Physics News Viewer http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-viewer/rss News and Events in physics and astronomy UCL admin 2010-10-19T18:42:58Z 'Statistical physics: an entropic approach' by Professor Ian Ford-out now! http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/if_23_05_13 This book grew out of the lecture notes for Professor Ford's course taught at UCL. Rather than following the usual appeal to the growth of disorder and decay; the notion that everything is crumbling away or in some sense going wrong, the idea of entropy is firmly anchored to the development of uncertainty in an underspecified dynamical system. Irreversible, entropy-generating processes are the norm; it is reversibility which is exceptional. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-05-23T09:59:17Z RAS Michael Penston Thesis Prize for 2012: Runner-up prize awarded to Dr Stephen Feeney http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/sf_16_05_13 Dr Stephen Feeney has been awarded the runner-up prize for the Michael Penston Thesis Prize 2012. This Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) prize is awarded to the best doctoral thesis in Astronomy and Astrophysics; Stephen's thesis was entitled ‘Novel Algorithms for Early Universe Cosmology'. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-05-17T13:24:14Z European Network 'Thermodynamics in the quantum regime' Launched http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ja_01_05_13 The kick-off of a large-scale European network for research in 'Thermodynamics in the Quantum Regime' was celebrated in Brussels on Tues 30 April 2013. The successful proposal for one of the prestigious COST network grants, funded by the ESF, was led by UCL's researcher Dr Janet Anders . News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-05-01T08:58:56Z ESA selects instruments to be flown on its icy moons mission http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/na_25_02_13  The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer mission (JUICE) will study Jupiter and its large, ice/ocean-bearing moons. JUICE is planned to launch in 2022 and arrive in 2030. Dr Nick Achilleos (Astrophysics) is part of the J-MAG Consortium, an international team of investigators who have successfully proposed one of the 11 scientific experiments to be flown on board this mission. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-02-28T11:21:21Z Multiband optical absorption controlled by lattice strain in thin-film LaCrO3 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ps_26_02_13 The absorption of light by materials is one of the major steps in converting light energy into electrical energy. The Sun is abundant in visible light and being able to convert sunlight into electricity leads to a free, clean energy source that leaves no carbon footprint. Such energy sources are essential to a safe, secure, and environmentally friendly energy future. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-02-28T09:15:21Z Investigating complex oxide films and multilayers for use in electronic device technology http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ps_25_02_13 Since the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates at the end of the last century, complex oxide films and multilayers have been of significant interest in condensed-matter physics and materials science, as well as electronic device technology, because of their wide range of physical properties. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-02-28T09:10:42Z Quantum Magic http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/sh_14_02_13 In a recent STFC newsletter, UK news from CERN , Dr Stephen Hogan describes how he, and a team of international collaborators are investigating the properties of antimatter. The AEGIS experiment at the Antiproton Decelerator , in CERN has been designed to exploit techniques Stephen developed to accelerate antihydrogen atoms in excited states; to transport them and make beams suitable for measurements of the acceleration of antimatter in the Earth's gravitational field. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-02-14T12:14:35Z Evidence for a T-Shape Break-Up Pattern in the Triple Photoionization of Li http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ae_11_02_13 According to Wannier's law, when a single photon is absorbed with energy just above the fragmentation threshold, the electrons in a multi-electron atom break-up in the most symmetric way. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-02-11T15:47:29Z UCL researchers win INCITE supercomputer award http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mg_11_02_13 UCL researchers investigating non-covalent bonding in complex molecular systems have been awarded time on leading US supercomputers worth an estimated £5.5m by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-02-04T09:46:45Z Betelgeuse braces for a collision http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mb_2_01_13 However you pronounce its name*, the star Betelgeuse is hard to miss on a clear winter's night. Representing the top left shoulder of Orion the Hunter it blazes a bright red colour. At over 600 light years away Betelgeuse is not particularly close, but it shines 100,000 times as brightly as our Sun.  News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-01-23T09:54:58Z Mathematical breakthrough sets out rules for more effective teleportation http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/jo_16_01_13 New protocol advances solutions for more efficient teleportation - the transport of quantum information at the speed of light. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-01-16T11:08:07Z Magic-State Distillation in All Prime Dimensions Using Quantum Reed-Muller Codes http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/db_03_01_2013 A quantum computer exploits the nonclassical aspects of quantum mechanics, but its extreme sensitivity to noise makes fault-tolerant techniques a must for it to operate reliably. A key component in high-threshold fault-tolerance schemes is the preparation of magic states, quantum states in a superposition of classical states, that are required to exploit quantum effects. However, the slightest of experimental imperfections results in the preparation of flawed magic states, unsuitable for immediate use in quantum computers. