Physics & Astronomy News
"Conformal loop quantum gravity coupled to the Standard Model" by Campiglia, Gambini, and Pullin
We argue that a conformally invariant extension of general relativity coupled to the Standard Model is the fundamental theory that needs to be quantized. We show that it can be treated by loop quantum gravity techniques. Through a gauge fixing and a modified Higgs mechanism particles acquire mass and one recovers general relativity coupled to the Standard Model. The theory suggests new views with respect to the definition of the Hamiltonian constraint in loop quantum gravity, the semi-classical limit and the issue of finite renormalization in quantum field theory in quantum space-time. It also gives hints about the elimination of ambiguities that arise in quantum field theory in quantum space-time in the calculation of back-reaction.
Wave of the Future - Physicists detect ripples in spacetime from the collision of two black holes
Physicists detect ripples in spacetime from the collision of two black holes
Nature Names LSU Physicist Gabriela González Among Top 10 Scientists of the Year
Professor Gabriela González has been named one of the top 100 Leading Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine.
Physics & Astronomy Fall 2016 Graduates
On Friday, December 16, LSU Physics & Astronomy welcomed 4 new PhD, 2 MS and 3 BS graduates who conferred their degrees at the Maddox Fieldhouse.
LIGO Scientific Collaboration Receives the Physics World 2016 Breakthrough of the Year
Physics World announced today that the 2016 Breakthrough of the Year goes to the LIGO Scientific Collaboration for “their revolutionary, first ever direct observations of gravitational waves.” LSU Department of Physics and Astronomy Professor Gabriela González, who is the international spokesperson for the 1,000-member LIGO Scientific Collaboration, accepted the recognition on behalf of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. Physics World announced its top 10 breakthroughs of the year.
LSU Physicist Gabriela González Named to 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2016 by Foreign Policy
Professor Gabriela González has been named one of the top 100 Leading Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine.
Jerry Draayer Named AAAS Fellow
LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy Professor Jerry Draayer has been honored with the rank of "Fellow" by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS, the world's largest scientific organization.
LSU group will launch solar eclipse balloon
A team from Physics & Astronomy Department of Louisiana State University is the latest group planning to travel to Southern Illinois University Carbondale next summer for the total solar eclipse. The team made up of students and researchers plans to launch two large weather balloons from Saluki Stadium about 90 minutes or so before the eclipse totality, set for 1:21 p.m. on Aug. 21. The team will coordinate the expected climb rate of the balloons with the event in order to capture live video and conduct student-driven experiments. T. Gregory Guzik, director of the Louisiana Space Grant Consortium at LSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, said his students have conducted such balloon launches in the past to study a variety of phenomena, but never for an eclipse.
Tabetha Boyajian talks with Discover Magazine about the mystery of KIC 8462852
Last fall, Tabetha Boyajian reported a pattern of bizarre behavior by a star known as KIC 8462852. KIC stands for Kepler Input Catalog, meaning that the star was among the 150,000 studied by NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler space telescope. This one is not like any of the others in the catalog, however...
Scientist of the Year: Dr. Gabriela González Received HENAAC Award
Scientist of the Year: Dr. Gabriela González Received HENAAC Award
LSU Physicists Topical Review Paper Among Most Influential Papers Published by Journal of Physics
In connection with the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Physics, the journal is publishing a collection of 50 Viewpoints, looking back at the some of the most influential papers they have published. Ten of these articles are from the Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, AMO, portion of the journal, J. Physics B. LSU Physics & Astronomy professors Mette Gaarde and Kenneth Schafer's publication "Macroscopic aspects of attosecond pulse generation" was one of the most influential papers selected.
"Experimental Investigation of the 19Ne(p,γ)20Na Reaction Rate and Implications for Breakout from the Hot CNO Cycle" by Kuvin, Blackmon, and Deibel et al.
