17 Oxford Street
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
(617)495-2872 phone
(617)495-0416 fax
In 1884, a new physics laboratory
opened at Harvard. It was based on the revolutionary
idea that "the department of physics in a University
must embrace both teaching and investigation" (John
Trowbridge, 1877).
From those pioneering days and throughout the Department's long and illustrious history, its faculty and students have been engaged in groundbreaking research and standard-setting instruction, contributing importantly to Harvard's reputation as one of the premier institutions of higher learning in the world. Among Harvard's 43 Nobel laureates, 10 are or were physics faculty members. Today, the latest generation of Harvard physicists continues to bring new insights into the exploration of fundamental problems involving physics at all length scales, and to provide outstanding and innovative educational opportunities to the many talented men and women who enroll in Harvard's flexible undergraduate and graduate programs.
Congratulations to the 2009
Physics graduates! From those pioneering days and throughout the Department's long and illustrious history, its faculty and students have been engaged in groundbreaking research and standard-setting instruction, contributing importantly to Harvard's reputation as one of the premier institutions of higher learning in the world. Among Harvard's 43 Nobel laureates, 10 are or were physics faculty members. Today, the latest generation of Harvard physicists continues to bring new insights into the exploration of fundamental problems involving physics at all length scales, and to provide outstanding and innovative educational opportunities to the many talented men and women who enroll in Harvard's flexible undergraduate and graduate programs.
Thank you for being a part of the Harvard Physics Department - we hope you enjoyed your stay! Best wishes for the future, wherever it may take you.
Chemistry/Physics Concentrators: Antonio Baclig, Eugene Beh, Xin Cai, Jason Chen, Lisa Choe, Pierre-Emile Duhamel, Alexander Gitlin, Ruwan Gunaratne, Affiong Ruby O. Ibanga, Ryan Jamiolkowski, Morgan Jessee, Louis Kang, Jianing Liu, Bradford Matthiesen, Sagar Mehta, Michael Murphy, Jacob Sanders, Anna Shneidman, Ho Tuan, Anthony Vicari, Chinh Vo. Physics Concentrators: Monica Allen, Thomas Beckford, John Biersteker, Brion Bob, Jason Brodsky, Mark Browning, Stanley Chiang, Lin Cong, Eyal Dechter, Yiyi Deng, Kimberly DeRose, Patrick Detzner, William Galvin, Aaron Goldin, Saso Grozdanov, Ben Huang, Ognjen Ilic, Hasan Korre, Timothy Kovachy, Nicholas Krasney, Joshua Kroll, Aaron Kuan, Samuel Lederer, Eve Meyer, Yali Miao, Yohsuke Miyamoto, Jonathan Nguyen, Jee Woo Park, Eric Petersen, Andrea Peterson, Alfredo Ramirez, Charles Rinzler, Bassel Said, Steven Schowalter, Anupriya Singhal, Nikhil Srivastava, Zachary Travis, Norman Yao, Michael Zaletel, Franklin Zhao. Physics PhD: Matthew Baumgart, Joshua Boehm, Clifford Cheung, John Paul Chou, Abram Falk, Ilya Finkler, Monica Guica, Kristi Hatch, Jonathan Heckman, Malcolm Hicken, Michael Hohensee, Liang Jiang, Jared Kaplan, Eleni Katifori, Mason Klein, Subhaneil Lahiri, David LeSage, Yi-Chia Lin, Linjiao Luo, Megha Padi, Georgios Pastras, Trygve Ristroph, Rebecca Shafee, Christine Wang, Yiming Zhang. |
Department News and Updates
| Postdoc Peter Lu and colleagues from Museo di Storia Naturale and from Princeton published a report in Science... |
in which
they present evidence of a naturally occurring icosahedral
quasicrystal that includes six distinct fivefold symmetry
axes. The mineral, an alloy of aluminum, copper, and
iron, occurs as micrometer-sized grains associated
with crystalline khatyrkite and cupalite in samples
reported to have come from the Koryak Mountains in
Russia. The results suggest that quasicrystals can
form and remain stable under geologic conditions, although
there remain open questions as to how this mineral
formed naturally. (Luca Bindi, Paul J. Steinhardt, Nan Yao, Peter J. Lu, "Natural
Quasicrystals", Science 324, 5 June 2009 | doi: 10.1126/science.1170827) |
| Physics Stalwarts Greene and Newell Retiring... |
Two of the department's
longest serving and most dedicated staff will be retiring
on June 30. Vickie Greene has been for more than twelve years the personification of the department's Purchasing Office. Her "customer first" attitude and fierce commitment to keeping the vendors happy and the books in perfect order, have even been recognized by visits from other departments to study her system. Charlene Newell, during the last fourteen years, has been the trusted right hand of a total of nine faculty and senior staff. A consummate generalist, she has supported their teaching, research, and administrative work with a rich repertoire of professional skills and an unflappable ability to keep many balls in the air at once. We wish Vickie and Charlene the happiest of retirements. They will be sorely missed. |
A Conversation with Dr. Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy |
Wednesday, June
3, 2009, 4:15 p.m. Northwest Building, Room B103 52 Oxford Street Cambridge , MA Dr. Steven Chu, distinguished scientist and co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics (1997), was appointed by President Obama as the 12th Secretary of Energy and sworn into office on January 21, 2009. Dr. Chu has devoted his recent scientific career to the search for new solutions to our energy challenges and stopping global climate change – a mission he continues with even greater urgency as Secretary of Energy. He is charged with helping implement President Obama’s ambitious agenda to invest in alternative and renewable energy, end our addiction to foreign oil, address the global climate crisis and create millions of new jobs. This event is open to Harvard University ID card-holders only. IDs will be checked at the door. Seating is limited and on first-come, first-served basis. Sponsored by: Department of Physics Harvard University Center for the Environment School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Contacts for information: Lisa Matthews Events Coordinator Harvard University Center for the Environment 24 Oxford Street Cambridge , MA 02138 Tel: 617-495-8883 Fax: 617-496-0425 Email: lisa_matthews@harvard.edu or Bonnie Currier Administrator to the Chair Harvard Physics Department 17 Oxford St. Cambridge, MA 02138 Tel: (617) 495-2866 Fax: (617) 495-0416 Email: currier@physics.harvard.edu |
| Prof. Christopher Stubbs has been named Harvard College Professor |
"...in
recognition of [his] contributions to undergraduate
teaching, advising, and mentoring". [Read
the Gazette article.] |
| Undergraduate physics concentrator, Norman Y. Yao ’09, received the 2009 Captain Jonathan Fay Prize from the Radcliffe Institute |
... for breakthrough
research on the mechanical properties of cellular networks
on Wednesday. Yao was selected for the honor from among
the 83 winners of the Thomas T. Hoopes Prize for the
quality and impact of his senior thesis. [Read the Crimson article]. |
| Electrical Detection of Optical Plasmons and Single Plasmon Sources |
Professors Hongkun
Park and Mikhail
Lukin, along with colleagues at Harvard and at
Pohang University in Korea, published a letter in Nature
Physics, in which they describe a new all-electrical
technique for detecting surface plasmon polaritons
and single plasmon sources. (A. Falk, F. Koppens, C.
Yu, K. Kang, N. Snapp, A. Akimov, M.-H. Jo, M. Lukin,
and H. Park, "Near-field
electrical detection of optical plasmons and single-plasmon
sources", Nature Physics, published
online: 24 May 2009 | doi:10.1038/nphys1284) |
For
more news items, go to News
page For
recent faculty publications, go to Publications
page 