News | Department of Physics and Astronomy

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Several new undergraduate courses available starting summer 2021.

March 22, 2021

Starting summer 2021, the department of Physics and Astronomy has several new courses available. Courses Phys 131X, 131L, 132X, 132L, 231X, 231L will replace Phys 111, 112 and 221. PHYS 111, 112 and 221 have been split into separate lecture and laboratory courses. For example, PHYS 131X includes the lecture and recitation components of 111, and 131L is the lab component. The content of the new courses remains the same, but they offer greater flexibility and choice to students. The lab course can be taken concurrently with the lecture course, or after it. Online options are available in some semesters.

FAQ about new courses.

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Iowa State high-energy physicists have joined the Belle II experiment based in Tsukuba, Japan, where they'll search for new physics. Larger photo. Photo by KEK (Japan's High Energy Accelerator Research Organization)/Shota Takahashi.

Iowa State high-energy physicists move their research to to the Belle II experiment in Japan

February 17, 2021

Iowa State high-energy physicists Chunhui Chen, Jim Cochran and Soeren Prell have moved their research from the Large Hadron Collider in Europe to the Belle II experiment in Japan. It's a chance to search for new physics at the intensity frontier of more and more particle collisions.

A full coverage of this exciting news can be found here.

Prof. Sanchez works on neutrino physics.

Mayly Sanchez of ISU elected to Fellowship in the American Physical Society

October 2, 2020

Mayly Sanchez was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). This honor is bestowed on a maximum of one-half of one percent of the membership each year. Her citation reads: "For significant contributions to experimental neutrino physics, in particular for conducting measurements of long-baseline neutrino oscillations, and for leadership in advancing novel neutrino detection techniques with the ANNIE experiment." She has been nominated by the APS Division of Particles and Fields.

Chirag Vaswani: this years recipient of the Qiming Li and Xiaosha Graduate Scholarship for Excellent Research in Physics

Qiming Li and Xiaosha Graduate Scholarship for Excellent Research in Physics awarded to Chirag Vaswani

September 26, 2020

Qiming Li and Xiaosha Graduate Scholarship for Excellent Research in Physics is a new award at the Department of Physics and Astronomy. It is given to a graduate student for outstanding research performed at ISU as evidenced by the nominations of at least three faculty members and strong publication record among other requirements. The first recipient of this award is Chirag Viswani who is conducting his research under the supervision of Prof. Jigang Wang.

Quantum computer: credit to Lars Plougmann and has a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0 license

New course "PHYS 422X/522X: Foundations of Quantum Computing" offered in Spring 2021.

August 18, 2020

As interest in the transformative potential of quantum computing continues to grow, the Department of Physics and Astronomy is excited to introduce a new course, “PHYS 422X/ 522X: Foundations of Quantum Computing,” in the spring semester of 2021. The course is aimed at advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students.

Paul Canfield of ISU, Ames Laboratory elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

April 23, 2020

Paul Canfield, who designs and discovers new materials and properties, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Fei receives NSF CAREER award

January 23, 2020

Zhe Fei, assistant professor of physics, received an NSF CAREER grant for a proposal titled “Exploring chiral edge plasmons in novel two-dimensional materials.”

Physicists use light flashes to discover, control new quantum states of matter

August 19, 2019

Jigang Wang can break his research goals into just a few words: “To discover and control quantum states of matter.” But, it takes paragraphs, analogies, and a willingness to decipher talk about “non-equilibrium quantum phase discovery via non-thermal ultrafast quench near quantum critical points” to get a handle on those eight words. Even though it’s a head-scratcher, Wang’s work could be a big deal to all of us.

Physicists use light waves to accelerate supercurrents, enable ultrafast quantum computing

July 1, 2019

Jigang Wang explained his latest discovery in quantum control that could lead to superfast computing based on quantum mechanics: He mentioned light-induced superconductivity without energy gap.

Data flows from NASA’s TESS Mission, leads to discovery of Saturn-sized planet

March 27, 2019

Astronomers who study stars are providing a valuable assist to the planet-hunting astronomers pursuing the primary objective of NASA’s new TESS Mission.