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UNC Physics Professors Develop 3D Dental X-Ray Method

September 25, 2015

UNC Physics professors Jianping Lu and Otto Zhou.
UNC Physics Professors Jianping Lu (left) and Otto Zhou (right). (image courtesy of WRAL.)
UNC researchers are developing 3D x-ray technology for the dental industry that will provide more detailed images for diagnosis and care. The technology, called 3D Intraoral Imaging, was developed by UNC physics professors Otto Zhou and Jianping Lu. It utilizes carbon nano-tubes to generate the detailed images. UNC, in partnership with a company called Xintek, has been working closely with the UNC School of Dentistry in developing and testing the technology. See the full article about the 3D dental imaging system on WRAL.com

Prof. Laura Mersini-Houghton Featured in BBC Documentary

September 10, 2015

Dr. Laura Mersini-Houghton
Dr. Laura Mersini-Houghton (image courtesy of BBC)
The theory of the origin of our universe from the landscape multiverse developed by Prof. Mersini-Houghton at UNC-Chapel Hill was recently featured in the BBC-Horizon documentary ‘Which universe are we in’, where Prof. Mersini-Houghton is interviewed. The existence of several anomalies in the Cosmic Microwave Background that she with collaborators predicted from her theory in 2006 have been confirmed by measurements with the Planck satellite (see http://arxiv.org/pdf/1506.07135v1.pdf)

Folt, Hawking Kick Off Physics Conference in Stockholm

August 25, 2015

Folt, Hawking at the Hawking Radiation Conference in Stockholm, Sweden
Chancellor Carol L. Folt talks with renowned physicist Stephen Hawking.
UNC-CH Chancellor Carol Folt welcomed Stephen Hawking on Monday before he delivered a lecture to kick off the Hawking Radiation Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. The conference is co-sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge and the Julian Schwinger Foundation. UNC Professor Laura Mersini-Houghton initiated and organized the conference. The purpose of the conference is to discuss whether singularities exist in black holes and the role that Hawking radiation may play in their existence. Read the full article about the Chancellor’s remarks and the UNC delegation to the event.

STEM Education at UNC Profiled in Inside Higher Ed

August 24, 2015

An introductory physics class at UNC.
An introductory physics classroom at UNC.

Inside Higher Ed has profiled the Association of American Universities’ undergraduate science initiative, including efforts at UNC to improve introductory-level science courses through innovative teaching methods that pull emphasis away from the traditional lecture model and encourage participatory, immersive learning. Early indications show that the program is working to increase interest in the sciences by improving “gateway” courses and is closing the achievement gap for students who traditionally struggle in lecture-model courses. The full article can be found here. You can also read more about the AAU’s STEM initiatives at the program website.

Berger Profiled in UNC Spotlight Article

August 11, 2015

Casey Berger
Casey Berger is a first-year graduate student in UNC’s Physics and Astronomy Department.

First-year UNC Physics and Astronomy graduate student Casey Berger was recently profiled by the University in a Spotlight article. Berger is a Royster Fellow, one of only 29 selected worldwide by the UNC graduate school for this academic year, and a former participant in UNC Physics’ Computational Astronomy and Physics Research Experiences for Undergraduates (CAP REU) program. Ms. Berger’s full profile can be found in the UNC Spotlight article.

Stephen Hawking to Speak at UNC Co-Sponsored Conference

August 4, 2015

Hawking Radiation Conference
Stephen Hawking and other renowned physicists will be attending a conference on Hawking Radiation during the week of August 24-29 in Stockholm, Sweden. The purpose of the conference is to discuss whether singularities exist in black holes and the role that Hawking radiation may play in their existence. The event was initiated by UNC Professor Laura Mersini-Houghton who also serves on the organizing committee, and is co-sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge and the Julian Schwinger Foundation. UNC Chancellor Carol L. Folt will deliver remarks prior to Professor Hawking’s public lecture on Monday, August 24.

The full announcement from UNC Global can be found here.

UNC Evryscope Profiled in Science Magazine

August 4, 2015

Evryscope
Photo credit: Nicholas Law/Evryscope Collaboration
A telescope designed by UNC Professor Nicholas Law and his team is profiled in the latest issue of Science Magazine. The Everyscope, which takes images of the whole sky every two minutes to look for exoplanets transiting in front of their host stars, was recently installed in Chile and the team has been using it to observe for the last several weeks. The full article from Science Magazine on the latest all-sky surveying projects can be found here.

More information on the Evryscope can also be found on the project webpage.

