undergraduate Studies, and the members of this committee believe that your intellectual engagement and remarkable scholarly accomplishments over the past two and one-half years exemplify the ideals… read more about Undergrad Crenshaw, Faculty Scholar for Class of 2019 »
Alumni Tom Carter (PhD, 1990), Professor of Physics at the College of DuPage, has been named the 2018 College-wide Outstanding Full-time Faculty Member. In his classes, Carter uses the iClicker, an electronic student response system, and has executed FlipIt Physics, an online tutoring system. Read on about these achievements and more in the story from DuPage's student newspaper The Courier here. Photo credit: Alison Pfaff, Assistant Photo Editor, The Courier read more about Alum Carter Wins Outstanding Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching »
We are sad to report the passing of alum Frances L. Lloyd (B.S., 1945) in March. Lloyd went on to receive her master's degree from the University of Virginia and worked for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Colorado. She was a key member of the team who developed the standards for the magnitude of the volt. Read about her groundbreaking life in The Washington Post's obituary online here. Photo credit: National Institute of Standards and Technology read more about Alum and Contributor to Voltage Standards, Frances L. Lloyd Passes Away »
Alum Hao Zhang (PhD '14), a former student of Prof. Albert Chang and now a researcher at Microsoft, was pictured along with Gizmodo's news story "Microsoft Creates Wild Half-Electron Quasiparticle for Its Future Quantum Computer." Our alumnae go on to be a part of exciting work. Congratulations, Hao! Read the story here. Photo Credit: Gizmodo read more about Alum Zhang a Part of Microsoft's Future Quantum Computer »
In a new article from APS Physics' site, Prof. Phil Barbeau discusses the prospects of a new technique developed by the NEXT collaboration to search for neutrinoless double beta decay (which would help to understand the matter/antimatter asymmetry of the universe) with a marriage of techniques from different fields of physics and chemistry. Read "Focus: Barium Ion Detector for Next-Generation Neutrino Studies" here. read more about Prof. Barbeau Discusses the Prospects of a New Technique »
The Department of Physics at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, USA, invites applications and nominations for the Robert Richardson Endowed Professorship in experimental physics of atoms, molecules, and condensed matter. The Robert Richardson professorship is a tenured senior position to be held by a distinguished scientist with a strong record of accomplishment in both research and teaching. It is anticipated that the appointment will begin on or after September 1, 2018. Interested applicants should send research… read more about Robert C. Richardson Endowed Professorship »
Graduate student Erin Conley is now the Young DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment) representative to the DUNE Institutional Board. Read more about Erin and her new role here. Read more about the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment here. Congratulations, Erin! read more about Grad Student Erin Conley New Young DUNE Representative »
Prof. and Chair Warren Warren has received the 2018 William F. Meggers Award from The Optical Society for his outstanding work in the field of spectroscopy. Read more on DukeToday here. read more about Prof. and Chair Warren Recognized by The Optical Society »
On January 22, Scholars@Duke hosted a visualization challenge during the 2018 Research Computing Symposium. The challenge was to showcase Duke's interdisciplinary education and research activities. Members of Duke Physics won three of the four awards! First Place: Graduate student Matthew Epland for "Exploring Interdisciplinary Connections in Duke Ph.D. Committees" [link] Third Place: Graduate student Aghil Abed Zadeh for "Duke Research in Perspective" [link]… read more about Graduate and Undergraduate Students Win at 2018 Research Computing Symposium »
On Monday, North Carolina Central University officially joined the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL). "North Carolina Central has long been a major contributor to the TUNL program and so this step formalizes a partnership that’s existed in reality for many years," said TUNL Director Art Champagne. Champagne added: "Also, we recognize that physics is a community endeavor, requiring a diversity of perspectives that can only come from a diversity of backgrounds and experiences. So… read more about NCCU Joins the TUNL Consortium »
Prof. Sara Haravifard has been elected as a member-at-large to the American Physical Society GMAG Executive Committee, beginning officially after the 2018 APS March Meeting and serving for three years. APS GMAG is the American Physical Society Topical Group on Magnetism and its Application. It represents one of the fastest-growing scientific sectors of the APS, sponsoring 85 sessions at the 2017 March Meeting, where it received 10% of all the abstracts submitted. read more about Prof. Haravifard Elected as Member of APS GMAG Executive Committee »
Prof. Calvin Howell is co-PI for the University Center for Exemplary Mentoring program, a new endeavor to increase minority graduate students in science and engineering departments. Read more about UCEM with statements from Howell in The Chronicle's article "New scholarship program aims to increase underrepresented minorities in graduate STEM disciplines" here. read more about Prof. Howell Co-PI of New Program to Promote Minority Grad Students in STEM »
On January 13 and 14, 2018, Prof. Kate Scholberg traveled with undergraduate students Jane Park (advisor Prof. Sara Haravifard) and Isabel Ruffin (advisor: Prof. Ayana Arce) to the annual American Physical Society's Conference of Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) at the University of Virginia. Park and Ruffin presented posters with Park receiving a poster prize. Prof. Roxanne Springer… read more about Profs. Scholberg, Springer and Undergraduates Attended CUWiP 2018 »
Prof. Phil Barbeau discusses his uses for low-radioactivity battleship steal and Ancient Roman lead when building sensitive neutrino and dark matter detectors in a recent article published by Gizmodo. Click here to read “How Physicists Recycled WWII Ships and Artillery to Unlock the Mysteries of the Universe." Photo: A forklift hoists one of the rusty sheets of surplus battleship steel behind a Duke physics laboratory. From "Physics on a Shoestring Budget." read more about Prof. Barbeau Discusses Reusing Materials To Build Detectors »
Time flies – it has been nearly three years since [Prof. Haiyan Gao] started to juggle between the complicated and interesting "double" life of a Physics Professor at Duke University in the U.S., and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Duke Kunshan University in Kunshan, China. Friends, neighbors and colleagues asked me "How has it been?" all the time whenever I am back in the U.S. My answer has always been: "it is exciting, challenging, busy, exhausting, everything except boring." Duke… read more about Commuting Between Duke University and Duke Kunshan University »
The Duke Physics 2017 newsletter is live! The department has had many achievements, faculty hires, new staff, and more over the past year that have been compiled into our final print publication. Read it now online here and look for it in your mail boxes next week. To receive next year's, which will be online only, make sure you are on our mailing list by sending your preferred email address to news at phy dot duke dot edu. Happy Holidays! read more about Duke Physics 2017 Newsletter »
The COHERENT Collaboration's result received second place in the People's Choice for Breakthrough of the Year 2017 by Science Magazine. Two graduate students Justin Raybern and Connor Awe were featured in the video showcasing all the candidates' research. See them at 1:47 here. Thank you for voting and congratulations again to the team! read more about COHERENT Result Receives Second Place in Popular Vote for Breakthrough of the Year 2017 »