UC Santa Cruz - Physics Department

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Launched on June 11, 2008, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope observes the cosmos using the highest-energy form of light.

The Bolshoi simulation is the most accurate cosmological simulation of the evolution of the large-scale dark matter structure of the Universe yet made.

The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is an international, collaborative effort to map hundreds of millions of galaxies, detect thousands of supernovae, and find patterns of cosmic structure that will reveal the nature of the mysterious dark energy that is accelerating the expansion of our Universe.

Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) consist of a waveguide coupled with photovoltaic cells. UCSC's design, targeting greenhouses, utilizes fluorescent dyes that convert light unused by plants to wavelengths suitable for photosynthesis.

ATLAS is one of two general-purpose particle detectors performing experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). By colliding particle beams into each other, physicists can observe the intrinsic behavior of subatomic particles to help understand more about the Standard Model and to unlock valuable information about the origin and nature of our universe.

The Materials Synthesis Lab, includes molecular beam epitaxy, pulsed laser deposition, and sputtering thin film growth equipment. The Lederman group in the seeks to understand the fundamental properties of materials in reduced dimensions. Of particular interest are properties resulting from interfaces between dissimilar materials.

The Velasco Group: nanodevices, low temperature transport, and STM. At the nanoscale, quantum mechanical effects reign supreme and when disorder is subdued many-body physics emerges, leading to new and unexpected physical phenomena. Low temperature transport, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and the development of new nanofabrication techniques will be employed to perform these studies.

Upcoming Dates/Deadlines

UPCOMING PHYSICS COLLOQUIA

UPCOMING PHYSICS CONDENSED MATTER SEMINARS

Senior Thesis Info and Deadlines

Department News

June 22, 2018
November 3, 2017Solar greenhouses generate electricity and grow crops at the same time, UC Santa Cruz study reveals
October 23, 2017Physicist Michael Dine wins Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Physics

Photo Journal

This is a test payload for the BARREL balloon campaign, designed to study particles from Earth's radiation belts. The full BARREL campaign will launch a total of 40 balloons in 2012-2013.

Grad student Bryna Hazelton (2009) and engineer Forest Martinez-McKinney checking parts for the ADELE gamma-ray detector about to be flown above thunderstorms in the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V jet shown in the back.

Laying out the payload and flight train for launch outside McMurdo. Mt. Erebus in the background.

GLAST

Fermi

Physics students participate in UCSC Ballonfest

Perovskite nanostructures grown by Alice Durand at UC Santa Cruz

Protein structure imaged by X-ray scattering at a synchotron accelerator. (Credit: SLAC)

Aleph silicon microstrip vertex detector

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