Department of Physics
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 »
Physicist Michael Rubinstein has always been willing to go new places and try new things. In 1977, he immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union, seeking opportunity. “The Soviet Union looked stable then, but there was no future for me to do what I wanted to do,” he says. As a college student, his only career choice seemed to be physics teacher. Instead, he came to the United States with his family midway through his college education. He finished his undergraduate degree in physics at the… read more about Michael Rubinstein: Creating Communities and Collaborations to Study Soft Matter »
In 2017, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences celebrated 50 years of Black faculty scholarship. Prof. Calvin Howell has been a faculty member of Duke Physics for 32 of those 50 years and was featured in the video profile "The Art Historian and the Physicist." Watch it on Trinity College's YouTube channel here. read more about Prof. Howell Interviewed in Honor of 50 Years of Black Faculty Scholarship in Trinity College »
Rita Boggs Rita was born in Durham, NC and has spent most of her life in Raleigh. She graduated from Meredith College with a degree in Music Education and taught several years both privately and at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC. Since getting married in 1981, she and her husband have lived in Spartanburg, SC, Kinston, NC and then back to Raleigh. When they moved to Raleigh, Rita accepted a job with a company that sold phosphates internationally. She worked in international marketing with them for 15… read more about New Physics Staff »
Congratulations to Prof. G. Allan Johnson who has been named one of nineteen researchers to receive the 2017 Distinguished Investigator Award from the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research. This honor recognizes accomplishments of those in the field of medical imaging. Please click here to read more about the Academy and award. Click here to see Medical Physics' announcement. read more about Prof. Johnson Named 2017 Distinguished Investigator »
Christoph Schmidt wants to understand the physics of living materials such as cells, tissues, and organs. How does a cell generate forces and move, or sense its own size and shape? How does an animal sense its own motions? In Schmidt’s mind these questions are crying out for attention from physicists. “In the last half century or so, people have had a strong focus on molecular biology,” he says, “whereas the knowledge of physical properties—say elasticity or dynamics—and the physics of matter inside cells… read more about Christoph Schmidt: Using Physics to Understand Biology »
Third year graduate student Aaron Mahler, working under the supervision of Prof. Weitao Yang, has been awarded a 2018 Phase-I Fellowship from the NSF-funded Molecular Sciences Software Institute for his research on theory and implementation of a localized orbital scaling correction to generate improved functionals. See the press release here. read more about Grad Student Mahler Receives Phase-I Fellowship »
Congratulations to senior physics major Bryan Higgins who received the 3rd place award and cash prize for his research poster at the Energy Week Conference held at Duke in November 2017. Bryan has been carrying out senior thesis research with Prof. Stephen Teitsworth, and has been exploring and testing novel types of dye-sensitized solar cells that are inexpensive to fabricate and utilize common regional plants as a source of organic dyes. read more about Undergrad Higgins Places at Energy Week Conference »
The COHERENT result has made it to the final round of Science Magazine's "People's Choice for Breakthrough of the Year"! Click here to vote one last time by December 10th! Photo credit: Jean Lachat, University of Chicago read more about COHERENT Result is a Finalist for Breakthrough of the Year »
A team of Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering researchers from Duke, The Ohio State University, and The National University of Singapore have built the world's highest rate quantum key distribution system. Led by Physics graduate student Nurul Islam, the system is capable of generating a secret key at a rate five to ten times faster than the existing methods. Read the team's paper: "Provably secure and high-rate quantum key distribution with time-bin qudits" published in Science… read more about A Multi-Disciplinary Team Builds the World's Highest Rate Quantum Key Distribution System »
The COHERENT Collaboration's result is in the running for being named “Breakthrough of the Year” by Science Magazine. This is a wonderful opportunity to highlight some of the successful science we do here at Duke and with TUNL. Voting is also a great way to show support for so many of our students who are at all levels and at all four local institutions. Choose your breakthrough of the year here by December 3rd. Photo credit: Jean Lachat, University of Chicago read more about Cast Your Vote for the COHERENT Result as Breakthrough of the Year »