Danny Caballero and Huey-Wen Lin are the latest two MSU Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty to be elected APS Fellows. The APS Fellowship Program was created in 1921 for those in the physics community to recognize peers who have contributed to advances in physics through original research, innovative applications, teaching, and leadership. 

Department of Physics and Asrtonomy faculty members Mohammad Maghrebi and Johannes Pollanen have received 2022 NSF Early CAREER Faculty Awards. Their cutting-edge research is pushing the limits of theoretical and experimental quantum science, while their devotion to education is preparing the next generation of scientists to propel their field even further. The Early CAREER Faculty Award is one of NSF’s most prestigious grants and is given to faculty members who demonstrate leadership in research and education and have a passion for integrating the two.

In a paper in Physical Reviews Letters, MSU Physics and Astronomy faculty member Stephen Hsu along with colleagues at the University of Sussex and the University of Pisa have shown that quantum gravitational effects allow black holes to have "quantum hair", that is to effect the properties of the universe outside of the event horizon. This overcomes No Hair theorems in classical general relativity, and may help resolve may resolve Hawking’s Black Hole Information Paradox, which has challenged physicists since 1976. 

It is with sadness that we pass on the news that MSU undergraduate alumnus and renowned solar physicist Eugene Parker has died at the age of 94. Dr. Parker received numerous accolades over an incredibly distinguished career as a solar physicist, among them having NASA’s Parker Solar Probe named after him. Dr. Parker and his family have also supported the department in many ways over the years, and we are very grateful to have known him and for their support.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy has been selected by the American Physical Society for its 2022 Award for Improving Undergraduate Physics Education. This award recognizes a physics department at a U.S. university for its outstanding work in undergraduate physics education. At Michigan State we are grateful that the APS has recognized our work across the curriculum to deliver high quality physics education. This work follows a long history of physics and astronomy at MSU carrying out its land grant mission of excellence in research and teaching.

Beginning in the 2021-2022 academic year, MSU will host a new traineeship in the development of high-energy physics instrumentation, including coursework, a certificate program, and student support for instrumentation development work at MSU and at a DOE national-lab or other facility. Students enrolled in the program, available to MSU PhD students, will work with MSU faculty on topics including the ATLAS detector on the LHC, CMB-S4, DUNE, and at FRIB. The program includes dedicated mentoring and career opportunities, to help all students succeed in this exciting new frontier.

Michigan State University is hosting a major research conference—the 7th Conference on Photoinduced Phase Transitions and Cooperative Phenomena (PIPT7) this month. The conference is an international meeting bringing together leading experimentalists and theorists in the field of photoinduced phase transitions of quantum materials mediated by ultrashort laser pulses.

The Division of Nuclear Physics (DNP) of the American Physical Society (APS) has chosen Prof. Filomena Nunes for their Distinguished Service Award, citing “her exceptional and rich contributions toward making the DNP a place where all members can thrive, especially those from traditionally underrepresented groups, including service as the inaugural chair of the Subcommittee on Harassment Prevention and the creation of the DNP Allies program”. Professor Nunes has appointments at the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), and is the Managing Director of the FRIB Theory Alliance.