The 19Ne(p,γ)20Na reaction is the second step of a reaction chain which breaks out from the hot CNO cycle, following the 15O(α,γ)19Ne reaction at the onset of x-ray burst events. We investigate the spectrum of the lowest proton-unbound states in Na20 in an effort to resolve contradictions in spin-parity assignments and extract reliable information about the thermal reaction rate. The proton-transfer reaction 19(Ned,n)20Na is measured with a beam of the radioactive isotope Ne19 at an energy around the Coulomb barrier and in inverse kinematics. We observe three proton resonances with the Ne19 ground state, at 0.44, 0.66, and 0.82 MeV c.m. energies, which are assigned 3+, 1+, and (0+), respectively. In addition, we identify two resonances with the first excited state in Ne19, one at 0.20 MeV and one, tentatively, at 0.54 MeV. These observations allow us for the first time to experimentally quantify the astrophysical reaction rate on an excited nuclear state. Our experiment shows an efficient path for thermal proton capture in Ne19(p,γ)Na20, which proceeds through ground state and excited-state capture in almost equal parts and eliminates the possibility for this reaction to create a bottleneck in the breakout from the hot CNO cycle.
Medical physics Ph.D student Lydia Jagetic traveled abroad to teach radiation in Mexico
LSU medical physics Ph.D student Lydia Jagetic joined her passion for research, teaching and travel over the summer in Ensenada, Mexico. Jagetic volunteered to teach a week-long intensive course for high school and college students in Mexico on the uses of radiation in medicine. The course was organized by Clubes de Ciencia, a non-profit organization that aims to inspire and mentor the future generation of scientists and innovators in Mexico.
Associate Dean Richard Kurtz Named Among 2016-17 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program Fellows
College of Science Associate Dean and Professor of Physics & Astronomy Richard Kurtz is one of four LSU faculty and administrators selected to participate in the 2016-17 SEC Academic Leadership Development Program, or SEC ALDP. This program is a professional growth initiative that seeks to identify, prepare and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond. The SEC ALDP has two components: a university-level development program designed by each institution for its own participants and two, three-day, SEC-wide workshops held on specified campuses for all program participants.
LSU Alumna Discusses Career Path, Mental Health
Physics & Astronomy department welcomed back one of its own, Dr. Leanne Truehart on Friday to discuss her path from one field of science to another and her promotion of mental health as a spokeswoman in her community.
This star is not following rules of universe and LSU scientists among those looking into why
There’s something not right about KIC 8462852. This star in the Cygnus constellation is not following the rules of other known stars or even the laws astronomers see governing the other celestial bodies in the sky. It’s a mystery. Discovered by citizen scientists and then analyzed by now-LSU astronomer Tabetha Boyajian, this “Tabby’s Star,” is dimming over the long term while at the same time experiencing random dips in brightness.
"Interrogating the Superconductor Ca10(Pt4As8)(Fe2−xPtxAs2)5 Layer-by-layer" Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 35365 (2016). Published by Kim, Jin, Zhang, & Plummer et al.
Ever since the discovery of high-Tc superconductivity in layered cuprates, the roles that individual layers play have been debated, due to difficulty in layer-by-layer characterization. While there is similar challenge in many Fe-based layered superconductors, the newly-discovered Ca10(Pt4As8)(Fe2As2)5 provides opportunities to explore superconductivity layer by layer, because it contains both superconducting building blocks (Fe2As2 layers) and intermediate Pt4As8 layers. Cleaving a single crystal under ultra-high vacuum results in multiple terminations: an ordered Pt4As8 layer, two reconstructed Ca layers on the top of a Pt4As8 layer, and disordered Ca layer on the top of Fe2As2 layer. The electronic properties of individual layers are studied using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S), which reveals different spectra for each surface. Remarkably superconducting coherence peaks are seen only on the ordered Ca/Pt4As8 layer. Our results indicate that an ordered structure with proper charge balance is required in order to preserve superconductivity.
Medical Physics and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Team Up to Beat Cancer
Medical Physics and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center (MBPCC) have an ongoing partnership that benefits not only both institutions, their students, and their staff but also the citizens of Louisiana - particularly those in the south and central parts of the state. This partnership is providing students with unique training opportunities, researchers with facilities and resources that are hard to find, and most important, patients with the latest innovations and techniques for improved outcomes in their cancer treatment.
Thinking Outside the Box
When exceptional researchers see the need for better techniques, they go beyond [their usual areas of expertise] to find answers. Sometimes those answers are found by combining unrelated and unusual bits of technology. In the case of Dr. Guang Jia, associate professor of physics, and Joseph "Joe" Steiner, a Ph.D. candidate who works with Jia, they pulled together radiation technologies, processes, and equipment from a variety of areas in medical physics to arrive at a better diagnostic tool for early detection of prostate cancer.
Tabetha Boyajian heading up mission to investigate star
Tabetha Boyajian discusses the recently discovered "Tebby's Star".