Drawn to open-ended problems
Whether racing cross country or teaching coding in rural schools, senior Billy Woltz relishes experimentation and creative thinking.
Department
Physics
Putting the “bang” in the Big Bang
Physicists simulate critical “reheating” period that kickstarted the Big Bang in the universe’s first fractions of a second.
American Physical Society honors three MIT professors for physics research
James Collins, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, and Richard Milner have won top prizes for their work.
Scientists discover fractal patterns in a quantum material
The X-ray-focusing lens used in the experiment is based on a design used in lighthouses for centuries.
Astronomers use giant galaxy cluster as X-ray magnifying lens
New lens technique spots tiny dwarf galaxy in the first, super-energetic stages of star formation.
Scientists observe a single quantum vibration under ordinary conditions
Studying a common material at room temperature, researchers bring quantum behavior “closer to our daily life.”
A new way to corrosion-proof thin atomic sheets
Ultrathin coating could protect 2D materials from corrosion, enabling their use in optics and electronics.
This is how a “fuzzy” universe may have looked
Scientists simulate early galaxy formation in a universe of dark matter that is ultralight, or “fuzzy,” rather than cold or warm.
Controlling 2-D magnetism with stacking order
MIT researchers discover why magnetism in certain materials is different in atomically thin layers and their bulk forms.
Four from MIT named American Physical Society Fellows for 2019
Matthew Evans, Joseph Formaggio, Markus Klute, and Anne White are named MIT’s newest APS fellows for their contributions to physics.
3Q: Scientists shave estimate of neutrino’s mass in half
Joseph Formaggio explains the discovery that the ghostly particle must be no more than 1 electronvolt, half as massive as previously thought.
Uncovering the hidden “noise” that can kill qubits
New detection tool could be used to make quantum computers robust against unwanted environmental disturbances.
TESS team is awarded NASA's Silver Achievement Medal
The honor recognizes the "stellar achievement" of the people behind the exoplanet-seeking satellite.
Scientists detect tones in the ringing of a newborn black hole for the first time
Results support Einstein’s theory and the idea that black holes have no “hair.”
Exotic physics phenomenon is observed for first time
Observation of the predicted non-Abelian Aharonov-Bohm Effect may offer step toward fault-tolerant quantum computers.