Beacom Elected to APS Office
John Beacom, Professor in the Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP), has been elected to a four-year term in the Chair line of the Division of Astrophysics of the American Physical Society.
The Division of Astrophysics represents scientists working in many fields of astrophysics and cosmology within the American Physical Society (APS), the principal professional society in physics. The Chairs of APS divisions are chosen through votes of all division members. Members elected to the Chair line progress through the top offices in the division. Beacom will serve as Vice Chair in 2012-2013, Chair-Elect in 2013-2014, Chair in 2014-2015, and Past Chair in 2015-2016.
Ohio State has been well-represented in the APS leadership. Ohio State Physics faculty recently elected to the Chair line in other APS Divisions include Lou DiMauro, the Dr. Edward E. and Sylvia Hagenlocker Chair and Professor of Physics (Division of Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics), and John Wilkins, Ohio Eminent Scholar and Professor of Physics (Division of Condensed Matter Physics).
Beacom's research is centered on neutrinos, nearly-noninteracting and nearly-massless elementary particles, and especially on neutrinos from astrophysical sources. The fundamental goal of Beacom's work is to help turn "neutrino astronomy" from a near-oxymoron into a observational science and to develop its theoretical consequences for both physics and astronomy.
Rott appointed a co-conveneer of the IceCube Dark Matter Working Group
Carsten Rott, a CCAPP Senior Fellow, has been appointed a co-convenor of the IceCube Dark Matter Working Group. Carsten will join Carlos de los Heros (Uppsala University) as a co-lead.
The IceCube dark matter working group is actively pursuing various analyses to search for dark matter annihilation signals from the Galactic Center, Milky Way Halo, Dwarf Spheriodal Galaxies, Galaxy Clusters, as well as signals from the center of the Earth and the Sun.
The indirect search for dark matter is one of the core science topics of IceCube. Data collected with the partially instrumented detector has already been used to produce the world's best constraints on spin-dependent scattering of dark matter particles on nucleons. The full IceCube detector, active since May 2011, provides significantly improved sensitivity to dark matter signals.
New DES Camera to Help Solve Mysteries of the Universe in 3D
An international team of more than 120 scientists will take the next step Monday toward solving the mystery of dark energy, one of physics' most perplexing conundrums. The farther an object in the universe is from Earth, the faster it moves away. T. Eifler, a CCAPP Postdoc and DES project collaborator, says to understand the concept, think of throwing a baseball.
Physicists said the new camera will provide information to help them better understand the composition of dark energy and the laws that govern it.
The Dark Energy Camera (photo on left) will photograph almost 300 million galaxies over the next five years. The camera is a crucial component in the Dark Energy Survey.
An element that's rare on Earth is found far, far away
Tellurium detected for the first time in ancient stars.
Jennifer Johnson, an associate professor of astronomy at Ohio State University, says tellurium has been a "tough" element to detect, since it absorbs light in the ultraviolet spectrum, which is impossible for ground-based telescopes to spot. The team's findings, she says, are a first step in identifying some of the most elusive elements in the universe.
A New Phase of CCAPP
- CCAPP, its leadership, and its administration have entered a new phase.
- From 2006-2011, CCAPP was supported primarily by Targeted Investment in Excellence (TIE) funds won in a university-wide competition. The Director was Professor Terry Walker and the Program Coordinator was Yavonne McGarry. The CCAPP community thanks them for their dedicated and successful service.
- Beginning in Autumn 2011, CCAPP will be supported by funds from the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences and from a large endowment to CCAPP from a private donor. The new Director is Professor John Beacom and the new Program Coordinator is Lisa Krehnovi.
2011 CCAPP Price Prize Winners Announced
The Dr. Pliny A. and Margaret H. Price Prize of the Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics (CCAPP) is supported by generous gifts from Steve Price and Jill Levy, and is named after Steve's parents. Steve and Jill reside in Westerville and are admirers of the study of this science.
The Price Prize recognizes graduate students who have shown exceptional accomplishments and promise in areas of research closely connected to those of CCAPP. The selection, which is extremely competitive, is made by the CCAPP Science Board from nominations from around the world.
