Physics | Penn Today

four people standing in front of an optics table behind a tangle of wires in a lab in

Bringing ideas to life through experimental physics

Researchers in the lab of Liang Wu are generating data to gain a better understanding of the properties of quantum materials. Their fundamental research can lead to applications ranging from better optoelectronic devices to quantum computers.

a cluster of galaxies shown against a dark blue background, a faint darker ring can be seen around the center of the image

By the Numbers

By the Numbers: Dark matter

Key facts and figures about the unseen matter that remains one of cosmology’s greatest unsolved mysteries.

Summer aerospace research at the Jet Propulsion Lab

Senior Alex Ulin from Los Angeles spent the past two summers working at a NASA-contracted field center, and is now aiming for a career leading teams of aerospace scientists and engineers.

microscope images of polymer spheres that twist into elongated and twisted objects

Physicists look to navigational ‘rhumb lines’ to study polymer’s unique spindle structure

Researchers show how polymer spheres contract to form unique spiral structures known as loxodromes, or rhumb lines, creating patterns that are ten times smaller than the width of a human hair.

a person sitting at a microscope looking at a computer screen surrounded by pipet boxes, chemicals, and cabinetry

From the classroom to the lab and back again

Senior Adithya Sriram is busy earning two degrees, researching new applications for graphene, and preparing physics courses for students in West Philadelphia.

a group of 40 people posing on a staircase

A ‘quantum leap’ for quantum information science

By bringing together experts across campus and across disciplines, Penn is poised to lead ongoing efforts towards developing quantum applications using atomically-thin materials.

a particle accelerator, a long copper tube that follows down a basement corridor below lines of tubes and wires, a group of scientists in lab coats talk with each other on the side of the room

Can neutrinos help explain what’s the matter with antimatter?

Results of a new study will help physicists establish a cutting-edge neutrino research facility to study some of the most abundant yet least understood particles in the universe.

a pink light shining onto a flat sheet with holes on the top, a blue laser light shines from one end of the flat sheet to the other

Researchers discover new topological phases in a class of optical materials

These unique topological phases, which imbue materials with new properties, provide a pathway for future optical-electronic applications such as telecommunications devices and quantum computers.

a person in a hard had working inside a large telescope detector

In search of signals from the early universe

Penn astronomers are part of an international collaboration to construct the Simons Observatory, a new telescope that will search the skies in a quest to learn more about the formation of the universe.

‘Smart aviary’ poised to break new ground in behavioral research

A collaboration that has brought together biologists, engineers, and physicists to study the reproductive behavior of birds using machine learning in a custom-built aviary at Pennovation Works.

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