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SPOTLIGHT

Physics Today
Bridging Talents and Opportunities Forum connects high school and college students with STEAM leaders and resources
Event at MIT featured an array of national and international speakers including a Nobel laureate, leaders in industry, and in entertainment.
November 4, 2024
Photo Credit: Danny Ortiz
Physics Today
Physics, AI, and the future of discovery
Leaders from industry, government, and academia, including our own Jesse Thaler who is both a CTP and Physics professor and Director of IAIFI, discuss the potential impact of AI on physics—including neutrinos, exoplanets, term papers, outreach, and workforce gaps—and of physics on AI.
November 1, 2024
From left: Evgeni Gousev, Jesse Thaler, Valerie Browning, Walter Copan, and France Córdova, moderator.
Photo Credit: ERIC STOCKLIN
Visualizing the nucleus
Video: Visualizing the nucleus
Physicists Rolf Ent from Jefferson Lab, and Richard Milner from MIT, together with animator James LaPlante from Sputnik Animation, have created a 10 minute video that includes new animations of the atomic nucleus.
October 23, 2024
Electromagnetic
Electromagnetic properties of indium isotopes illuminate the doubly magic character of 100Sn
We used precision laser spectroscopy to study independent nuclear observables of elusive, short-lived indium isotopes for the first time. Clear parabolic trends in the measured nuclear deviation from spherical shape showed minima at very specific nuclear configurations, also known as magic numbers. Our results were compared to state-of-the-art theoretical predictions to confirm the predicted enhanced stability of one of the critical isotopes in nuclear physics, 100Sn
September 30, 2024

 

 

Jesse Thaler
Faces of CISE
U.S. National Science Foundation Quarterly Newsletter
May 23, 2024

 

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Precision Measurements of Radioactive Molecules for Fundamental Physics
Using lasers with precisely tuned frequency, λ, physicists control rotational states of radium monofluoride molecules and excite specific rotational levels, characterized by the quantum number, J. These excitations manifest as sharp spectral peaks.
May 22, 2024
Image courtesy of Silviu-Marian Udrescu

 

 

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Nuclear Charge Radii of Silicon Isotopes
This experiment was performed using long-lived silicon isotopes at BECOLA, prior to the installation of the new Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy Experiment (RISE). It did not involve the FRIB beam + RISE yet, however, it shows the potential of using harvested isotopes with our precision laser spectroscopy techniques. Our first experiment using both FRIB and RISE is scheduled for May.
April 16, 2024
Image: Courtesy of Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Nature Physics Article
Precision spectroscopy and laser-cooling scheme of a radium-containing molecule
January 9, 2024

 

 

Morgane Konig
Everything, everywhere all at once
Cosmologist and MLK Scholar Morgane König uses gravitational waves to study the universe’s origins, inflation, and present trajectory.
November 29, 2023
Photo: Sophie Hartley

 

 

 

MIT School of Science new faculty members
School of Science welcomes new faculty in 2023
Sixteen professors join the departments of Biology; Chemistry; Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences; Mathematics; and Physics.
September 25, 2023
Credits: Photos courtesy of the School of Science.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prof. Samuel Ting
Samuel Ting awarded Bhabha Award for AMS work
For “his vision and leadership of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment on the International Space Station, which has provided data of unprecedented precision on the spectrum & composition of Galactic cosmic rays that challenge conventional models of their origin.”
July 26, 2023

 

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The dark matter mystery (YouTube Video)
Dark matter is composed of particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light, so dark matter is material that cannot be observed directly. We know that dark matter exists because of the effect it has on objects that we can observe directly. But what is it? Why do we need to study it? Watch and learn more about the mystery of dark matter detection.
July 18, 2023

 

 

 

Daniel Harlow
Life in a hologram
Physicist Daniel Harlow explores an alternate quantum reality in search of fundamental truths to our physical universe.
June 7, 2023
Photo: Gretchen Ertl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2023 Sloan Fellows
Nine from MIT named 2023 Sloan Research Fellows
Annual award honors early-career researchers for creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments.
February 16, 2023
Photos: Top row, left to right: Luca Carlone, Rafael Gómez-Bombarelli, Jeremy Hahn, and Song Han.
Bottom row, left to right: Erin Kara, Jonathan Ragan-Kelley, Ronald Fernando Garcia Ruiz,
Tobias Salz, and Alison Wendlandt.

 

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Engaging in HEP planning of the future
High Energy Physics or Particle Physics has a long history which you can arguably trace back to the Greeks in 600 BC, where the idea of the atom (atomos – ‘uncuttable’) was first invented in thought experiments.
February 6, 2023

 

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Can you trust your quantum simulator?
MIT physicists have developed a protocol to verify the accuracy of quantum experiments.
January 18, 2023
Image: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT, with images from iStock

 

 

 

 

Daniel Winklehner
Daniel Winklehner received the 2022 DPF Instrumentation Early Career Award
For the development of new accelerator technology enabling an order of magnitude increase in the current delivered from a compact proton cyclotron. This work was carried out using artificial intelligence techniques and has enabled the realization of the IsoDAR experiment that will play a decisive role in the search for sterile neutrinos.
November 2022

 

 