Iliadis Publishes New Edition of “Nuclear Physics of Stars”

April 30, 2015

Textbook
“Nuclear Physics of Stars”, 2nd Ed.
UNC physics professor Christian Iliadis publishes the second, enlarged edition of a textbook, entitled “Nuclear Physics of Stars”. The first edition, published in 2007, has been widely used by instructors for teaching classes on nuclear astrophysics and has become the standard in the field. For more information, see the publisher’s website:

Nuclear Physics of Stars, 2nd, Revised and Enlarged Edition (Wiley Publishing)

Petersburg Wins Undergraduate Research Presentation Award from the APS

April 27, 2015

Ryan Petersburg
Ryan Petersburg
Ryan Petersburg, a senior physics and music major at UNC, has won an Undergraduate Research Presentation Award at the APS April meeting that was held in Baltimore from April 11-14. His poster presented work completed as part of his Honor’s Thesis and was entitled “Electromagnet Design for an Experimental Search for CP Violation in Positronium Decay”. The award was “in recognition of an outstanding presentation of undergraduate research at the American Physical Society April Meeting”. The poster is currently on display between rooms 246 and 248 in Phillips Hall. Congratulations Ryan!

UNC Awards Nobel Physicist Peter Higgs an Honorary Degree

March 3, 2015

Higgs and Folt
Photo credit: David Cheskin
Peter Higgs, professor emeritus in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh, was presented with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during a ceremony at the University of Edinburgh on March 3.The honor was presented to Higgs by Carol L. Folt, chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, at a ceremony hosted by Professor Richard Kenway, vice principal of high performance computing for the University of Edinburgh. After the ceremony, the Institute of Physics and Edinburgh City Council unveiled a commemorative plaque honoring Higgs at the central Edinburgh office in which he wrote his seminal papers.

“Nearly half a century ago, Professor Higgs found himself at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducting revolutionary work in physics and his work continues to inspire us,” said Chancellor Folt. “His research had a profound impact on the field of fundamental physics, and his example motivates our faculty and students to pursue their passions and make their own significant mark on their discipline.”

Higgs-honorary degree
Photo credit: David Cheskin

Folt explained that the honorary degree was presented in recognition of Higgs’ revolutionary work in particle physics that culminated in 2012 with the identification of the Higgs boson and his subsequent honor of being jointly awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Professor Kenway said, “It is truly historic to celebrate such a seminal theory in physics with its author, Peter Higgs, in the building where he first wrote it more than 50 years ago, and in the company of some of his colleagues from that time.”

On July 4, 2012, physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, announced that a Higgs boson-like particle (named after Peter Higgs) had been found. This discovery proved the final piece of the standard model of elementary particle physics: a theoretical framework that describes all fundamental particles and forces except gravity. According to the theory advanced by Higgs and others, elementary particles acquire their mass from their interactions with the Higgs field that permeates all space.

As with all quantum fields, there is a particle associated with the Higgs field. Finding the Higgs boson proved the existence of the Higgs field. The theoretical paper that lies behind the CERN experiments was written by Higgs in 1965-1966 during his tenure at the Bahnson Institute of Field Physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Higgs’ work has played a central role in physicists’ quest to unify the forces of nature.

“The UNC Department of Physics and Astronomy is honored to be associated with the work on symmetry breaking Professor Higgs conducted while a visitor to our department in 1965 and 1966,” said department chair Christopher J. Clemens. “We congratulate him on his many accomplishments as he receives an honorary PhD from our Chancellor Carol Folt.”

Higgs graduated from King’s College London with a first class honors degree in physics in 1950, a master’s degree in 1952 and a doctorate in 1954.

Students Begin Classes in Renovated Phillips 335

January 26, 2015

Students are finally getting the opportunity to utilize Phillips 335 following renovation of the space to create a new classroom.  The former library / storage space has been given an overhaul in order to allow students to have a better collaborative learning experience. Both physics and math courses are taught in the space, and the response to the new classroom so far has been positive.

Please see the recent Daily Tar Heel article for more on the story.

Combating Cosmic Rays With the Majorana Project

November 19, 2014

An article in the October 2014 issue of Physics World Magazine discusses the Majorana team’s work in the Sanford Underground Research Facility to combat cosmic radiation which interferes with their neutrino experiments. The project’s overall goal is to test whether neutrinos are their own antiparticle. The article details the project team’s efforts to install detectors with ultra-pure copper, much of it machined in-house at the facility, to reduce the types of cosmic rays which interfere with their experiment data. UNC Physics Professor John Wilkerson, a PI on the project, was interviewed for the article. The full Physics World article is linked below.

Physics World: Reducing Cosmic Rays to a Trickle