Category: Dark Matter

Welcome, Prof. Joshua Foster!

Joshua Foster’s long-standing interest in computational tools is, he believes, what led him to research a range of theoretical physics, including dark matter, gravitational waves, and new physics. “What got me interested in studying theoretical physics in particular was the idea that you could study structures or ways of doing calculations that would enable you …

Search for boosted Higgs advances our understanding of dark matter

This story, featuring physics graduate student Shivani Lomte, was originally published by the CMS collaboration The CMS Collaboration hunts for Higgs bosons recoiling against dark matter particles Dark matter is one of the most perplexing mysteries of our universe, accounting for roughly 27% of its total energy. Dark matter does not emit, absorb, or reflect light, …

Federal physics advisory panel — including Profs. Bose and Cranmer — announces particle physics recommendations

Earlier this year, physics professors Tulika Bose and Kyle Cranmer were selected to serve on the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel, or P5, a group of High Energy Physics experts that advises the Department of Energy Office of Science and the National Science Foundation’s Division of Physics on high energy and particle physics matters. P5 …

Dark Energy Survey releases most precise look at the universe’s evolution

This news piece has been slightly modified from this news story, first published by Fermilab.  The Dark Energy Survey collaboration has created the largest ever maps of the distribution and shapes of galaxies, tracing both ordinary and dark matter in the universe out to a distance of more than 7 billion light years. The analysis, …

Yang Bai promoted to full professor

The Department of Physics is pleased to announce that Prof. Yang Bai has been promoted to the rank of full professor. “It is my pleasure and honor as Dean to approve Prof. Yang Bai’s promotion to Full Professor. His creativity and impressive breadth in particle physics research make him a leader not only on dark …

Searching for Sources of Gravitational Waves

The entire astrophysical world was blown away by the first-ever binary neutron star collision seen in August 2017 (called ‘GW170817’). This event, identified as a kilonova, was the first to be seen in both gravitational waves, by the LIGO and Virgo detectors, as well as the electromagnetic spectrum, from gamma rays to radio waves (and covered previously in this Oct 2017 …

Dark Energy Survey makes public catalog of nearly 700 million astronomical objects

Note: this post is adapted from this article, originally published by Fermilab The Dark Energy Survey, a global collaboration including researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has released DR2, the second data release in the survey’s seven-year history. DR2 was the topic of sessions at the 237th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, which was held …

Researchers awarded Department of Energy Quantum Information Science Grant

Three UW–Madison physics professors and their colleagues have been awarded a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) High Energy Physics Quantum Information Science award for an interdisciplinary collaboration between theoretical and experimental physicists and experts on quantum algorithms. The grant, entitled “Detection of dark matter and neutrinos enhanced through quantum information,” will bring a total of …

High Energy Physics group awarded three grants totaling over $14 million

The High Energy Physics (HEP) group at UW–Madison, which broadly focuses on identifying and understanding the fundamental aspects of particles and forces in Nature, has been awarded three significant grants in 2020. The grants — two from the Department of Energy (DOE) and one from the National Science Foundation (NSF) — are awarded either directly …

NSF Physics Frontier Center for neutron star modeling to include UW–Madison

A group of universities, including the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has been named the newest Physics Frontier Center, the National Science Foundation announced Aug. 17. The center expands the reach and depth of existing capabilities in modeling some of the most violent events known in the universe: the mergers of neutron stars and their explosive aftermath. …