• Research News

    Time Crystal Research Enters a New Phase

    Our world only exists thanks to the diverse properties of the many materials that make it up. The differences between all those materials result from more than just which atoms and molecules form them. A material’s properties also depend on how those basic building Read More
  • Research News

    Mysteriously Mundane Turbulence Revealed in 2D Superfluid

    Despite existing everywhere, the quantum world is a foreign place where many of the rules of daily life don’t apply. Quantum objects jump through solid walls; quantum entanglement connects the fates of particles no matter how far they are separated; and quantum objects may Read More
  • Research News

    A New Piece in the Matter–Antimatter Puzzle

    aOn March 24, 2025 at the annual Rencontres de Moriond conference taking place in La Thuile, Italy, the LHCb collaboration at CERN reported a new milestone in our understanding of the subtle yet profound differences between matter and antimatter. In its analysis of large Read More
  • Research News

    Researchers Play a Microscopic Game of Darts with Melted Gold

    Sometimes, what seems like a fantastical or improbable chain of events is just another day at the office for a physicist. In a recent experiment by University of Maryland researchers at the Laboratory for Physical Sciences, a scene played out that would be right Read More
  • Research News

    IceCube Search for Extremely High-energy Neutrinos Contributes to Understanding of Cosmic Rays

    Neutrinos are chargeless, weakly interacting particles that are able to travel undeflected through the cosmos. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole searches for the sources of these astrophysical neutrinos in order to understand the origin of high-energy particles called cosmic rays and, Read More
  • Research News

    Twisted Light Gives Electrons a Spinning Kick

    It’s hard to tell when you’re catching some rays at the beach, but light packs a punch. Not only does a beam of light carry energy, it can also carry momentum. This includes linear momentum, which is what makes a speeding train hard to Read More
  • Research News

    Repurposing Qubit Tech to Explore Exotic Superconductivity

    Decades of quantum research are now being transformed into practical technologies, including the superconducting circuits that are being used in physics research and built into small quantum computers by companies like IBM and Google. The established knowledge and technical infrastructure are allowing researchers to harness quantum technologies in Read More
  • Research News

    New Design Packs Two Qubits into One Superconducting Junction

    Quantum computers are potentially revolutionary devices and the basis of a growing industry. However, their technology isn’t standardized yet, and researchers are still studying the physics behind the diverse ways to build these quantum devices. Even the most basic building blocks of a quantum Read More
  • Research News

    HAWC Finds High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emissions from Microquasar V4641 Sagittarii

    A new study in Nature, “Ultra-high-energy gamma-ray bubble around microquasar V4641 Sgr,"   has  revealed a groundbreaking discovery by researchers from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory:  TeV gamma-ray emissions from V4641 Sagittarii (V4641 Sgr), a binary system composed of a black hole and a main sequence Read More
  • 1 Time Crystal Research Enters a New Phase
  • 2 Mysteriously Mundane Turbulence Revealed in 2D Superfluid
  • 3 A New Piece in the Matter–Antimatter Puzzle
  • 4 Researchers Play a Microscopic Game of Darts with Melted Gold
  • 5 IceCube Search for Extremely High-energy Neutrinos Contributes to Understanding of Cosmic Rays
  • 6 Twisted Light Gives Electrons a Spinning Kick
  • 7 Repurposing Qubit Tech to Explore Exotic Superconductivity
  • 8 New Design Packs Two Qubits into One Superconducting Junction
  • 9 HAWC Finds High-Energy Gamma-Ray Emissions from Microquasar V4641 Sagittarii

Physics is Phun

Department News

  • Chandra Turpen Cited for Mentorship Chandra Turpen has been named a University of Maryland Graduate Faculty Mentor of the Year for 2025. The award recognizes faculty members who have made exceptional contributions to a student’s graduate experience. It both acknowledges outstanding mentoring provided by individual faculty and reminds the university Read More
  • Brenda Dingus Elected to National Academy of Sciences Visiting Research Scientist and alumna Brenda Dingus (M.S. ’86, Ph.D. ’88, physics) has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for her pioneering work in gamma-ray astrophysics.  Dingus is one of 120 members and 30 international members elected by their peers in 2025, joining Read More
  • Jade LeSchack to Speak at CMNS Commencement Jade LeSchack has been selected as the undergraduate speaker at the College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Science Commencement Ceremony on Thursday, May 22, 2025. The ceremony will be live-streamed at youtube.com/user/cmnsumd.  Adam Wenchel (B.S. ’99, Computer Science), Cofounder and CEO of Arthur will give the keynote address.  Read More
  • World Quantum Day "Capital of Quantum" illustration by Valerie Morgan Happy Quantum Day! If that’s a salutation you’re unfamiliar with, this might not be the last time you encounter it. Celebrated every April 14, World Quantum Day seeks to boost understanding and appreciation of quantum science and technology. Read More
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Upcoming Events

