Accomplishments: Department of Physics and Astronomy
Jason Steffen (Physics and Astronomy) published a book, Hidden in the Heavens, with Princeton University Press. The book is about the NASA Kepler mission, which was instrumental in the discovery of over 5000 planets that orbit distant stars. Steffen was a member of the science team for that mission and was co-chair of one of the working groups.
Zhaohuan Zhu (Physics and Astronomy) has been awarded two grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and one from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), serving as Principal Investigator for all three. These grants will support his cutting-edge research in astrophysics and planetary science.
The NSF Astronomy and…
Graduate student Simon Matin (Physics and Astronomy) was recently awarded a fellowship as part of the Nevada NASA Space Grant Graduate Fellowship program. This award recognizes Matin's accomplishments thus far and the strength of his proposed ongoing research work. The specific proposed project will simulate measurements of galaxies made with the…
During the spring 2024 semester, Yan Zhou (Physics and Astronomy) was invited to present his research on quantum sensors and information at:
Center of Fundamental Physics colloquium, Northwestern University, February 2024.
ECT (European Center for Theoretical studies in nuclear physics and related areas) workshop, Trento, Italy, March …
Bernard Zygelman (Physics and Astronomy) presented the April 9 Pittsburgh Quantum Institute (PQI) seminar titled "Effective Magnetic Monopoles, Molecular Dynamics, and Holonomic Quantum Computing" in addition to the U. Pittsburgh Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) undergraduate colloquium, "The Second Quantum Revolution."
Zygelman…
Ph.D. candidate Shangjia Zhang (Physics and Astronomy) has been selected as a 2024 NASA Hubble Fellow. The NASA Hubble Fellowship Program supports promising postdoctoral scientists to pursue independent research that contributes to NASA Astrophysics, using theory, observation, experimentation, or instrument development.
Zhang's work was…
Carrie Coppa (Physics and Astronomy) was nominated for and recently graduated the Administrative Academy Academy Path C.
The 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Administrative Assistant Academy is a training series designed to foster a culture of continuous improvement for all administrative assistants. The eight-week program outlines six competencies that 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ…
Zhaohuan Zhu (Physics and Astronomy) with 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s Nevada Center for Astrophysics is part of an international research team that recently published findings and images supporting the theory of gravitational instability in planet formation.
Zhu, a co-author on an article published July 25 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, had published…
The American Astronomical Society (AAS) recently held their 241st AAS meeting in Seattle, Washington. During the meeting students from across the nation participated in the Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Poster Competition where students present their posters and are judged by volunteer judges.
Margaret Johnston (Physics and…
Each year during the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium, OUR recognizes and honors 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ undergraduate researchers who demonstrate and exemplify excellence in research. OUR awards one undergraduate researcher in Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (AHS) and one undergraduate researcher in Health and…
51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ researchers Pedro Santos-Florez, Byungkyun Kang, and Qiang Zhu (all Physics and Astronomy) recently published a paper, "Size-Dependent Nucleation in Crystal Phase Transition from Machine Learning Metadynamics," in the journal Physical Review Letter (PRL). This work has also been featured in the cover of the latest issue of PRL. In…
51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ researchers add an important computational capability to a widely-used, open source software. Specifically, a summer undergraduate researcher working with Jason Steffen (all Physics and Astronomy), along with a graduate student and an outside collaborator, added the Yarkovsky effect to the REBOUND software. This is a force that affects…