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2013-01-03T11:55:27Z Dust Factory in the Crab Nebula revealed by the Herschel Space Observatory http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mm_14_12_12 Herschel has produced an intricate view of the remains of a star that died in a stellar explosion a millennium ago. It has provided further proof that the interstellar dust which lies throughout our Galaxy is created when massive stars reach the end of their lives. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-12-17T15:20:54Z Quantum control of hybrid nuclear–electronic qubits http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/tm_13_12_12 Members of the UCL AMO group and their collaborators have demonstrated quantum control of a hybridised nuclear-electronic spin system. The group has been investigating the magnetic resonance properties of bismuth-doped silicon, and the potential of such a system as a platform for quantum computing. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-12-14T15:48:02Z Defect-mediated lattice relaxation and domain stability in ferroelectric oxides http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ps_04_12_12 News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-12-05T12:12:14Z A new artificial material approach for flat THz frequency lenses http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/gs_30_10_12 UCL and Cardiff University collaborators have pioneered a prototype for a new microwave optical device. Designed, built and tested by the collaboration, this device could provide a practical solution for many manufacturing concepts which have previously been limited to theoretical speculation. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-11-01T12:21:25Z Watch: BBC FOUR- Order and Disorder http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/jm_23_10_12 Dr Janet Anders talks to Professor Jim Al-Khalili on the BBC Four documentary "Order and Disorder". Their discussions focus on information theory and Maxwell's demon. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-10-23T15:34:09Z £4.3m awarded for experimental particle physics http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/jb_17_10_12 The UCL High Energy Physics (HEP) research group in UCL Physics & Astronomy has been awarded £4,340,016 from the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) for experimental particle physics research through to 2016. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-10-17T11:35:20Z Comet-like mineralogy of olivine crystals in an extrasolar proto-Kuiper belt http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mb_08_10_12 Some planetary systems harbour debris disks containing planetesimals such as asteroids and comets. Collisions between such bodies produce small dust particles, the spectral features of which reveal their composition and, hence, that of their parent bodies. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-10-08T15:12:57Z Physics & Astronomy awarded Royal Society University Research Fellowships http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/dh_04_10_12 Dr Anna Holin, a current member of the High Energy Physics (HEP) group has been awarded one of the five Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships. Additionally Dr Andrew Pilkington has been awarded a University Research Fellowship and will join the HEP group in January 2013. Anna will be researching the properties of the neutrino and Andrew those of the Higgs boson. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-10-04T11:14:31Z Dr David Bowler: Recipient of the 2012 Departmental Teaching Prize http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/db_04_10_12  Congratulations to Dr David Bowler on recieving the 2012 Departmental Teaching Prize. Determined by student nominations, the Departmental Teaching Prize is awarded annually to a member of staff for their outstanding teaching. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-10-04T10:48:04Z A magnified young galaxy from about 500 million years after the Big Bang http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ol_20_09_12 An international team of astronomers have discovered the possibly most distant galaxy ever observed. The faint galaxy, found in deep observations taken with the Hubble Space Telescope, could only be detected since it is magnified by the gravitational field of a massive galaxy cluster located between us and the galaxy. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-09-20T14:10:56Z Dark energy camera records first images http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/ol_19_09_12 Eight billion years ago, rays of light from distant galaxies began their long journey to Earth. On 12 September, that ancient starlight found its way to a mountaintop in Chile, where the newly-constructed Dark Energy Camera, the most powerful sky-mapping machine ever created, captured and recorded it for the first time. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-09-19T16:01:11Z First visualisation of the DNA double helix in water http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/bh_11_07_12 When Watson and Crick discovered the DNA double helix nearly sixty years ago, they based their structure on an averaged X-ray diffraction image of millions of DNA molecules. Though the double helix has become iconic for our molecular-scale understanding of life, thus far no-one has ever 'seen' the double helix of an individual double-stranded DNA in its natural environment, i.e, salty water. News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-07-12T08:24:20Z Institute of Physics prize for Meera Parish http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/news/physics-news-publications/mp_06_07_12 Congratulations to Dr Meera Parish on being awarded the Maxwell Medal and Prize of the Institute of Physics "(f)or her pioneering work in the theory of cold fermionic matter and magnetotransport in highly disordered media.". Meera is a member of the Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (CMMP) group and the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) . News and Events Katherine A Wilson-Heyworth 2012-07-06T10:41:37Z