When measuring a nucleus with a certain “magic” number of neutrons — 82 — the magnetic field of the nucleus exhibits a drastic change, and the properties of these very complex nuclei appear to be governed by just one of the protons of the nucleus.
A new spin on nuclear magnetic moments
New results from researchers at MIT reveal an unexpected feature of atomic nuclei when a “magic” number of neutrons is reached.
July 14, 2022
Image: Adam Vernon

 

 

 

 

Magdelena Allen
An astrophysicist in a biomedical universe
Magdelena Allen is developing a highly sensitive brain PET scanner that can help answer fundamental questions in neuroscience and particle physics.
June 10, 2022
Photo: Adam Glanzman

 

 

 

Alex Brinson
Nuclear Physics Rap! RESONANCE
MIT Grad student Alex "Brinsino" Brinson raps about research carried out by the CRIS collaboration at ISOLDE, CERN and by EMA lab at MIT.
April 12, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

Illustration
The problem-solver: Cosmic inflation
Just over 40 years ago, a new theory about the early universe provided a way to tackle multiple cosmological conundrums at once.
November 9, 2021
Illustration by Sandbox Studio, Chicago with Tara Kennedy

 

Photo of Erik Katsavounidis, Philip Harris and Song Han
Taming the data deluge
A National Science Foundation-funded team will use artificial intelligence to speed up discoveries in physics, astronomy, and neuroscience.
October 29, 2021
Photo: Sandi Miller

 

 

 

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MicroBooNE Results
MicroBooNE's Search for the Low Energy Excess
October 27, 2021
Image courtesy of the MicroBooNE Collaboration

 

 

 

Astronaut in space
Fulwell 73 blasts off for Disney+ NASA series
The six-part series launches on Disney+ on October 6 and features intimate footage, personal video diaries and livestream footage — stationed both on Earth and in space
September 15, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

Lindley Winslow
Measuring the Invisible
Particle physicist Lindley Winslow seeks the universe’s smallest particles for answers to its biggest questions.
March 24, 2021
Image: M. Scott Brauer

 

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New Frank Wilczek book looks at ten keys to reality
To understand ourselves and our place in the universe, “we should have humility but also self-respect,” the physicist writes in a new book.
January 12, 2021
Image: Christine Daniloff, MIT, stock imagery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phiala Shanahan
Phiala Shanahan Wins Wilson Prize
For excellence in the study of hadrons and nuclei in lattice QCD and for pioneering the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to lattice field theory.
October 23, 2020
Photo courtesy of Phiala Shanahan

 

 

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Daniel Harlow wins Packard Fellowship
October 15, 2020 (Los Altos, CA) – Today, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation announced the 2020 class of Packard Fellows for Science and Engineering.
October 15, 2020

 

Phiala Shanahan
Phiala Shanahan wins APS Maria Goeppert Mayer Award
To recognize and enhance outstanding achievement by a woman physicist in the early years of her career, and to provide opportunities for her to present these achievements to others through public lectures in the spirit of Maria Goeppert Mayer.
October, 2020
Photo courtesy of Phiala Shanahan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kerstin Perez
Kerstin Perez, One of 10 Early-Career Physicists
Junior faculty in experimental particle physics and astrophysics talk about how they got into physics, their favorite parts of the experimental process and how they spend their time outside the lab.
November 26, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tracy Slatyer
Data-mining for dark matter
Tracy Slatyer hunts through astrophysical data for clues to the invisible universe.
August 15, 2019
Image: Bryce Vickmark

 

Ivica Friscic
EIC Center at Jefferson Lab Announces Fellowship Awards
The Electron-Ion Collider Center at the Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (EIC Center at Jefferson Lab) has announced the winners of four fellowships to pursue research over the next year related to a proposed electron-ion collider to be located in the United States. The Center advances and promotes the science program of a future EIC facility.
August 7, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 New School of Science Professors
School of Science Welcomes 10 Professors
New faculty join the departments of Biology, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, and Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.
September 19, 2018
Image courtesy of the School of Science

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

QTor
Understanding the Proton's Weak Side
Research from the Qweak experiment provides a precision measurement of the proton’s weak charge. narrows the search for new physics.
May 10, 2018
Photo courtesy of
Laboratory for Nuclear Science

 

Or Hen
Or Hen Receives 2018 Guido Altarelli Award
Assistant professor of physics and Laboratory for Nuclear Science researcher recognized for major contributions to high energy and nuclear physics.
April 18, 2018
Photo courtesy of Or Hen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talia Weiss
Bridging the Science-Policy Divide
For MIT senior Talia Weiss, physics and theater have provided a springboard for new interests in political science.
October 17, 2017
Photo: Ian MacLellan

 

 

 

Markus Klute
Particle Hunter (Markus Klute)
Now that the Higgs boson has come to light, Markus Klute is looking at physics beyond the Standard Model.
July 21, 2017
Photo: M. Scott Brauer

 

 

Tracy Slatyer
Tracy Slatyer Wins Future of Science Award
Tracy Slatyer, the Jerrold R. Zacharias Career Development Assistant Professor of Physics, has been named the first recipient of the School of Science’s Future of Science Award.
May 18, 2017
Photo courtesy of the
Department of Physics

 

Tracy Slatyer
Proton Structure Comes to Light (OLYMPUS)
The OLYMPUS collaboration has found evidence of two-photon exchange, a process that could reconcile discrepant measurements of the proton’s inner construction.
March 20, 2017
Photo: Christine Daniloff/MIT