Physics

MIT Kavli Institute director Jacqueline Hewitt stands with a prototype of one of the four cameras aboard the Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey (TESS) instrument. Hewitt, who has overseen the TESS mission from NASA proposal to satellite launch in April, will step down as Kavli Institute director in January.

Jacqueline Hewitt to step down as director of the MIT Kavli Institute

Physics professor brought leadership, resources, and an intellectual focus to the MIT astrophysics faculty and research staff during 15 years at the helm.

November 29, 2018

Two versions of the device designed by MIT researchers, using a strip of metal to block direct sunlight, were built and tested on the roof of an MIT building to confirm that they could provide cooling well below ambient air temperature.

A new way to provide cooling without power

Device developed at MIT could provide refrigeration for off-grid locations.

November 28, 2018

In two-dimensional tungsten ditelluride, two different states of matter — topological insulator and superconductor — can be chosen at will, MIT researchers discovered.

First two-dimensional material that performs as both topological insulator and superconductor

MIT researchers have demonstrated that a tungsten ditelluride-based transistor combines two different electronic states of matter.

October 31, 2018

The 2018 Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellows will receive financial support and valuable experience working in DOE laboratories. They are: (l-r) Billy Moses, Kaley Brauer, Paul Zhang, and Sarah Greer.

Computational science grad students awarded U.S. Department of Energy fellowships

Kaley Brauer, Sarah Greer, William Moses, and Paul Zhang will receive DoE support to fuel research that tackles problems of national importance.

October 19, 2018

Radha Mastandrea wants to know what the universe is made of.

A passionate advocate for open data

Senior Radha Mastandrea analyzes data from CERN in search of more information about the universe’s fundamental particles.

October 18, 2018

Four from MIT have been honored by the American Physical Society for their outstanding contributions to the field. Clockwise from top left: Lisa Barsotti, Martin Bazant, Richard Lanza, and Pablo Jarillo-Herrero.

Four from MIT named American Physical Society Fellows for 2018

Lisa Barsotti, Martin Bazant, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, and Richard Lanza receive prestigious honor recognizing them for their research and leadership.

October 17, 2018

Angelika Amon wins 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

Four other MIT researchers to receive New Horizons Prizes in math and physics; two alumni win Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.

October 17, 2018

To study phase changes in materials, such as freezing and thawing, researchers used charge density waves — electronic ripples that are analogous to the crystal structure of a solid. They found that when phase change is triggered by a pulse of laser light, instead of by a temperature change, it unfolds very differently, starting with a collection of whirlpool-like distortions called topological d...

When light, not heat, causes melting

Study reveals the details of light-induced phase changes.

October 15, 2018

This illustration shows a multi-jet event recorded by the CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

Center for Theoretical Physics professors earn DOE Quantum Information Science Awards

Professors Daniel Harlow, Aram Harrow, Hong Liu, and Jesse Thaler among the first recipients of new honor for advances in quantum understanding.

October 12, 2018

Standing, left to right: Justin Leahey, MIT-Germany program manager; David Dolev, MISTI assistant director; Markus Buehler, MIT-Germany faculty director, professor, and head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Ulrich Steinbach, deputy minister of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts; Wolfgang Holtkamp, senior advisor if international affairs at t...

MIT-Germany and the University of Stuttgart extend cooperation

Collaboration extends opportunities for faculty seed funds, internship opportunities, and a Global Teaching Labs program through 2020.

October 12, 2018

The ARC conceptual design for a compact, high magnetic field fusion power plant. The design now incorporates innovations from the newly published research to handle heat exhaust from the plasma.

A new path to solving a longstanding fusion challenge

Novel design could help shed excess heat in next-generation fusion power plants.

October 9, 2018

Five students were challenged to live and work in a glass cube on MIT's North Court for four days as part of InCube, a global startup competition.

Student entrepreneurs think inside the box

Living and working in a glass cube, an interdisciplinary team of students reimagined the ambulance of the future as part of a global startup competition.

October 5, 2018

Three MIT researchers, (l-r) Riccardo Comin, Luqiao Lui, and Phillip Keathley, have all been awarded three-year, $450,000 grants.

Three MIT researchers win U.S. Air Force Young Investigator Research Program grants

Riccardo Comin, Phillip “Donnie” Keathley, and Luqiao Lui are among 31 selected nationwide.

October 5, 2018

Since the 1950s, scientists have observed a surprisingly straightforward, linear relationship between the Earth’s surface temperature and its outgoing heat.

How Earth sheds heat into space

New insights into the role of water vapor may help researchers predict how the planet will respond to warming.

September 24, 2018

Bernard "Bernie" Burke was the William A.M. Burden Professor of Astrophysics Emeritus and a principal investigator at the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

Professor Emeritus Bernard Burke, astrophysics pioneer, dies at 90

Former Astrophysics Division chair discovered radio noise from Jupiter and the first Einstein Ring, and developed tools to map the universe.