The Neutrino 2014 conference which was held in Boston this year is the premier conference in neutrino physics and is held biannually. Duke faculty, researchers and students played a highly visible role in this year's meeting. Prof. Chris Walter gave the T2K experiment's talk and Prof. Kate Scholberg gave a review talk on supernova neutrinos. Prof. Phil Barbeau also gave a talk on coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering. Additionally, Duke neutrino group postdoc… read more about Duke Physicists at Neutrino 2014 »
Earlier this year the T2K experiment announced an important new result where the appearance of a new neutrino flavor in an oscillation experiment was definitively seen for the first time. You can see the earlier physics news item here. The T2K experiment has now produced a video explaining the experiment in more detail that you can watch here in English and here in Japanese. The Duke neutrino group, led by Profs. Kate Scholberg and Chris Walter, plays a leading role in the T2K experiment. read more about T2K Experiment Video Explaining New Neutrino Flavor Appearance »
Prof. Ronen Plesser was featured on the Duke Today site. Read the interview "Hooked on Stars, Planets and Gravitational Waves" here. read more about Plesser Interviewed by Duke Today »
Goldman Sachs Summer Research Fellow Cathy Li is using what she learned in the classroom to extend machine learning techniques by using optical systems. The junior is a physics major with minors in philosophy and electrical and computer engineering. With Prof. Dan Gauthier, Robert C. Richardson professor of physics and professor of electrical and computer engineering, Li studies spatial-temporal chaos in optical systems with application in machine learning. Machine learning means that no… read more about Undergraduate Research Story: Cathy Li, junior »
Dr. Zhihong Ye, a postdoctoral research in Prof. Haiyan Gao's group won the 2014 Jefferson Science Associates (JSA) Postdoctoral Research Prize. With this award, Dr. Ye plans to design an entirely new detector system, a scintillating fiber tracker detector for use in high-precision physics experiments. See the JLab news piece here. read more about Postdoc Zhihong Ye Awarded 2014 JSA Postdoctoral Research Prize »
Physics graduate student Chao Peng who works in Prof. Haiyan Gao's group is among the winners of the 2014/2015 Jefferson Science Associates (JSA) Graduate Fellowship for research at Jefferson Lab. Peng is currently stationed at Jefferson Lab in preparation for a new high precision experiment on the proton charge radius. See the press release here. At the 2014 annual users group meeting at Jefferson Lab in early June, Peng also received the first prize in the annual poster… read more about Graduate Student Chao Peng is a Winner of 2014/2015 JSA Graduate Fellowship »
Prof. Phil Barbeau has been featured on Duke's Research Blog for his work with an international team of neutrino hunters on the experiment EXO-200. Read the article "Neutrinoless Search Still Neutrinoless, For Now" here. read more about Barbeau's Team Featured on Duke Research Blog »
Profs. Mark Kruse and Kate Hayles (of Duke's Program in Literature) have developed a course called Science Fiction, Science Fact. This course has been featured on the front page of the website for Symmtey Magazine. Read the story "Science fiction or science fact?: In a new class at Duke University, professors from different realms explore the intersection of literature and physics" here. Look for this class' future offerings under PHY 190S and LIT 390S. read more about Kruse's Course with Literature Professor Featured in Symmetry Magazine »
Dr. Xin Qian (PhD, Duke Physics '10, advisor: Prof. Haiyan Gao), now a staff scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory's Physics Department, is a winner of the DOE's Early Career Award. Qian was selected by the Office of High Energy Physics for "Detector Development towards Precision Measurement of Neutrino Mixing." Of the 35 selectees, 17 are from 10 national labs and were chosen based on competitive peer review from about 750 proposals. To see the full list of selectees and the DOE-… read more about Former PhD Student Xin Qian Receives DOE Early Career Award »
Prof. Ashutosh Kotwal has been named as the Fritz London Professor of Physics. Read the DukeToday news release "Duke Announces 2014 Distinguished Professors" here. read more about Prof. Kotwal is Among 37 Newly Named Distinguished Professors at Duke »
