Physics at ArizonaThe Physics Department has productive

research areas spanning from quarks to the cosmos

Physics at Arizona AMO (Atomic, molecular, and optical physics)

Using atom waves and ultrafast lasers to study atomic and molecular phenomena

Applied Physics Leading solar panel research and development at TEP

Astrophysics Understanding the physics of black holes and neutron stars

Biophysics Building molecular motors to do mechanical work

Chemical Physics Cross-disciplinary research at the interface of physics and

chemistry Condensed matter

Investigating molecular electronics, spintronics, nanomaterials and unconventional superconductors

Nuclear physics Predicting properties of quark-gluon plasma and developing new

theoretical approaches to the nuclear force Particle physics

Searching for Higgs bosons and dark matter candidates at the LHC

UA Physics News

Hunting the Higgs BosonArizona Daily Star March 14 2009

UA gives 'God particle' hunt more than a prayer

The hunt for a mysterious subatomic fragment nicknamed the "God particle" is heating up, due in part to the work of a UA scientist. Physicists say finding the theoretical particle — called the Higgs boson — is a critical step toward understanding nothing short of how matter exists in the universe. "It's the missing piece of the puzzle," said Erich Varnes, a University of Arizona associate professor of physics.

The Formation of Red Tide

Just how those plankton layers form has been unclear. Now in a paper in Science, William M. Durham and Roman Stocker of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and John O. Kessler of the University of Arizona have shown that plankton’s swimming and shape play a role.

OBSERVATORYBehind Red Tides, the Swimming and Shape of Plankton

New York Times February 24 2009

Compact Particle Accelerators

Rapid advances in high-intensity laser technology are closing in on the technological breakthrough of a compact particle accelerator, and with it a new means to study the structure of the vacuum. Gérard Mourou, Johann Rafelski (University of Arizona) and Toshiki Tajima explain.

CERN Courier February 23 2009

Carbon Dating at the AMS Lab

Statue's age a surpriseSt. Augustine Cathedral crucifix could date to A.D. 1155

Timothy Jull, a professor of geosciences and physics, tested the textile by using what's called radiocarbon dating.The process entails extracting carbon from the sample by burning it to get carbon dioxide. Then the carbon dioxide is converted into graphite, and its radiocarbon content is measured."The crucifix is made of some plaster material on textile, so we sampled the textile," Jull wrote in an e-mail. The results: The statue is 95 percent likely to have been crafted between A.D. 1155 and A.D. 1389.

Arizona Daily Star March 1 2009

Preparing High School Physics Teachers

By taking on a significant part of the education of high school physics teachers, physics departments in the US can inspire their students and help insure a scientifically educated population

Physics Today February 2009

Program at UA led by Ingrid Novodvorsky

ATLAS at the LHCWorld-wide press September 10 2008

UA research at the LHC aligns with many Grand Challenges

Applied Physics

Research at the TEP Solar Test Yard

Physics faculty and students study the performance of grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) systems

Collaboration with Optical Sciences

University of Arizona scientists experimenting with some of the coldest gases in the universe have discovered that when atoms in the gas get cold

enough, they can spontaneously spin up into what might be described as

quantum mechanical twisters or hurricanes.

Brian Anderson of UA Optical Sciences and Physics - Nature 455,

948 (2008)

UA Scientists Discover Quantum Mechanical 'Hurricanes' Form Spontaneously

Collaboration with LPLOnly Solar Systems with Jupiters May Harbor Life, UA Scientist Says

Jupiter-like planets flinging Mars-sized objects toward their sun-like stars would deliver the water needed for carbon-based terrestrial life, said Professor Jonathan I. Lunine of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, chair of the UA Theoretical Astrophysics Program.

Collaboration with AstronomyMilky Way black Hole May Be A Colossal Particle Accelerator

For the last several years, Melia has been developing a theory of what may be going on very close to the Milky Way's black hole. Melia and his group find that powerful, chaotic magnetic fields accelerate protons and other particles near the black hole to extremely high energies.

Fulvio Melia of UA Astronomy and Physics

Collaboration with AstronomyTaking movies of the universe with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)

The LSST will image an area of the sky 50 times that of the full moon every 15 s for a ten year period! The result will be a 3D map of the universe of unprecedented depth and detail. We will use weak lensing techniques in order to test models of dark energy and even gravitation itself.

Elliott Cheu and Ken Johns of UA Physics and Phil Pinto of Astronomy

Collaboration with ChemistryChemical physics – Stepping into the future

The new program in Chemical Physics explores exciting interdisciplinary research at the boundary of physics and chemistry.The encompassing fields are wide ranging: from Nanoscience to Astrochemistry to Biological Physics.

Alex Cronin, Brian Leroy, Srin Manne Sumit Mazumdar, Arvinder Sandhu, Charles Stafford, and Koen Visscher of UA Physics

Recent Faculty Honors in Research

Sean Fleming Department of Energy OJI Award

Don Huffman Regents Professor, HP Europhysics Prize and other awards

Brian Leroy NSF CAREER Grant

Fulvio Melia Galileo Circle Scholar

Pierre Meystre Regents Professor

Sumit Mazumdar Henry and Phyllis Koffler Research and Scholarship Prize

Arvinder Sandhu NSF CAREER Grant

Bira van Kolck Department of Energy OJI Award and Sloan Fellowship

16

Recent Faculty Honors in Research

NSF CAREER for Brian Leroy

For investigation of electron transport in carbon nanostructures using scanning probe microscopy

NSF CAREER for Arvinder Sandhu

For investigation of attosecond dynamics in atoms and molecules using XUV+IR spectroscopy

Recent Faculty Honors in Teaching

Physics Department University Teaching Award for Meritorious

Departmental Achievement in Instruction Bill Bickel

University Distinguished Professor and COS Distinguished Advising Award

Elliott Cheu COS Innovation in Teaching and COS Advising Awards Leon and Pauline Blitzer Award

Alex Cronin Henry and Phyllis Koffler Teaching Prize (and other

university teaching awards) Keith Dienes

University Distinguished Early Career Teaching Award

18

Recent Faculty Honors in Teaching

Doug Donahue COS Career in Distinguished Teaching Award

J.D. Garcia COS Distinguished Achievement in Science Education

K.C. Hsieh El Paso Energy Foundation Faculty Achievement

Award Don Huffman

COS Career Distinguished Teaching Award and El Paso Energy Foundation Faculty Achievement Award

Srin Manne COS Distinguished Teaching Award

Ingrid Novodvorsky DOEd Modeling Instruction Program citation

19