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Launch Anniversary of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe: June 30, 2001

Launch Anniversary of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe: June 30, 2001

June 30th marks the anniversary of the launch of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), which started its nine-year mission in space on this date in 2001 to measure temperature differences across the sky in the cosmic microwave background. Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Chuck Bennett was the Principal Investigator of the mission. WMAP’s measurements were so exact that they form the foundation of the Standard Cosmological Model. In 2012, Bennett and the 26-person WMAP team was recognized by the Gruber Foundation’s 2012 Cosmology Prize for their transformative study of light from the infant universe. In 2018, the WMAP science team was also awarded a Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

Julian Muñoz Named One of ScienceNews’ 10 Scientists to Watch

Julian Muñoz Named One of ScienceNews’ 10 Scientists to Watch

Theoretical physicist Julian Muñoz, who earned his PhD from the department in 2017, has been named to the SN 10: Scientists to Watch list from ScienceNews. Dr. Muñoz studies the universe’s early years, when the first stars began to shine and galaxies began to light up. He has developed a way to measure distances in that era, called a standard ruler.

Izze Hedricks, Grace Luettgen, Daniel Naiman, and Xin “Jason” Zhang Receive Undergraduate Research Recognition

Izze Hedricks, Grace Luettgen, Daniel Naiman, and Xin “Jason” Zhang Receive Undergraduate Research Recognition

The department is happy to announce a slew of outstanding achievements by undergraduate researchers: Grace Luettgen received an ASPIRE grant from the Dean’s Undergraduate Research Program to work with Prof. […]

Ziwei “Peter” Hu and Yiqi “Andrew” Liu Receive 2023 Donald E. Kerr Memorial Award

Ziwei “Peter” Hu and Yiqi “Andrew” Liu Receive 2023 Donald E. Kerr Memorial Award

The department is pleased to announce that undergraduates Ziwei “Peter” Hu and Yiqi “Andrew” Liu are joint recipients of the 2023 Donald E. Kerr Memorial Award. The Kerr Award, established in 1979, acknowledges outstanding graduating physics majors who have distinguished themselves through their performance in the classroom, their accomplishments in research, and their other positive contributions to the department.

Ali Ghasemi, Neha Anil Kumar, Chris Lygouras, Bastian Pradenas, and Vladimir Strokov Receive Graduate Teaching Awards

Ali Ghasemi, Neha Anil Kumar, Chris Lygouras, Bastian Pradenas, and Vladimir Strokov Receive Graduate Teaching Awards

The Graduate Program Committee is pleased to announce their selection of the most outstanding graduate student Teaching Assistants in the department with their annual graduate teaching awards. The recipients are: Excellence […]

Remembering Sam Durrance

Remembering Sam Durrance

Samuel Thornton Durrance, an astronomer who flew on two NASA space shuttle missions as a payload specialist, and who was a principal research scientist in the William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy from 1980 to 1997, died on May 5, 2023 at the age of 79. Dr. Durrance came to JHU in 1980, as one of the first team members on the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) project led by Prof. Arthur Davidsen.  HUT had been selected for development by NASA in 1978, with the intent of making multiple flights on the space shuttle. Durrance was a key player in the construction and testing of HUT and in 1984 was selected as one of two payload specialists to fly with the telescope. 

Alex Szalay Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences

Alex Szalay Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences

Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Alex Szalay has been elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Szalay is among 143 members who have been elected to the NAS in 2023 in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Remembering Brian R. Judd, Professor Emeritus

Remembering Brian R. Judd, Professor Emeritus

Professor Chia-Ling Chien prepared the following remembrance of Brian R. Judd, Gerhard H. Dieke Professor Emeritus, who passed away on April 8, 2023.

I was saddened to hear that Brian Judd had passed away.

Long before I met Brian Judd, he was already famous during my thesis research in the 1970’s. I studied his theoretical papers on angular momentum and hyperfine interactions. To many physicists Brian Judd has been known as the “Angular Momentum Judd” in part because of his book Angular Momentum Theory for Diatomic Molecules.

After I came to Hopkins, I made an appointment to see him in Rowland Hall, now Krieger Hall. I had no idea how intimating the revered physicist might be. To my relieve, Brian was mild manner, tall and handsome, soft-spoken, in jacket and tie, a true English Gentleman.

Peter Armitage Receives 2023 Brown Investigator Award

Peter Armitage Receives 2023 Brown Investigator Award

Professor Peter Armitage has received the 2023 Brown Investigator Award from the Brown Science Foundation. The elite award recognizes curiosity-driven research in chemistry and physics and supports research with up to $2 million over five years. Armitage is one of only seven recipients this year. The Brown Science Foundation, a Science Philanthropy Alliance member, is dedicated to the belief that scientific discovery is a driving force in the improvement of the human condition.

Could this copycat black hole be a new type of star?

Could this copycat black hole be a new type of star?

Postdoctoral Fellow Pierre Heidmann led research co-authored with Professor Emanuele Berti and Assistant Professor Ibrahima Bah that employs simulations to suggest a hypothetical “topological soliton” that distorts space exactly as a black hole does—but behaves unlike a black hole as it scrambles and releases weak light rays that would not escape a true black hole.