13 Jun
JQI Special Seminar: Bankim Chandra Das
Date Fri, Jun 13, 2025 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)

Steven M. Kahn, Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
December 11, 2012

LSST is a large-aperture, wide-field, ground-based telescope designed to provide an imaging survey of half the sky in six optical colors every few nights. As such, it will enable a diverse array of distinct scientific investigations, ranging from compiling a census of moving objects in the solar system to charting the formation and structure of the Milky Way galaxy. Of particular interest for cosmology and fundamental physics, LSST will provide tight constraints on the expansion history of the universe via statistical measurements of the shapes and distributions of billions of galaxies out to moderate-to-high redshifts. In view of these capabilities, LSST was ranked as the highest priority major new ground-based facility by the 2010 decadal survey in astronomy and astrophysics commissioned by the National Research Council. I will review the key aspects of the design of this facility and highlight some of its scientific potential, with particular emphasis on the power of LSST to constrain the properties of dark energy.

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Colloquia are held Tuesdays in Room 1410 at 4:00 pm (preceded by light refreshments at 3:30). If you have additional questions, please call 301-405-5946.

Astronomy

Steve Kahn, Stanford University
December 11, 2012

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Colloquia are held Tuesdays in Room 1410 at 4:00 pm (preceded by light refreshments at 3:30). If you have additional questions, please call 301-405-5946.

The Matter of our Matter: Tales From Nuclear Science

Betsy Beise, University of Maryland
November 13, 2012

Astrophysical observations seem to tell us that only a small fraction of the matter of the universe is visible, the rest identified as either “dark matter” or “dark energy.” Yet that small sliver that we can see, estimated to be about 4%, is responsible for all of the stars, planets, and the atoms that make up us. This “matter of our matter” is the primary focus of nuclear science, spanning the creation of chemical elements in stars to the first emergence of their basic building blocks, the protons and neutrons inside atomic nuclei. Even these basic building blocks have a complex structure, composed of point-like quarks popping in and out of existence and bound together by force-carrying particles called gluons. How they assemble themselves to produce the characteristics that we can measure very precisely, such as charge and magnetism, is still a mystery. This talk will be a broad overview of some of the major open questions of nuclear science and the tools used to address them. Some examples of the benefits of nuclear science to society will also be given. Dr. Beise will draw heavily from the most recent National Academies decadal survey of nuclear science, “Exploring the Heart of Matter”, published in 2012.

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Colloquia are held Tuesdays in Room 1410 at 4:00 pm (preceded by light refreshments at 3:30). If you have additional questions, please call 301-405-5946.

Astrophysics

Adam Riess, Johns Hopkins University
November 27, 2012

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Colloquia are held Tuesdays in Room 1410 at 4:00 pm (preceded by light refreshments at 3:30). If you have additional questions, please call 301-405-5946.

Physical Nature of Bacterial Decision Making

Janè Kondev, Brandeis University
November 6, 2012

Cells make decisions all the time about what to eat, where to go, and what to become. At the heart of cellular decision making is gene regulation, the process by which cells turn their genes on and off in response to environmental ques. Experiments have recently begun to probe gene regulation inside cells at the single molecule level, revealing the physical nature of this key biological process in quantitative detail. In this talk Janè Kondev, Brandeis University, will review these experimental advances in single-cell gene expression measurements and the theoretical models that are being put forth to greet them. He will emphasize the interplay of theory and experiments and how it has revealed interesting surprises about some of the best studied models of gene regulation in bacteria such as the lac operon.

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Colloquia are held Tuesdays in Room 1410 at 4:00 pm (preceded by light refreshments at 3:30). If you have additional questions, please call 301-405-5946.