Research, teaching and public engagement in Physics at UW–Madison
Congratulations to Associate Professor Ke Fang on her promotion with tenure, to Professor Justin Vandenbroucke on his promotion to full professor, and to Profs. Dan Hooper and Britton Plourde who were both granted tenure! Prof. Fang is an experimental particle astrophysicist and WIPAC investigator who studies the origins of subatomic particles and their fundamental nature …
Summer at UW–Madison is filled with trips to the Terrace, amazing weather, and usually a break from classes. Physicists in Madison this summer can add one more thing to the list this summer: over a half dozen conferences, workshops, symposia and undergraduate research programs hosted on or near campus. UW physics summer conference season kicks …
By Alex Lazarian, Yue Hu, and Ka Wai Ho Galaxy clusters, immense assemblies of galaxies, gas, and elusive dark matter, form the cornerstone of our Universe’s grandest structure — the cosmic web. These clusters are not just gravitational anchors, but dynamic realms profoundly influenced by magnetism. The magnetic fields within these clusters are pivotal, shaping …
Congrats to Ke Fang, assistant professor of physics, WIPAC faculty member, and HAWC spokesperson, on earning an NSF CAREER award! CAREER awards are NSF’s most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their …
On Earth, billions of subatomic particles called neutrinos pass through us every second, but we never notice because they rarely interact with matter. Because of this, neutrinos can travel straight paths over vast distances unimpeded, carrying information about their cosmic origins. Although most of these aptly named “ghost” particles detected on Earth originate from the …
Astronomers have long sought the launch sites for some of the highest energy protons in our galaxy. Now, a study using 12 years of data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi) confirms that a remnant of a supernova, or star explosion, is just such a place, solving a decade-long cosmic mystery. Previously, Fermi has shown that the …
New research reveals the origins of enormous bubbles of material emanating from the center of the Milky Way. The related structures — known as the eRosita and Fermi bubbles and the microwave haze — are the result of a powerful jet of activity from the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. The …
This story was originally published by IceCube. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a massive astroparticle physics experiment located at the South Pole, will be featured in two upcoming documentaries about neutrinos produced for the BBC and PBS NOVA. Sometimes called the world’s biggest and strangest telescope, IceCube comprises over 5,000 light sensors deployed in a cubic …
This story has been modified from one originally published by New York Institute of Technology. A team of University of Wisconsin–Madison and New York Institute of Technology physicists has secured a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in an attempt to solve one of science’s greatest mysteries: how the universe formed from stardust. Many …
This post was originally published by the Royal Astronomical Society. UW–Madison physics graduate student Bindesh Tripathi is the lead author of the scientific publication. Middle-aged stars can experience their own kind of midlife crisis, experiencing dramatic breaks in their activity and rotation rates at about the same age as our Sun, according to new research …