MIT Physics

With a new molecule-based method, physicists peer inside an atom’s nucleus Physicists at MIT have developed a new way to probe inside an atom’s nucleus, using the atom’s own electrons as “messengers” within a molecule. In a study appearing today in the journal Science, the p...

“Our results lay the groundwork for subsequent studies aiming to measure violations of fundamental symmetries at the nuclear level,” says study co-author Ronald Fernando Garcia Ruiz. “This could provide answers to some of the most pressing questions in modern physics.”

Why some quantum materials stall while others scale People tend to think of quantum materials — whose properties arise from quantum mechanical effects — as exotic curiosities. But some quantum materials have become a ubiquitous part of our computer har...

In a new study, MIT researchers, including Professor Liang Fu, evaluated quantum materials’ potential for scalable commercial success — and identified promising candidates. #cmt
physics.mit.edu/news/why-som...

MIT physicists improve the precision of atomic clocks Every time you check the time on your phone, make an online transaction, or use a navigation app, you are depending on the precision of atomic clocks. An atomic clock keeps time by relying on the “tic...

A new method turns down quantum noise that obscures the “ticking” of atoms, and could enable stable, transportable atomic clocks. #atomicphysics #VladanVuletic
physics.mit.edu/news/mit-phy...

Riccardo Comin, two MIT alumni named 2025 Moore Experimental Physics Investigators MIT associate professor of physics Riccardo Comin has been selected as 2025 Experimental Physics Investigator by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Two MIT physics alumni — Gyu-Boong Jo PhD ’10 of...

Congratulations!
physics.mit.edu/news/riccard...

MIT joins in constructing the Giant Magellan Telescope The following article is adapted from a joint press release issued today by MIT and the Giant Magellan Telescope. MIT is lending its support to the Giant Magellan Telescope, joining the international ...

Big news: MIT is joining the Giant Magellan Telescope consortium!

This $2.6B observatory in Chile will have 5× the light-gathering power of today’s telescopes, enabling breakthroughs in exoplanets, black holes, and more.

#MIT #GMT #Astrophysics

Junior Peña, neutrino hunter Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, Junior Peña learned to keep his eyes down and his schedule full. In his neighborhood, a glance could invite trouble, and many kids—including his older brother—...

At MIT’s Formaggio Lab, Junior Peña’s work may help researchers pinpoint the elusive particle’s mass—and refine the fundamental laws of physics in the process.
physics.mit.edu/news/junior-...

YouTube video by World Science Festival Are Space and Time Created by Quantum Error Correction?

Are Space and Time Created by Quantum Error Correction?

Prof Daniel Harlow joins Brian Greene to explore black holes, holography, and the surprising connection between spacetime and algorithms that perform quantum error correction.

MIT Physics Celebrates Professor Irwin Pless’s 100th birthday on March 11, 2025 The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

MIT Physics Celebrates Professor Irwin Pless’s 100th birthday on March 11, 2025
Pless has made significant contributions to the fields of Experimental Particle Physics, Heavy ion collisions research, and Neutrino Astrophysics.

President Biden Honors Nearly 400 Federally Funded Early-Career Scientists | OSTP | The White House Today, President Biden awarded nearly 400 scientists and engineers the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outst...

Congratulations! Professor Netta Engelhardt honored with 2025 DOE Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-up...

Hale Van Dorn Bradt PhD ’61, professor emeritus and X-ray astronomy pioneer, dies at 93 » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

Longtime MIT faculty member, Hale Van Dorn Bradt PhD '61, passed away on Thursday, November 14, 2024, at Salem Hospital, surrounded by his loving family. He used X-ray astronomy to study neutron stars and black holes and led the All-Sky Monitor instrument on NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. #RIP

AXIS mission selected as NASA Astrophysics Probe competition finalist » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

"If selected to move forward," explains Erin Kara, associate professor of physics and deputy principal investigator for AXIS, "AXIS will answer some of the biggest mysteries in modern astrophysics."

MIT affiliates receive 2024-25 awards and honors from the American Physical Society » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

MIT Physics awardees include Professor Vladan Vuletić, graduate student Jiliang Hu ’19, PhD ’24; as well as 5 alumni. New APS Fellows include Professor Joseph Checkelsky and 4 alumni. Congrats to all!

The discovery that stuck — 20 years of graphene Two decades of 2D materials.

In 2004, physicists reported something remarkable: they had isolated ultrathin films of carbon atoms using sticky tape alone, and found that the films had astounding properties. The finding would forever change condensed-matter physics.

