Physics

Chair: Kenneth Kelton

Home Page: http://www.physics.wustl.edu/ Location: 242 Compton Hall Email: sarahj.wustl.edu Telephone: (314) 935-6276

The Washington University Department of Physics in Arts & Sciences has a rich history that includes the tenure of Arthur Holly Compton as department chair from 1920 to 1923. During those years, he carried out X-ray scattering experiments, elucidating what is now known as the Compton effect. In 1927, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in recognition of this work. The department's teaching and research faculty members and graduate students, all of whom are Ph.D. candidates, enjoy state-of-the-art facilities that spread out over more than 70,000 square feet in Compton Laboratory and Crow Hall. The department's primary research areas fall under experimental physics (astrophysics and space sciences; applications to biology and medicine; condensed matter and materials physics; and nuclear physics) and theoretical physics (theoretical astrophysics; biological physics; condensed matter and materials physics; elementary particle theory; gravitational physics and astrophysics; quantum-control theory; and quantum-mechanical many-body theory). Scroll down this page for more information on the department and its research.

News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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O'Ceallaigh Medal winner Cowsik receives award for 'outstanding contributions to cosmic ray physics' Sept. 14, 2009 -- Cowsik Ramanath Cowsik, Ph.D., professor of physics and director of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, received the 2009 O'Ceallaigh Medal for his "outstanding contributions to cosmic ray physics." Cowsik, whose scientific contributions span over four decades, received the award during the opening ceremony of the 31st biennial International Cosmic Ray Conference, held in Lodz, Poland.

'Absolutely irreplaceable' Apollo 11 moon rocks still crucial 40 years later, say WUSTL researchers July 17, 2009 -- Photo by Randy Korotev Moon rocks from the Apollo 11 mission. Download A lunar geochemist at Washington University in St. Louis says that there are still many answers to be gleaned from the moon rocks collected by the Apollo 11 astronauts on their historic moonwalk 40 years ago July 20. And he credits another WUSTL professor for the fact that the astronauts even collected the moon rocks in the first place. "Bringing samples back from the moon wasn't the point of the mission," says Randy Korotev, a research professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences. "It was really about politics. It took scientists like Bob Walker to bring these samples back — to show the value of them for research."

Extremely high energy Pinpointing origin of gamma rays from a supermassive black hole July 2, 2009 -- Download An international collaboration of 390 scientists reports the discovery of an outburst of very-high-energy gamma radiation from the giant radio galaxy Messier 87 (M 87), accompanied by a strong rise of the radio flux measured from the direct vicinity of its supermassive black hole. The combined results give first experimental evidence that particles are accelerated to extremely high energies in the immediate vicinity of a supermassive black hole and then emit the observed gamma rays. The gamma rays have energies a trillion times higher than the energy of visible light. Washington University in St. Louis physicists helped coordinate this cooperative project, the results of which appear in the July 2 Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science.

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Faculty Experts:

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Wai-Mo Suen Professor of Physics in Arts & Sciences Wai-Mo Suen and his post-docs and students in the Washington University Gravity Group (WUGRAV) work on General Relativistic Astrophysics — astrophysics involving strong and dynamical gravitational fields. They study astrophysical processes involving black holes, neutron stars and gravitational waves, ... Expertise: gravity waves, waveform templates, Einstein's theory of general relativity, black holes, electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic radiation, astronomy, … Direct contact: (314) 935-5843 / wms@wustl.edu

Henric Krawczynski Associate professor of physics in Arts & Sciences Krawczynski Professor Krawczynski works in the field of high energy astrophysics. He studies the astrophysics of supermassive black holes, which are found at the centers of galaxies. X-ray and gamma-ray observations make it possible to explore the physical conditions in the surroundings of the black holes, and ... Expertise: gamma-rays, black holes, stars, galaxies, cosmology, solar system, astronomy, … Direct contact: (314) 935-8553 / krawcz@wuphys.wustl.edu

James S. Schilling Professor of physics in Arts & Sciences The primary thrust of the research in Professor Schilling's group is to study the influence of high hydrostatic pressure on the superconducting, magnetic and structural properties of exotic condensed matter systems. Expertise: high-pressure physics, high-temperature superconductors, high hydrostatic pressure, exotic condensed matter systems, diamond anvil cell, europium metal Direct contact: 314-935-6239 / jss@wuphys.wustl.edu

W. Robert Binns Research Professor of Physics in Arts & Sciences W. Robert Binns' research is primarily in cosmic ray astrophysics. He and the Washington University cosmic ray group have developed scintillating optical fibers coupled to image intensified CCD cameras or multi-anode photomultiplier tubes to obtain images of charged particle tracks. He is principal ... Expertise: cosmic ray astrophysics, Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer, CRIS, Trans-lron Galactic Element Recorder, TIGER, scintillating fiber hodoscope, isotopic abundances, … Direct contact: (314) 935-6247 / wrb@wuphys.wustl.edu