Hao Zhang successfully defended his dissertation "Electron/ Spin Correlation Effects in Asymmetric Quantum Point Contacts and Fabrication of Sub-micron Devices on (011) Surface of Cleaved-edge-overgrowth GaAs/AlGaAs Crystal" and earned his PhD on Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Zhang's advisor is Prof. Albert Chang. read more about Zhang Passes Doctoral Dissertation »
The Department of Physics awards annually the Daphne Chang Memorial Award to honor students who excel in undergraduate research in physics. This year's recipient is Jack Matteucci (Trinity 2014). Under the mentorship of Prof. Al Goshaw, Jack did his research using data collected from the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. He studied 8 TeV proton-proton collisions producing the neutral carriers of the electroweak force, photons and Z bosons. The goal of his research was to… read more about Physics Major Jack Matteucci Awarded 2014 Daphne Chang Award »
It's not often we get a look at the work that goes on behind the scenes in the department. Here Physics' Data Processing Specialist Barry Wilson works on set-up for an updated screen for the lobby. The new screen will continue to provide news and event updates in Duke Physics, as well as the wider physics field, with a fresh look. read more about Wilson Works Behind the Scenes »
The Undergraduate Poster session was held on April 22, 2014. Seven students were inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma, the national physics honor society. The top poster prize went to Melody Lim, second place was Yiqiu Zhao and Zinzi Zhang and Chris Flower tied for third place. Congratulations to all the undergraduate students on their hard work well done. Melody Lim… read more about 2014 Undergraduate Poster Session »
Duke Physics and Math undergraduate major Eugene Rabinovich has been admitted to the Cargese Workshop on Holography and String Theory this summer. This is a highly competitive program normally directed to advanced graduate students and postdocs. Rabinovich was recently named a Faculty Scolar and a Goldwater Scholar. In case you missed that news, please read the story here. read more about Eugene Rabinovich Admitted to Cargese Summer Institute Workshop »
Prof. Steffen A. Bass' group's work using Open Science Grid was featured in the grid computing news publication isgtw: international science grid this week. Read "Modeling heavy-ion collisions with Open Science Grid" online here. read more about Bass Group Featured on isgtw »
Two more students have successfully defended their theses for their PhDs: Christopher Coleman-Smith, "Using Gaussian Processess for the Calibration and Exploration of Complex Computer Models" on April 8, 2014. Coleman-Smith's advisor is Prof. Berndt Mueller. Ethan Robert Elliott, "Quantum Transport and Scale Invariance in Expanding Fermi Gases" on April 9, 2014. Elliott's advisors are Profs. Steffen A. Bass and John Thomas. read more about Two Graduate Students Pass Doctorial Dissertations »
Duke physics alum Robin Canup, ‘90, has been thinking about moons—and their origins—ever since graduate school at the University of Colorado (CU). She was halfway through her PhD thesis on Saturn’s rings when, she says, “I got this idea that I wanted to start working on the origin of the moon. My thesis advisor was very supportive, so I changed the topic of my thesis. I’m forever grateful to him for that.” In fact, he suggested that she send a grant proposal to NASA, with the result that she had funding… read more about Planetary Scientist Robin Canup Models the Origins of Moons »
Physics professors Phillip Barbeau and Kate Scholberg have been included in a Duke University website Feature Story "Physics on a Shoestring Budget: Building a neutrino detector with scraps and ingenuity" showcasing their new project they hope to site at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Read the story here. read more about Barbeau and Scholberg Part of Duke Feature Story »
Two second year graduate students, Emilie Huffman and Anne Watson, were recognized earlier this month by the National Science Foundation. Both students had applied for the graduate research fellowship last Fall. Anne Watson, who is working with Prof. Gleb Finkelstein in experimental condensed matter physics for her PhD, was offered the fellowship and Emilie Huffman, who is working with Prof. Shailesh Chandrasekharan in theoretical quantum many body physics… read more about Two Second Year Graduate Students Recognized by National Science Foundation »
