College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

How does photosynthesis work so efficiently?

How do living systems establish themselves and work so well? This is a question UC Riverside physicists Nathaniel M. Gabor and Jed Kistner-Morris, as well as scholarly writing expert Benjamin W. Stewart explore in an article they published in this month’s issue of Physics Today, a magazine of the American Institute of Physics.

Postdoc wins prestigious fellowship

The Electron-Ion Collider Center at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has awarded a research fellowship to Sebouh Paul, a postdoctoral researcher in the UCR Department of Physics and Astronomy. The one-year, $36,000 fellowship will allow Paul to further research of the Electron-Ion Collider, or EIC, a unique physics research facility...

A manual for engineering spin dynamics in nanomagnets

An international team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside, and the Institute of Magnetism in Kyiv, Ukraine, has developed a comprehensive manual for engineering spin dynamics in nanomagnets – an important step toward advancing spintronic and quantum-information technologies.

Three Highlanders receive 2023 Barry Goldwater Scholarship

Five thousand U.S. higher-education students applied, 1,267 applicants moved on to be nominated, and 413 of those nominees were awarded the 2023 Barry Goldwater Scholarship — three of them being UC Riverside Highlanders.

High schoolers get university-level education in particle physics

Fifteen students from Ramona High School and 12 from Hemet High School got to learn some of the latest findings in particle physics when they visited UC Riverside on Monday and Tuesday this week.

Physics students gain hands-on experience in building a prototype detector

A group of young physicists at the University of California, Riverside, recently acquired the kind of invaluable hands-on experimental nuclear physics experience that is sure to make their resumes stand out.

Physicist ranked eighth top female scientist in the world

Research.com, a research portal for scientists that publishes rankings of leading experts in a variety of fields, has ranked Gail Hanson, a distinguished professor emerita of physics and astronomy at UC Riverside, as the eighth top female scientist in 2022. This is the first edition of the ranking of female scientists, which measures the impact...

Memorial Service for Stephen Wimpenny

We are all mourning the loss of Professor Stephen Wimpenny, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on November 21 st. Steve was a friend, a valued colleague, an accomplished scientist, and a dedicated instructor. We all miss him very much. There will be a Memorial Service to celebrate his life on Wednesday, December 7 th...

THE ODD COUPLE

Upon meeting UCR physicists Allen Mills and Harry Tom, you may think the pair would rarely be seen in the same room, given how divergent their personalities are. The introverted Mills is soft-spoken and shy; his wife jokes he has “no personality.” Tom, on the other hand, is a bubbly extrovert, whose bursts of laughter...

Physicist to receive Copernicus Prize

Barry Barish, a distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at UC Riverside and a Nobel laureate, has won the Copernicus Prize, bestowed by the government of Poland on “those who made exceptional contributions to the development of world science.”

Physics and Astronomy at “Night of Art and Innovation” in downtown Riverside

The “Night of Art and Innovation” was back for the 10th time in downtown Riverside last week. Thousands of interested children and adults walked through arts and science displays of 400 presenters. A major player this year was the UCR Department of Physics and Astronomy with a strong team of 30 undergraduate and graduate students...

Physicist named fellow of the American Physical Society

Roya Zandi, a professor of physics and astronomy at UCR, has been named a fellow of the American Physical Society, a non-profit organization that advances knowledge of physics. Roya Zandi Roya Zandi. Fellowship is a distinct honor signifying recognition by one's professional peers. Each year, no more than one half of one percent of the...

Coronavirus formation is successfully modeled

A physicist at the University of California, Riverside, and her former graduate student have successfully modeled the formation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that spreads COVID-19, for the first time. In a paper published in Viruses, a journal, Roya Zandi, a professor of physics and astronomy at UCR, and Siyu Li, a postdoctoral researcher at Songshan...

Researchers devise tunable conducting edge

A research team led by a physicist at the University of California, Riverside, has demonstrated a new magnetized state in a monolayer of tungsten ditelluride, or WTe2, a new quantum material. Called a magnetized or ferromagnetic quantum spin Hall insulator, this material of one-atom thickness has an insulating interior but a conducting edge, which has...

Why are dark matter halos of ultra-diffuse galaxies so … odd?

A study co-led by physicists at UC Riverside and UC Irvine has found that dark matter halos of ultra-diffuse galaxies are very odd, raising questions about physicists’ understanding of galaxy formation and the structure of the universe. Ultra-diffuse galaxies are so called because of their extremely low luminosity. The distribution of baryons — gas and...

Unraveling a mystery surrounding cosmic matter

Early in its history, shortly after the Big Bang, the universe was filled with equal amounts of matter and “antimatter” — particles that are matter counterparts but with opposite charge. But then, as space expanded, the universe cooled. Today’s universe is full of galaxies and stars which are made of matter. Where did the antimatter...

Two New Faculty Positions in Experimental Cosmology, Particle Astrophysics, and Gravitational Waves

The Physics and Astronomy Department is adding two more faculty positions to the growing Experimental Cosmology, Particle Astrophysics, and Gravitational Waves research group.

A summer of particle physics

Three young physicists at the University of California, Riverside, have been thinking big. Gigantic-particle-accelerator big. Undergraduates Andrew Caruso, Robert Vasquez, and Selim Zoorob did internships this summer at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN. The center is home to the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator.
Rodolfo Rodriquez is PhD student in Prof. Barsukov's group and the lead author of the study.

Antiferromagnetic hybrids achieve important functionality for spintronic applications

Antiferromagnets have zero net magnetization and are insensitive to external magnetic field perturbations. Antiferromagnetic spintronic devices hold great promise for creating future ultra-fast and energy-efficient information storage, processing, and transmission platforms, potentially leading to faster and more energy-efficient computers.

Major conference on magnetism in Southern California

Excitations in magnets -- magnons -- hold great promise for quantum and classical information processing due to excellent scalability, tunability and energy-efficiency of magnonic devices. Magnonics is at the forefront of fundamental and applied research in magnetism and attracts excellent scientists all over the world. This year, the seventh in the series of the renowned...
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