MIT Professor Washington Taylor interview about CO2 removal
A new report by the American Physical Society and lead by MIT physicist, Washington Taylor, provides an overview of the major experimental CDR approaches and determines their fundamental physical limits. The report focuses on methods that have the biggest potential for removing carbon dioxide, at the scale of gigatons per year, which is the magnitude that would be required to have a climate-stabilizing impact.February 6, 2025
Results Reveal Strong Evidence For the Doubly Magic Nature of Sn-100
LNS scientist testing the possible doubly magic nature of Tin-100, study the electromagnetic properties of Indium isotopes. Scientists are closing in on a major cornerstone of nuclear physics, Tin-100.January 31, 2025
Physics World’s Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year for 2024
Physics World has selected two research advances by MIT physicists for its Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year for 2024, reports Hamish Johnston for Physics World. Graduate student Andrew Denniston, his advisor Prof. Or Hen, and his colleagues were honored for their work “being the first to unify two distinct descriptions of atomic nuclei,” which Johnston describes as a “major step forward in our understanding of nuclear structure and strong interactions.” MIT researchers were also featured for their work demonstrating quantum error correction on an atomic processor with 48 logical qubits, making it “far more likely that quantum computers will become practical problem-solving machines.”December 12, 2024
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MIT Professor Tracy Slatyer to Receive Jon C. Graff, Ph.D. Prize for Excellence in Science Communication
Society for Science today announced that Tracy Slatyer, Ph.D., a theoretical physics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has won the $1,000 Jon C. Graff, Ph.D. Prize for Excellence in Science CommunicationNovember 14, 2024
Four physics faculty named to professorships
The School of Science appointed four Department of Physics faculty to named professorships. The faculty members selected for these positions receive additional support to pursue their research and develop their careers.November 14, 2024
Bridging Talents and Opportunities Forum connects high school and college students with STEAM leaders and resources
Event at MIT featured an array of national and international speakers including a Nobel laureate, leaders in industry, and in entertainment.November 4, 2024
Photo Credit: Danny Ortiz
Physics, AI, and the future of discovery
Leaders from industry, government, and academia, including our own Jesse Thaler who is both a CTP and Physics professor and Director of IAIFI, discuss the potential impact of AI on physics—including neutrinos, exoplanets, term papers, outreach, and workforce gaps—and of physics on AI.November 1, 2024
From left: Evgeni Gousev, Jesse Thaler, Valerie Browning, Walter Copan, and France Córdova, moderator.
Photo Credit: ERIC STOCKLIN
Video: Visualizing the nucleus
Physicists Rolf Ent from Jefferson Lab, and Richard Milner from MIT, together with animator James LaPlante from Sputnik Animation, have created a 10 minute video that includes new animations of the atomic nucleus.October 23, 2024
Electromagnetic properties of indium isotopes illuminate the doubly magic character of 100Sn
We used precision laser spectroscopy to study independent nuclear observables of elusive, short-lived indium isotopes for the first time. Clear parabolic trends in the measured nuclear deviation from spherical shape showed minima at very specific nuclear configurations, also known as magic numbers. Our results were compared to state-of-the-art theoretical predictions to confirm the predicted enhanced stability of one of the critical isotopes in nuclear physics, 100SnSeptember 30, 2024
10 early-career scientists tackling some of the biggest problems of today
Tracy Slatyer named 10 early-career scientists tackling some of the biggest problems of today by .September 24, 2024
MIT physicists use precision with the CMS detector to resolve the puzzle of the W boson mass
Joshua Bendavid, a research scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, PhD 2013), presented an exciting breakthrough by the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).September 17, 2024
“Mirror” Nuclei Help Connect Nuclear Theory and Neutron Stars
Charge radii measurements of silicon isotopes test nuclear theories and guide descriptions of nuclear matter.
August 9, 2024
Image courtesy of Ronald Garcia/Dean Lee
Exotic black holes could be a byproduct of dark matter
In the first quintillionth of a second, the universe may have sprouted microscopic black holes with enormous amounts of nuclear charge, MIT physicists propose.
June 6, 2024
Image by Kaća Bradonjić
Precision Measurements of Radioactive Molecules for Fundamental Physics
Using lasers with precisely tuned frequency, λ, physicists control rotational states of radium monofluoride molecules and excite specific rotational levels, characterized by the quantum number, J. These excitations manifest as sharp spectral peaks.
May 22, 2024
Image courtesy of Silviu-Marian Udrescu
Tracy Slatyer named 2024-25 Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellow
Harvard Radcliffe Institute today announced its historic 25th anniversary class of fellows, marking a quarter century of pathbreaking interdisciplinary study.
May 10, 2024
Nuclear Charge Radii of Silicon Isotopes
This experiment was performed using long-lived silicon isotopes at BECOLA, prior to the installation of the new Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy Experiment (RISE). It did not involve the FRIB beam + RISE yet, however, it shows the potential of using harvested isotopes with our precision laser spectroscopy techniques. Our first experiment using both FRIB and RISE is scheduled for May.
April 16, 2024
Image: Courtesy of Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB)
Three from MIT awarded 2024 Guggenheim Fellowships
MIT professors Roger Levy, Tracy Slatyer, and Martin Wainwright appointed to the 2024 class of “trail-blazing fellows.”
April 26, 2024
Photo: Courtesy of the faculty
Twenty-three MIT faculty honored as "Committed to Caring" for 2023-25
The honor recognizes professors for their outstanding mentorship of graduate students.
April 22, 2024
Photo: Courtesy of honorees
Physicist Netta Engelhardt is searching black holes for universal truths
She says one question drives her work: “Which pillars of gravitational physics are just not true?”
April 9, 2024
Photo: Adam Glanzman
Eight from MIT named 2024 Sloan Research Fellows
Fellows honored for creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments.
February 29, 2024
Physicists Remotely Sense Radioactive Decay to Probe Fundamental Forces and Particles
The Project 8 and He6-CRES collaborations use a new technique to set an upper limit on neutrino mass and prepare to test the nature of the weak force.
January 10, 2024
Nature Physics Article
Precision spectroscopy and laser-cooling scheme of a radium-containing molecule
January 9, 2024
