Tags: physics and astronomy

digital image of planetary disk, with blue, red, and space in black
New research challenges long-standing paradigm on planet formation

Two theories of planet formation have long-dominated astronomy - the first theory, “core accretion,” posits that planets grow slowly from particles of dust ultimately forming pebbles, then boulders, which coalesce to form planets over tens of millions of years.  The second theory – “gravitational instability,” in which planets form quickly from direct collapse of gas and dust, requiring hundreds to thousands of years instead – received new…

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Two Franklin College juniors named 2024 Goldwater Scholars

The Division of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, take a bow. University of Georgia juniors Elaine “Lainey” Gammon and Sara Logsdon are among 438 undergraduates across the nation to be recognized as Barry Goldwater Scholars in 2024, earning the highest undergraduate award of its type for the fields of mathematics, engineering and natural sciences. Congratulations to these amazing students – and the Franklin faculty who are teaching and…

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Researchers unveil faster, more accurate COVID testing technique

With new cases, hospitalizations and mortality rates holding steady in many parts of the world, University of Georgia researchers have developed a faster detection technique for COVID-19.  In a new study published in Advanced Materials Interface, the UGA research team describes the rapid diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 detection and quantification directly from human nasopharyngeal swabs using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy…

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UGA welcomes Nobel laureate Eric Betzig

2014 Nobel laureate in Chemistry Eric Betzig will visit the University of Georgia on March 25, 2024. Betzig, Professor of Molecular and Cell biology and Eugene D. Commins Presidential Chair in Experimental Physics at the University of California, Berkeley, will give two public presentations hosted by departments in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Betzig, also a Senior Fellow at the Janelia Research Campus, and an Investigator of the…

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Nobel laureate Michael Kosterlitz to visit UGA

The University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of physics and astronomy welcomes 2016 Nobel laureate J. Michael Kosterlitz to the campus to deliver the 2024 Chhabra-Landau Lecture March 14 at 3:55 p.m. in room 202 of the Physics Building. The lecture is free and the public is invited to attend. Kosterlitz, the Harrison E. Farnsworth Professor of Physics at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He was awarded…

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Divisional spotlight: Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Much like the five element families of the Periodic Table, the Franklin College is also comprised of five divisions that characterize the properties, behavior, and reactions among and between the many academic disciplines that drive innovation and creativity at the University of Georgia.  We continue to welcome 2024 by highlighting the divisional nature of our organizational structure and the academic units contained in each division. Today…

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UGA research team receives USDA APHIS funding for development of a rapid diagnostics platform for SARS-CoV-2

A person with COVID-19 might transmit SARS-CoV-2 to domestic cats and dogs (and perhaps other pets) in the same way that an infected animal could possibly transmit it to another individual. In addition, lions, tigers, pumas, snow leopards and non-human primates from zoos or wildlife refuges in the U.S. and other countries have been confirmed infected with SARS-CoV-2, while infections have also been reported in white-tailed deer, both wild and…

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UGA faculty awarded Moore Foundation grant to investigate 'brain on a chip'

Imitating the astonishing energy efficiency phenomena of the human brain presents the next challenge in high-speed computing. Potential solutions might combine new quantum functionality that arise from nano-scale complex materials to replicate brain-like performance, or neuromorphic computing. Yohannes Abate, Susan Dasher and Charles Dasher MD Professor of Physics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of physics and…

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UGA researchers discover new planet outside solar system

A University of Georgia research team has confirmed evidence of a previously unknown planet outside of our solar system, and they used machine learning tools to detect it. A recent study by the team showed that machine learning can correctly determine if an exoplanet is present by looking in protoplanetary disks, the gas around newly formed stars. The newly published findings represent a first step toward using machine learning to…

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Landau, Terns named Regents’ Professors

Three University of Georgia faculty members have been named Regents’ Professors in recognition of the national and international reach of their innovative and pace-setting scholarship. Regents’ professorships are bestowed by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and are the highest professorial recognition in the state’s system of public colleges and universities. The university’s 2022–2023 Regents’ Professors are Jenna…

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Next-generation nanophotonics devices and applications come into view

Densely-packed solar cells that fit on a car and efficiently transfer light to electricity; point-of care medical diagnostic tools; major advances in communication, sensing and imaging – all of these plus many more depend on interaction of light with the material world at a very small scale, also known as nanophotonics. What makes nanophotonics so interesting to scientists and so promising across a broad array of industry is the subject of a new…

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New Quantum Networks Research and Training Program Receives $3M NSF Award

The National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Program (NRT) awarded a $3 million Collaborative Grant to the University of Georgia (UGA) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to develop a Quantum Networks Training and Research Alliance in the Southeast (QuaNTRASE). The NSF award advances convergent research in quantum information science and engineering, which it has identified as a national priority of utmost importance, via…

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Noted and Quoted, April 2022

