Physics Department

"Doctor, may the force be with you."

FIU physics faculty Dr. Pete Markowitz heard these words after his recent interview on the South Florida Today show at NBC6. He was invited to tell the South Florida comunity about the recent startup of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Presidential candidates answer ScienceDebate 2008's 14 science & technology questions

After all campaigns declined an invitation to participate in a moderated presidential campaign on science and technology issues, the organizers of Science Debate 2008 submitted a set of 14 questions to the candidates.
Both campaigns meanwhile submitted their answers, which you can find here.

FIU's Particle Physics Group featured in the South Florida Business Journal

An article posted today in the South Florida Business Journal recognizes FIU's contribution to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that saw its first beam today.
(Read the article here.)

added 9/10/08

Also see the FIU announcement.

LHC First Beam on 10 September 2008

FIU's High Energy Physics Group is looking forward to the first beam at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, Switzerland. As members of the CMS collaboration, Drs. Markowitz, Rodriguez, Kramer, Linn, and Martinez, and their students will soon commence the hunt for the elusive Higgs particle. (more)

Check out what their friends at CERN recently posted on YouTube:

added 9/09/08

Happy New Academic Year Party
again a big success

On Aug. 29, continuing a "tradition" that started a year ago, the department celebrated the start of the academic year 2008/2009 with a well attended party in our seminar room. Thanks to our logistics officer Amy, no one had to leave hungry and discussions lasted well beyond the time usual for this time slot.

added 9/02/08

SPS has done it again:
Quantum Leap II is getting recognized by the National Society of Physics Students

http://www.aip.org/education/sps/news/
(scroll down and it's on the right hand pane)

In addition it has been covered on the Miami museum of science and FIU's main banner web page.

added 8/29/08

David Jones, FIU Physics Instructor & Educational Outreach Coordinator for CHEPREO

This summer spent time at AAPT as an US Physics Team coach. Twenty-four students from across the U.S. had been chosen to train for the mentally grueling exams and lab tests they'll face at the International Physics Olympiad, held this year July 20-29 in Hanoi in Vietnam. The five-member team brought home five medals: four gold and a silver.

added 8/29/08

The FIU CERN group competes in CERN relay race (Thursday 5th June 2008)

Shown from right to left are FIU grad student Cris Ceron, UF grad student Nick Kypreos, Prof. Markowitz, FIU grad student Luis Lebolo, and FIU postdoc German Martinez. Not shown is FSU grad student Sergei Glazer.
[To get 6 runners, we also used a UF and an FSU runner.]

added 8/29/08

Five Physics Majors Honored at A&S Award Ceremony

added 4/28/08

2008 Graduation Dinner

On April 22, we honored our graduating majors with a dinner at the faculty club (more)

added 4/23/08

FIU Joins the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC)

"FIU [...] educates more Hispanic students than any other institution in the country, and that diversity is reflected among FIU’s physics majors. Site leader Laird Kramer has built a thriving learning community within the department, and is now seeking to expand these efforts to include educating teachers." (read the full article here)

Science Debate 2008

Clinton is undecided. Obama and McCain both passed.

60-Second Science, Got a Minute?

added 04/16/08

Finding The Higgs Boson

Article in Physics News Update, the AIP Bulletin of Physics News discusses future potential for discovery at world's largest accelerator. This summer, five FIU students will work on the CMS project and some of them even travel to CERN. Learn more about FIU's High Energy Physics Group here.

added 04/16/08

Physicist John A. Wheeler Dies at 96

HIGHTSTOWN, N.J. (AP) — Physicist John A. Wheeler, who had a key role in the development of the atom bomb and later gave the space phenomenon black holes their name, has died at 96. (read the article at ap.google.com)

added 04/16/08

SPS wins "Club of the Year Award"

Society of Physics Students surprised the rest of the FIU community yesterday by winning the "Club of the Year Award" at the 2007-2008 Student Organizations Council End of the Year Banquet. (more)

added 04/04/08

First ever FIU Quantum Leap

Students and faculty walking on water, and this is no April Fools joke (more)

added 04/04/08

Here's Looking at You, Kid!

An article published by Drs. Richard Bone & Grenville Draper is featured in the Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics (more)

added 03/19/08

Results of the 2008 Graduate Research Competition

1st: En Cai (advisor Dr. Jiandi Zhang)
2nd: Jiepeng Zhang (advisor Dr. Yifu Zhu)
(more)

added 03/19/08

Legal battle over sonar testing heats up

FIU Vice President for Academic Affairs Douglas Wartzok is cited in Physics Today (more)

added 02/25/08

The Protein Zipper

Biophysics group Profs. Chapagain & Gerstman and students Yanxin Liu & Jose L. Parra featured in Virtual Journal of Biological Physics. (more)

added 02/21/08

Spandex, it might not be like gravity ...

... but it brings us all closer together

Dr. Gary White, director of the National Society of Physics Students visits at FIU (more)

added 02/13/08

New FIU Astronomy Observatory for the Physics Department

Just before Christmas, the department welcomed a donation of $800,000 from a private donor for a new astronomy observatory. (more)

added 02/06/08

Particles Cling to Mass in the Nucleus

Dr. Rakhsha Nasseripour, our first Ph.D. graduate, is featured in Jefferson Lab news.

added 02/05/08

Quantum Leap

An event brought to you by the Society of Physics Students, featuring the most outrageous physics demonstrations in the history of our university.
When: On leap day, Friday, February 29, 2008.

added 01/28/08

FIU Faculty Werner Boeglin and Pete Markowitz co-author article featured in Physical Review Focus

Transparent Nuclei

Featuring the movie "A Pion is Born"

added 01/21/08

2008
The future has already arrived ...

added 01/01/08

We wish you all Happy Holidays

and in case you need something to do, why don't you elf a physicist.

added 12/26/07

US Fiscal Year 2008 Budget leaves funding for physical sciences short

Research conducted at the Department of Physics by students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty is funded by a large part by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Science at the Department of Energy, and the National Institutes of Health.

See for example:
A Budget too Small; Science, 12/18/07
Also, search for HR2764 at http://thomas.loc.gov/

added 12/20/07

Science Debate 2008

Case Western Reserve University physicist and author Lawrence Kraus helps organizing

A Call for a Presidential Debate on Science and Technology

added 12/14/07

Holiday Party a Big Success

added 12/07/07

Science in the News:

One Last Ride To Hubble
New York Times, Science Section, Tuesday, December 4, 2007.

Nobel Prize winner Carl Wieman weighs in on physics education:

The problem, he said, is that scientists stop acting like scientists when it comes to their own teaching.

(see the full Miami Herald article, Sun, Nov. 25, 2007.)

Not here at FIU. Learn about our own Physics Education Research Group (PERG)

Dr. Jiandi Zhang publishes in the prestigious Science journal:

A Surface-Tailored, Purely Electronic, Mott Metal-to-Insulator Transition
Science 26 October 2007:
Vol. 318. no. 5850, pp. 615 - 619

DOI:10.1126/science.1145374