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Department of Physics & Astronomy

College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

Frontiers of Cosmology: Quantum

Frontiers of Cosmology Quantum Edition: June 13th 5pm, Ramamurti Shankar

When you come to a fork in the road, take it: Yogi Berra's guide to quantum mechanics.
Frontiers of Cosmology Lecture: Prof. Michael Turner

Frontiers of Cosmology Lecture: Friday March 14th, 5pm. Prof. Michael Turner

What we know about the Universe, the big mysteries confronting us, and why it all matters

UCR team tests novel detector technology at particle collider

Seven UCR students designed, built, and ran their own experiment

Dark Matter Helped Solve This Milky Way Mystery

One of the most extensively studied stellar streams within the galactic halo of the Milky Way is the GD-1 stellar stream. It is known for its long, thin structure and distinctive features. It exhibits spur and gap features that have puzzled scientists for many years.

How we might finally find black holes from the cosmic dawn

Primordial black holes may have been born just after the Big Bang—and might explain dark matter

Study: GD-1 Stellar Stream’s Distinctive Features Caused by Self-Interacting Dark Matter Subhalo

A core-collapsing self-interacting dark matter subhalo is responsible for the peculiar spur and gap features observed in GD-1, a stellar stream within the Galactic halo of the Milky Way, according to a new study led by University of California, Riverside astronomers.

ACS funding supports research with photocatalytic applications

Andrew Joe, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy who joined UC Riverside last year, has received a two-year Doctoral New Investigator, or DNI, grant of $110,000 from the American Chemical Society’s Petroleum Research Fund.

Physicists explain a stellar stream’s distinctive features

Physicists have proposed a solution to a long-standing puzzle surrounding the GD-1 stellar stream, one of the most well-studied streams within the galactic halo of the Milky Way, known for its long, thin structure, and unusual spur and gap features.

Distinguished Emeritus Award

Ernest Ma received the 2024 Distinguished Emeritus Award given by the UCR Emeriti Association. Congratulations, Ernest!

UCR STEM Summer Camp inspires future innovators to explore STEM careers

UC Riverside faculty and staff hosted the second annual STEM Summer Camp in late June 2024, bringing dozens of high school students to campus for an immersive, hands-on STEM experience and a taste of college life.

Blending art and science with UCR physicist Nathaniel Gabor

As part of the “Particles and Waves” exhibit at the Palm Springs Art Museum, Nathaniel Gabor, a professor of physics and astronomy at UCR, was invited to present and perform on Nov. 17. The free event was open to the public. Presented as part of the museum’s public programming offerings every third Sunday of the...

Cub scouts learn physics on campus

Local cub scouts who visited campus on Nov. 3 got an early education in physics and astronomy. The two-hour event was arranged by Robert Sanderson, an instructional lab manager and lecture demonstration specialist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

New center positions UC Riverside as a leader in quantum vibronics

Physicist Nathaniel Gabor at the University of California, Riverside, has been awarded a $7.5M grant from the Department of Defense, or DoD, to develop a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives, or MURI, center on campus. Called QuVET for the Center for Quantum Vibronics in Energy and Time, the center’s co-principal investigators are leading scientists at UCR...

UCR team to participate in national undergraduate research program

A UC Riverside team has been accepted in the 2024-25 Scholars Transforming Through Research (STR) Program of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). The multi-month program culminates in a two-day event in March 2025 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

UC Riverside receives seven grants totaling $7M for graduate education

UC Riverside has received seven grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Program. The program offers grants to academic departments and programs at higher education institutions to fund graduate fellowships. Students with strong academic records and who have demonstrated financial need and intent to pursue the highest...

Unconventional interface superconductor could benefit quantum computing

A multi-institutional team of scientists in the United States, led by physicist Peng Wei at the University of California, Riverside, has developed a new superconductor material that could potentially be used in quantum computing and be a candidate “topological superconductor.”

Frontiers of Cosmology Lecture

WAS THERE A BIG BANG? This event is free and open to the public. The local community, and middle and high school students are strongly encouraged to attend.
Ken Barish

Physicist elected chair of international nuclear physics experiment’s council

Kenneth Barish, a professor of physics and astronomy at UC Riverside, has been elected the chair of the STAR Council for a two-year term beginning March 2025. The STAR Experiment is run at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, or RHIC, at the Brookhaven National Lab in Upton, New York. The Solenoid Tracker at RHIC, known...

Cal-State University San Bernardino Visit Day

California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB) physics students and faculty visited the UCR Department of Physics and Astronomy for tours of the condensed matter experimental labs at UCR for the second year in a row. UCR Physics faculty and graduate students took the group of over 20 students to 8 experimental research labs (Joe, Gabor...
Ken Barish

DOE renewal grant funds student research

Kenneth Barish, a professor of physics and astronomy, has received a three-year renewal grant of more than $1 million from the Department of Energy, or DOE, to support the activities of the Nucleon Spin Physics Group at UC Riverside. The group’s research aims to unlock secrets about the fundamental structure of the universe by probing...
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