Martin H. Israel Professor of physics in Arts & Sciences Israel Download Israel has been involved in some of the world's most successful studies of the composition of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), highly energized atomic nuclei that shoot through space at nearly the speed of light and originate from outside our solar system. Israel and his colleagues in the Department of ... Expertise: cosmic rays, cosmic-ray astrophysics, balloon- and satellite-borne instruments, Heavy Nuclei Experiment, High Energy Astronomy Observatory spacecraft, cosmic-ray elements, Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder experiment, … Direct contact: (314) 935-6263 / mhi@wustl.edu

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Related News Clips:

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Show More Clips

40-year Mystery Revisited: Newtonian System Mimics 'Baldness' of Rotating Black Holes ScienceDaily.com and 4 others Feb. 24, 2009 -- WUSTL physics professor Clifford Will explains his research on an old mystery that will have implications for gravitational-wave astronomy. His article appeared in the Feb. 12 issue of Physical Review Letters.

Diamonds show comet struck North America, scientists say Los Angeles Times and 1 others Jan. 2, 2009 -- A discovery of microscopic diamonds a few feet beneath the surface of North America reveals that a comet caused a cataclysm of fire, flood and devastation nearly 13,000 years ago, scientists said. Includes comments by WUSTL physicist Tyrone Daulton.

Albert Einstein Saw The Light Investor's Business Daily Sept. 18, 2008 -- WUSTL physics professor Clifford Will comments on Albert Einstein's methods of thinking, his development and his contributions to science and daily life.

Insights Into Cell Movement Likely to Aid Immune Study, Cancer Research ScienceDaily.com and 5 others Jan. 9, 2008 -- WUSTL School of Medicine scientists have used yeast cells to better understand a collection of proteins associated with the formation of actin networks, which are essential to cell movement. WUSTL cell biology and physiology Professor and senior study author John Cooper, WUSTL physics professor Anders Carlsson, and Brian Galletta, a postdoctoral scholar in Cooper's lab, comment.

Astronomers sweep space for the sources of cosmic dust Science Magazine online Nov. 1, 2005 -- Article on new observing tools scientists can use to study interstellar dust. Astronomers know that interstellar dust illuminates the erratic deaths of stars, and it traces a direct link from stars to the birth of our solar system — and ultimately, to Earth. WUSTL physicist and cosmochemist Ernst Zinner comments.

Compton Laboratory was completed in 1966 and houses the Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Library of Physics, the Laboratory for Ultrasonics, the Laboratory for Materials Physics, and the Laboratory for Space Sciences and the Laboratory for EXperimental AStrophysics, both associated with the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences in Arts & Sciences, as well as machine shops, seminar rooms, and many research laboratories and offices.

Crow Hall houses the Center for Materials Innovation, the Laboratory for High Pressure Physics, and the Laboratory for Nano and Thin-film Science, as well as many of the facilities for magnetic resonance research, lecture rooms, teaching laboratories and offices.

Special equipment housed in the department includes balloon-borne cosmic ray detectors, a scintillating fiber development laboratory, scanning and transmission electron microscopes, five noble-gas mass spectrometers, a high precision thermal ionization source mass spectrometer, a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer, a modified CAMECA IMS 3f Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, a CAMECA NanoSIMS 50, an optical microscope laboratory for nuclear track studies, a variety of laboratory equipment for preparing and observing solid samples, and a variety of computer facilities, including a Silicon Graphics® Altix™ 3000 with 128 Itanium® 2 processors.

In addition, the Power House accommodates the university's Center for Scientific Parallel Computing and the Gravity Research Group.

Areas of active research:

Experimental physics

Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

• Nanostructured materials and nanotechnology
• Non-equilibrium processing of materials
• Superconductivity and magnetism
• Thin-film growth and characterization
• Quasicrystals, metallic glasses and other metastable materials
• Amorphous semiconductors
• Ultrasonics
• Magnetic resonance
• High-pressure physics
• Metal hydrides

Astrophysics and space science

• Cosmic-ray astrophysics
• X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy
• Cosmochronology
• Meteorites and interplanetary dust
• Interstellar grains from primitive materials
• Lunar and planetary science

Physics applications in biology and medicine

• Magnetic resonance imaging using hyperpolarized gas
• Tissue characterization via ultrasound
• Computer-assisted image processing
• Experimental neural networks
• Biophysics of computation in brains
• Mechanical response of biomembranes and artificial tissue

Nuclear physics

• Heavy ion nuclear reactions

Theoretical physics

Elementary particles

• Mathematical physics and quantum field theory
• Lattice gauge theory
• Perturbative and nonperturbative techniques

Solid state and condensed matter

• Quasi-crystals and amorphous materials
• Defect structures and properties
• Crack propagation

Many-body theory

• Nuclear matter and quantum fluids
• Correlations in nuclei

Gravitation and astrophysics

• Physics of neutron stars and black holes
• Numerical general relativity
• Gravitational radiation
• Tests of general relativity

Biophysics

• Polymerization of actin fibers in cells
• Neural networks
• Quantum Control Theory
• Complex Systems