Racial disparities and COVID, personality traits of 'difficult' people, the war in Ukraine, and faster cheaper COVID tests headline Franklin faculty expertise in the media during the month of April. A sample of the recent news featuring our colleagues: How war in the world’s breadbasket “changes everything” – Scott Reynolds Nelson, Georgia Athletic Association Professor in the department of history, interviewed by  Ad Age, …

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UGA team develops faster, cheaper COVID tests

A University of Georgia nanotechnology research group entered the race to develop a rapid test for COVID-19 in August 2020, running experiments on a new sensor for an American manufacturing company. The group, led by Yiping Zhao and Ralph Tripp, tested nanotechnology-based optical sensors designed for COVID-19 detection and saw the potential for their home-grown technology. In March 2022, the group filed a patent application and published…

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Lewis, Shannon among 2022 Meigs Professors

Five University of Georgia faculty members have been named Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professors, the university’s highest recognition for excellence in instruction. “Meigs Professors are an elite group of faculty members at an institution that places a great value on outstanding instruction,” said S. Jack Hu, the university’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “I congratulate the recipients of this significant honor…

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Sensors eliminate sparking risk in hydrogen vehicles

Hydrogen as a clean, renewable alternative to fossil fuels is part of a sustainable-energy future, and very much already here. However, lingering concerns about flammability have limited widespread use of hydrogen as a power source for electric vehicles. Previous advances have minimized the risk, but new research from the University of Georgia now puts that risk in the rearview mirror. Hydrogen vehicles can refuel much more quickly and go…

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Teaching physics via Zoom

When she started her stint as head teaching assistant in the Physics and Astronomy Department in August 2019, Lauren Sgro’s life was pretty well mapped out. The Ph.D. candidate had time to work on her dissertation – concerning dust around red dwarfs – while keeping up with head TA duties, such as teaching the new TAs how to do their once-a-week labs and helping anyone with questions. Then the pandemic hit. “After COVID-19, the position…

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New materials provide link to innovative products

When we think about the links to the future – the global transition to solar and wind energy, tactile virtual reality or synthetic neurons – there’s no shortage of big ideas. It’s the materials to execute the big ideas – the ability to manufacture the lithium-ion batteries, opto-electronics and hydrogen fuel cells – that stand between concept and reality. Enter two-dimensional materials, the latest step in innovation. Consisting of a single…

portrait of cassandra hall
Royal Astronomical Society honors stars of astronomy and geophysics

The Royal Astronomical Society has announced the winners of its medals and prizes, awarded to scientists around the world for significant achievement in the fields of astronomy and geophysics. University of Georgia Assistant Professor Cassandra Hall has received the Winton Capital Award for astronomy for 2020.  There are two Winton awards per year, one each in astronomy and geophysics and they are funded by the Winton Capital…

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Inaugural Chhabra-Landau Lecture features materials science engineer Sharon Glotzer

The Center for Simulational Physics presents the inaugural Chhabra-Landau lecture on Thursday Jan. 9, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. in room 202 of the Physics building. The speaker is Sharon Glotzer, the Anthony C. Lembke Department Chair of Chemical Engineering, the John Werner Cahn Distinguished University Professor of Engineering and the Stuart W. Churchill Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, where she is also…

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Research finds that insulin drug may be used to treat brain tumors

Fascinating new work from colleagues in the UGA Regenerative Bioscience Center. A research team, including faculty from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the College of Engineering and associate professor of physics Qun Zhao: has found that a compound molecule used for drug delivery of insulin could be used to treat glioblastoma, an aggressive, usually fatal form of brain cancer. Glioblastoma, also known as…

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Amazing student: Mackenzie Joy

A big week on campus, as fall semester begins and so many new students begin a great journey. Physics and astronomy major and Goldwater Scholar Mackenzie Joy shares a few insights about her path to a successful future: I chose to attend UGA because … The first time I came to UGA was in February 2016 when I was interviewing for the Foundation Fellowship. I had never really considered UGA my top choice of where…

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Graduate student receives Department of Energy fellowship

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science has selected Matthew Wilson from the University of Georgia’s Center for Simulation Physics to participate in its Graduate Student Research Program. Wilson studies protein aggregation using computer simulation to test physical phenomena that defy analysis by traditional approaches.  “These graduate student awards prepare young scientists for STEM careers critically important to the DOE mission,”…

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Four Franklin students named 2019 Goldwater Scholars

The highest undergraduate award of its type for the fields of the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering, the Barry Goldwater Scholars program encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in these fields. This year, UGA has four Goldwater Scholars:  Monte Fischer, an Honors student and Foundation Fellow, plans to pursue a doctorate in mathematics to investigate questions of stochastic processes, probability and…

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New study opens possibilities for smaller, more powerful light-control in quantum materials

The transfer of energy, as light or information, from one point to another is a big part of the science behind the phone in your hand and the images on your screen. Manipulating light wavelengths to transmit information represents the next frontier in optoelectronics, though many obstacles remain. Among the primary challenges in using light for information processing is the difficulty of squeezing light to very small space to fit in ever-…
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