Toggle Accessibility Tools
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Natural Science
Department of Physics and Astronomy

News

Ph.D. student Justin Lane awarded Yale Mossman Postdoctoral Fellowship April 27, 2021 Ph.D. student Justin Lane awarded Yale Mossman Postdoctoral Fellowship

Congratulations to Physics Ph.D. student Justin Lane who has been awarded the 2021 Mossman Prize Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Yale University Physics Department. Justin works in the area of quantum information systems (QIS) with this Ph.D. advisor Johannes Pollanen, the Jerry Cowen Chair of Experimental Physics, and other collaborators at the MSU Laboratory for Hybrid Quantum Systems. They are investigating a wide variety of QIS and condensed matter systems ranging from atomically thin layers of carbon (graphene) to trapped electrons systems floating above the surface of superfluid helium to color-center qubits in diamond with the goal of revealing fundamentally new physical phenomena and developing next generation technologies for QIS.
PhD student Carl Fields named to Forbes "30 under 30" in science December 11, 2020 PhD student Carl Fields named to Forbes "30 under 30" in science

MSU astronomy PhD student Carl Fields was recently recognized as one of Forbes' "30 under 30" in Science for 2021. Carl is a theoretical and computational astrophysicist specializing in the evolution of massive stars and how they explode as supernovae at the end of their lives. He has published a number of papers on these and related topics.
Prof. Alexandra Gade named AAAS fellow December 10, 2020 Prof. Alexandra Gade named AAAS fellow

Congratulations to Professor Alexandra Gade for being elected an AAAS fellow. Prof. Gade was recognized by the AAAS for distinguished contributions to the field of nuclear physics, particularly for gamma-ray spectroscopy of rare isotopes and elucidating the structural properties of nuclei.
2020 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics October 16, 2020 2020 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics

The 2020 Fall Meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society will be hosted by the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University as a virtual meeting from October 29 to November 1, 2020.
Prof. Gary Westfall to retire after distinguished career April 30, 2020 Prof. Gary Westfall to retire after distinguished career

After 39 years at MSU, Dr. Gary Westfall will be moving into retirement.
T2K finds possible CP violation in neutrinos April 16, 2020 T2K finds possible CP violation in neutrinos

The T2K experiment, in which our Professor Kendall Mahn is an analysis co-coordinator, published a paper in Nature with the possible discovery of CP violation in neutrinos.
Teaching Physics in the time of COVID-19 April 9, 2020 Teaching Physics in the time of COVID-19

The faculty, staff, and students of the Department of Physics and Astronomy have been working incredibly hard to make the rapid transition to online teaching.
HAWC Group Tests Einstein's Theory of Relativity with Extreme Astronomy March 30, 2020 HAWC Group Tests Einstein's Theory of Relativity with Extreme Astronomy

Professor Jim Linnemann along with his recently graduated PhD student Sam Marinelli, current grad student Joe Lundeen, and other collaborators have published a Physical Reviews Letter testing Einstein's theory of relativity with high energy gamma rays observed by HAWC.
'Optical Tweezers' Help in Quest for Better Cancer Treatments March 10, 2020 'Optical Tweezers' Help in Quest for Better Cancer Treatments

A major breakthrough in observing telomerase activity at a single-molecule level with unprecedented precision was recently achieved by Matt Comstock and close collaborator Jens Schmidt.
MSU Physics Grad Invented the Laser Printer and More January 27, 2020 MSU Physics Grad Invented the Laser Printer and More

MSU alum Gary Starkweather changed the course of modern printing technology.