Accomplishments: Department of Physics and Astronomy
Shichun Huang (Geoscience), Min Li (Physics and Astronomy) and their colleagues published an article, Sulfur Isotopic Signature of Earth Established by Planetesimal Volatile Evaporation, in Naure Geoscience. Using sophisticated ab initio and thermodynamics calculations, they showed that the Earth's sulfur, an important volatile element, budget is…
Zhaohuan Zhu (Physics & Astronomy) received a $538,736 grant from NASA Exoplanets Research Program to carry out research on formation of young planets close to their host stars. Co-investigators include James Stone from Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and Nuria Calvet from the University of Michigan.
Tim Waters (Physics & Astronomy) and his latest work are the subject of a NASA press release, "Black Holes May Generate ‘Tsunamis’ in Escaping Gas." Based on a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal and co-authored with Daniel Proga and Randall Dannen (both Physics and Astronomy) this article describes how oceanic disturbances akin…
Qiang Zhu (Physics and Astronomy) has been honored by the U.S. Department of Energy's office of science with an Early Career Research Program Award for his proposal "Data-driven Discovery of Inorganic Electrides for Energy Applications." He is one of 83 scientists recognized nationwide. This award, now in its 12th year, is designed to bolster the…
David Rice, Zachary Grande, Ashkan Salamat, Jason Steffen (all Physics and Astronomy), and Oliver Tschauner (Geoscience), along with former UNLV postdoc Chenliang Huang (Physics and Astronomy) published a study on the properties of the interiors of distant, extrasolar planets in the "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society." This…
Ashkan Salamt (Physics and Astronomy) was awarded a grant from the Air Force office of scientific research. The grant, "The synthesis of supernitride compounds via extreme (pressure, temperature) conditions: a new generation of high-energy density materials," is for $452,184. Modern calculations reveal a novel group of binary…
Rebecca Martin (Physics and Astronomy) was awarded a NASA Exoplanets grant for $541,460 to study planet formation in binary star systems.
Daniel Proga (Physics and Astronomy) was awarded one of NASA's most prestigious research grants through the Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics Networks (TCAN) program. The grant totals $1,547,537 and will be shared with four other major research institutions: the Institute for Advanced Study, the NASA Goddard Space Flight…
Chao-Chin Yang (Physics and Astronomy) was awarded a multi-institutional research grant by NASA through the Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics Networks (TCAN) program. Led by New Mexico State University, other collaborators include UNLV, University of Arizona, Iowa State University, and SETI Institute in the United…
Ashkan Salamat (Physics and Astronomy) and a team of researchers have made a breakthrough in the long-sought-after quest for a room-temperature superconductor, what they call the “holy grail” of energy efficiency. The research team, which includes Ranga Dias from the University of Rochester, established room temperature superconductivity…
Zhaohuan Zhu (Physics and Astronomy) coauthored the article "A Triple-Star System with a Misaligned and Warped Circumstellar Disk Shaped by Disk Tearing," which has been published in Science.
Zhaohuan Zhu (Physic & Astronomy) has been selected as the editor for the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan (PASJ). The first term is two years and began July 1. Established in 1949, PASJ is an international journal that publishes the results of original research in all aspects of astronomy,…