Congratulations to the following graduate students who recently passed their PhD defenses! Dr. Yuan Lin, "A Quantitative Poly-energetic Reconstruction Scheme for Single Spectrum CT Scanners" on March 5, 2014. Yuan's advisor is Prof. Ehsan Samei. Dr. Shangying Wang, "Quantifying Gene Regulatory Networks" on Tuesday, March 18, 2014. Shangying's advisors are Profs. Sridhar Raghavachari (Neurobiology) and Nicolas Buchler. Dr. Di-Lun Yang, "… read more about Five Graduate Students Pass Their Doctoral Dissertations »
Prof. Hubert Bray was recently awarded the Community Service Award from Duke's Office of Durham and Regional Affairs. DukeToday featured a story "Two Duke Employees Receive Service Award." Read it here. read more about Bray Receives Community Service Award »
Congratulations to the following graduate student who recently passed their preliminary examinations! Jonah Bernhard on Monday, January 6, 2014. Jonah's advisor is Prof. Steffen A. Bass. Leo Yao-Lung Fang on Monday, January 13, 2014. Leo's advisor is Prof. Harold Baranger. Margaret Shea on Friday, March 28, 2014. Meg's advisor is Prof. Daniel Gauthier. read more about Update on Recent Grad Student Achievements »
Second year graduate student Emilie Huffman and Prof. Shailesh Chandrasekharan have recently solved an outstanding sign problem that had remained unsolved for almost 30 yrs. Sign problems arise when one tries to design Monte Carlo methods to compute quantum amplitudes in quantum many body physics. Although Feynman taught us how one can compute such amplitudes by summing over an exponentially large number of classical paths, to perform such a sum exactly is almost always impossible in… read more about Another Outstanding Fermion Sign Problem Solved »
Duke Physics and Math major Eugene Rabinovich, has been named a faculty scholar, the highest honor Duke's faculty bestows upon undergraduate students. The last physics major to win this award was Vivek Bhattacharya (Economics and Physics) in 2012. In addition, Eugene has been named a Goldwater Scholar. This is the second year in a row that a Duke Physics major has won this prestigious award (Kushal Seetharam, a double major in Physics and ECE, was a Goldwater last year).… read more about Eugene Rabinovich Named a Faculty Scholar and a Goldwater Scholar »
The recent March APS meeting in Denver provided an excellent forum for seven undergraduates who have been working in the Behringer lab over the past year or more. Yaqi Hou, Melody Lim, Audrey Melville, Alec Petersen, Jenny Su and Jeremy Ward had talks in this meeting. Melody, Audrey, Alec and Jenny are Duke undergrads. And Melody, Audrey and Alec presented talks at the APS March 2014 meeting, in person. Yaqi is a visiting… read more about Members From Behringer Lab Present Work at March APS Meeting »
Prof. Jamie Bock (Duke Physics '87) from Caltech was one of the leaders of the group which achieved the recent exciting experimental result on gravitational waves from the earliest time, detected by the BICEP2 telescope at the South Pole. An interview with Prof. Bock is featured on the Phys.org website. Read "Building BICEP2: A conversation with Jamie Bock" online here. More material on these results along with pictures and the paper can be found here. You can also read DukeToday's article "Duke… read more about Alum Jamie Bock Featured on Phys.org »
In the latest rankings by U.S. News & World Report, the department of Physics is tied for the 29th place in the country. The magazine also ranked a number of specialty programs within the various disciplines. Within physics, nuclear physics tied for the sixth place together with California Institute of Technology, University of California-Berkeley, and Yale. For ranking information about other Duke departments and schools, you may read the Duke Today article here. read more about Duke Nuclear Physics Tied for 6th Place in the Country »
The T2K experiment's recent definitive measurement of the appearance of electron neutrinos from oscillation was highlighted in Physical Review Letters for opening the path to measuring CP violation in neutrinos. Click here for a pdf. You can read the viewpoint article here. The Duke neutrino group, led by Profs. Kate Scholberg and Chris Walter, plays a leading role in the T2K experiment. read more about T2K Experiment Highlighted in PRL »
Robin Canup, Associate Vice Preseident of SouthWest Research Institute, delivered the fifth Hertha Sponer Lecture on Thursday, February 20. A write-up of her talk is featured on Duke Today's Duke Research Blog. You can read "The Catastrophic Origins of Our Moon" here. read more about Write-Up of 2014 Hertha Sponer Lecture »