Physics & Astronomy News

Dima Vaido awarded Honorable Mention in 2020 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

LSU Ogden Honors Student Receives 2020 Goldwater Scholarship

LSU welcomes its 36th winner of the Goldwater Scholarship.

Matthew Penny Discusses Warped Space-time to Help WFIRST Find Exoplanets

Assistant Professor Matthew Penny discusses Warped Space-time to Help WFIRST Find Exoplanets

Understanding the Physics of Neutrons Can Be Key to Improving Hip Replacement Surgeries

Joyoni Dey, assistant professor in the LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy, works on ways to make medical imaging better. She will now apply methods she’d developed for X-rays to neutron beams, thanks to a $227,680 EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Track 4 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Binary Star V Sagittae will Explode as a very Bright 'Nova' by Century's End

Binary Star V Sagittae will Explode as a very Bright 'Nova' by Century's End. LSU astronomy researchers estimate the peak of brightness and explosion of luminous star brighter than any other in the Milky Way galaxy.

Quantum Cryptography in the US-China Tech Race

Trans-Pacific View author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy.

LSU NCBRT/ACE Announces Affiliation with LaSpace, Prepares for New Frontiers

The National Center for Biomedical Research and Training Academy of Counter Terrorist Education, or NCBRT/ACE, is announcing its affiliation with The Louisiana Space Grant Consortium, or LaSpace, the Louisiana chapter of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program.

Studying the Enigmatic Dance of Electrons in Graphene

Daniel Sheehy, associate professor in the LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy, will be the sole US scientist on an upcoming international collaboration—including Nobel Prize winner Andre Geim—to understand the electronic properties of graphene:

LSU Physicist Awarded Prestigious 2019 Emil Wolf Award

Chenglong You, a postdoctoral researcher in the LSU Department of Physics and Astronomy, was recently named as a recipient of the 2019 Emil Wolf Outstanding Student Paper Competition. The first award winner from Louisiana, You was awarded a $300 cash prize and a complimentary three-year OSA student-membership after presenting his paper on multiphoton quantum metrology in Washington, D.C.

NASA's Keith Comeaux on engineering the Mars 2020 Rover mission

Dr. Keith Comeaux leads us through the complexities involved in designing Mars rovers his career path from LSU to NASA, and the potential prospects of discovery for the Mars 2020 Mission.

Light in a New Light

Creating Different Kinds of Light with Manipulable Quantum Properties

Boosting Baton Rouge’s Computational Edge

LSU and the East Baton Rouge Parish School System team up to expand computer science courses and careers with a $1M National Science Foundation grant.

Health in High Resolution: Better Diagnostic Imaging Developed at LSU

Joyoni Dey, assistant professor in the LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy, received a LIFT2 innovation and technology transfer grant from the LSU Board of Supervisors back in 2017 to improve X-ray and medical imaging for lung, breast, and bone scans, with the potential to save lives.

Tech Industry Experts Share How to Succeed

Various technology industry leaders invited by the LSU Center for Computation & Technology, or CCT, participated in a panel discussion last month about what students can expect while working in the tech industry post-graduation.

Student Spotlight: More than Dust in the Wind

As part of Krafton’s research with her advisor Geoff Clayton, she made long-term observations with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph at Gemini South paired with Spitzer space telescope data, which revealed how core collapse supernovae makes an important contribution to the overall dust budget of the Universe.

LSU Mourns the Loss of Professor Mark Jarrell

The LSU community lost one of its most accomplished faculty members when Mark Jarrell, Ph.D., passed away Saturday, July 20, at his home in Baton Rouge. He was 58 years old.

Quantum Buzz (No Bee)

As LSU leverages its current successes in the field of quantum information science, a large part of the effort to create educational ecosystems that stimulate innovation relies on strong relationships with partner universities and researchers across Louisiana.

Gabriela González Named Boyd Professor, the Highest Professorial Rank Awarded by the University

BATON ROUGE - The LSU Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to award Boyd Professorships to Willis Delony, LSU Virginia Martin Howard Professor of Piano & Jazz Studies, and Gabriela González, LSU professor of physics. The designation of Boyd Professor is LSU's highest and most prestigious academic rank and is only awarded to faculty who have achieved national and international recognition for outstanding research, teaching or creative achievements. "Dr. Gabriela González and Dr. Willis Delony have achieved inspirational heights in their respective careers, and we are proud to count them among both the LSU family and the incredibly prestigious community of Boyd Professors," said LSU President F. King Alexander. "It is both an honor and a privilege to recognize two faculty members who so perfectly represent the broad spectrum of LSU expertise with the most prestigious title we have to offer." Nominations for the Boyd Professorship are initiated in the college, routed for review and support at the campus level, then considered by the LSU Boyd Professorship Review Committee, which seeks confidential evaluations from dozens of distinguished scholars in the candidate's field of expertise. Once endorsed by the review committee, the nomination is forwarded to the LSU president and Board of Supervisors for consideration. "The promotion to Boyd professor is rare, and this highly selective process allows us to celebrate stellar achievements that bring great pride to LSU," said Executive Vice President & Provost Stacia Haynie. "My heartfelt congratulations to Professor Delony and Professor González." LSU's College of Science Dean Cynthia Peterson notes in her nomination letter for González, "Dr. Gonzalez is a renowned researcher and highly sought spokesperson for science ... These recognitions, along with her sustained energy and continued leadership, attest to the extremely broad impact that Gabriela González has had nationally and internationally." González received a degree in physics at the University of Córdoba, then attended Syracuse University where she earned her Ph.D. Joining LSU in 2001, González, who is now a tenured professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, is a member of the National Academic of Sciences, a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and was recently named the 2019 SEC Professor of the Year. She is best known for her work with the LIGO, the research collaboration that produced the first direct observation of gravitational waves, resulting in the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. She has been continuously funded by the National Science Foundation for her work on instrument development and data analysis in the field of gravitational wave research. For more information on the LSU Department of Physics and Astronomy, visit http://lsu.edu/physics.

Kenneth R. Hogstrom Superior Graduate Student Scholarship Opens New Opportunities

Louisiana Board of Regents’ awards funds to benefit students enrolled in Mary Bird Perkins – LSU’s joint medical physics program.

LSU’s Quantum Expertise Garners White House Invitation

or the past several years, LSU has been growing its expertise in quantum information science, adding new faculty and developing academic programs. On the heels of these developments, LSU has received a special invitation to the White House on Friday, May 31, for an academic roundtable on innovation in quantum information science, or QIS.