An exotic materials researcher with the soul of an explorer » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

Riccardo Comin says the best part of his job as a physics professor and exotic materials researcher is when his students come into his office to tell him they have new, interesting data. “That’s what makes it all worthwhile.”

YouTube video by Clarivate Pablo Jarillo Herrero - Citation Laureate 2024 in Physics

Professor Pablo Jarillo Herrero, a Clarivate Citation Laureate 2024 and distinguished physicist, discusses his groundbreaking research in condensed matter physics.

An interstellar instrument takes a final bow » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

John Belcher, the Class of 1922 Professor of Physics, who was a member of the original team that designed and built the plasma spectrometers, and John Richardson, principal research scientist at MIT Kavli, who is the experiment’s principal investigator, offered their reflections.

The Next Quantum Revolution » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

MIT has long been a pioneer of quantum technologies. Now, Quantum@MIT is setting the stage for a new era

How did dark matter shape the universe? This physicist has ideas Theoretical physicist Tracy Slatyer proposes new scenarios for dark matter and helped discover the Fermi bubbles.

Among scientists doing such work, “I don’t think there’s been anybody who’s been more impactful,” says Dan Hooper, a physicist at the University of Chicago. “She’s as big a deal as I can make her out to be.”

Study: Early dark energy could resolve cosmology’s two biggest puzzles » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

“You have these two looming open-ended puzzles,” says study co-author Rohan Naidu, a postdoc in MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. “We find that in fact, early dark energy is a very elegant and sparse solution to two of the most pressing problems in cosmology.”

Sara Seager, among three MIT professors, accepted this year's prestigious Kavli Prize from King Harald V of Norway in Oslo on Sept. 3. Congratulations again to Professor Seager!

When the lights turned on in the universe » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

By studying ancient, supermassive black holes called quasars, Dominika Ďurovčíková is illuminating an early moment when galaxies could first be observed.

In "Scientific InQueery," MIT PhD students Jack Forman and Miranda Dawson, with MIT alum Tunahan Aytas, interviewed queer MIT faculty about their experiences and the importance of visibility. As co-leads of LGBTQ+ Grad, the producers created the project to inspire young LBGTQ+ academics to take pride in the intersections of their identities and their academic work. The video features Nergis Mavalvala, the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics and the dean of the School of Science; Sebastian Lourido, Associate Professor of Biology; Lorna Gibson, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Bryan Bryson, Associate Professor of Biological Engineering; Tunahan Aytas, PhD ‘23 in Materials Science and Engineering; Miranda Dawson, PhD candidate in Biological Engineering, and Jack Forman, PhD candidate in Media Arts & Sciences. Learn more: https://news.mit.edu/2024/scientific-inqueery-researchers-discuss-queer-visibility-in-academia-0613 Scientific InQueery

“People need to create spaces for researchers to be able to discuss their scientific work and also be queer,” says Nergis Mavalvala, the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics and dean of the MIT School of Science.

Nancy Kanwisher, Robert Langer, and Sara Seager named Kavli Prize Laureates » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

Sara Seager named 2024 Kavli Prize Laureate physics.mit.edu?p=18668

Exotic black holes could be a byproduct of dark matter » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

“Even though these short-lived, exotic creatures are not around today, they could have affected cosmic history in ways that could show up in subtle signals today,” says David Kaiser, the Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science and professor of physics at MIT.

Physicists create five-lane superhighway for electrons » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

“This discovery has direct implications for low-power electronic devices because no energy is lost during the propagation of electrons, which is not the case in regular materials where the electrons are scattered,” says Professor Long Ju, and corresponding author of the Science paper. #cmx

graphic "congratulations physics graduates" with gold confetti

Congratulations to all our February 2024 and May 2024 graduates! Now go out into the world and make us proud!

The many-body dynamics of cold atoms and cross-country running » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

Senior Olivia Rosenstein balances cross-country competitions with research in quantum gasses and early-universe radio wave signals.

Erin Kara named Edgerton Award winner » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

Congratulations Erin!!!

Physics students to attend meeting of Nobel laureates » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

Congratulations to our students, physics junior April Cheng, and graduate students Mason Ng and Silviu-Marian Udrescu, for being chosen to attend the 2024 Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting

Physicist Netta Engelhardt is searching black holes for universal truths » MIT Physics The Official Website of MIT Department of Physics

Physicist Netta Engelhardt is searching black holes for universal truths
She says one question drives her work: “Which pillars of gravitational physics are just not true?”