The 2011 awardees are Sayan Chakraborti of the Tata Institute and Michele Fumagalli of Santa Cruz. Each will visit CCAPP in 2012 for about a week and will give a special seminar. The prize covers their expenses and provides an honorarium of $1500. The continued generosity of the donors made it possible to offer two prizes this year.
Chakraborti works on the mechanisms and consequences of supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. Fumagalli works on how galaxies and their stars form across cosmic time. An unusual aspect of their work is that each has worked on both theory and observation.
A Star's Signal of Impending Doom
A binary star system in the Whirlpool Galaxy has brought OSU astronomers tantalizingly close to their goal of observing a star just before it goes supernova.
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Rott Awarded Antarctica Service Medal
C. Rott, a CCAPP Senior Fellow, was awarded the Antarctica Service Medal from the National Science Foundation.
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2011 Nobel Physics Prize for Dark Energy
The 2011 Nobel Physics Prize was awarded this week to Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt, and Adam Riess for their surprising discovery in 1998 that type Ia supernovae indicate that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.
Prior to this finding, most models of the universe predicted that the gravitational pull of matter should cause the expansion of space to slow down over time. The data collected by the Supernova Cosmology Project led by Perlmutter and the High-z Supernova Search Team led by Schmidt and Riess revealed that the most distant supernovae appear fainter than expected, implying that space is actually expanding at an increasing rate. Attempts to explain this phenomenon, which require either assuming the existence of a strange new substance with negative pressure or altering Einstein's theory of gravity, are generically termed "dark energy."
The discovery of cosmic acceleration ushered in over a decade of efforts to reveal the nature of dark energy using not only larger samples of supernovae but also a variety of novel methods to measure the cosmic expansion history. As a result, there are now many lines of evidence showing that dark energy makes up about 70 per cent of the energy density of our universe, but exactly what the dark energy is remains an open question.
Researchers at CCAPP are participating in several ongoing programs that aim to significantly improve our knowledge of dark energy's role in the evolution of the universe, including the Dark Energy Survey and the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. As these surveys map out the universe with increasing precision over the next few years, the data they provide will enable us to narrow down the range of possible explanations for cosmic acceleration and perhaps lead to another breakthrough in our understanding of cosmology and fundamental physics.
onCampus - Ask the Expert:
"Why has the Space Shuttle Program Ended?
M. Stamatikos, a CCAPP Postdoctoral Researcher, speaks on the subject discussing the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, its legacy and the future of human space exploration.
Scientists model physics of a key dark-energy probe
Ohio State University researchers are leveraging powerful supercomputers to investigate one of the key observational probes of "dark energy," the mysterious energy form that is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate over time.
The OSU project, led by Chris Orban, a graduate research fellow in physics at Ohio State's Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, focuses on simulations created on Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) systems to simplify and better characterize a subtle dark matter clustering feature.
CCAPP Postdoc Wins INSA Award
CCAPP Postdoc B. Dasgupta is 1 of 30 scientists to win the 2011 Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Young Scientists Award. He is being recognized for his discovery of unusual and interesting effects of large neutrino densities in supernova cores.
The award of an Academy medal to a Young Scientist is made in recognition of notable contributions to any branch of science or technology, recognized by the Academy, on the basis of work carried out in India. Any citizen of India who has not attained the age of 35 years is eligible.
Read more about the INSA Young Scientist Award...
JSG Awarded Einstein Fellowship
CCAPP is very proud to announce that CCAPP postdoc Jennifer Siegal-Gaskins has been awarded a prestigious Einstein Fellowship which she plans to take to Cal Tech. Jenny was one of 10 Einstein Fellows awarded this year, and she joins Eduardo Rozo and Matt Kistler as CCAPP recipients.
Read More about the Einstein Fellowship...
Learn More about Jenny and this year's Recipients...
Symposium Public Lecture Featured in OnCampus
The space shuttle program may be drawing to a close, but science aboard the International Space Station (ISS) isn't slowing down, according to ISS Program Manager Julia Robinson.
Read the OnCampus Article...
Ohio State Researchers Use Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope to Explain How Universe Works
Researchers at Ohio State are using the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope to locate gamma ray bursts, the most energetic objects in the universe. Learn how their observations are being used to help explain how the universe works and what it is made of.
The Price Place
CCAPP is very pleased to announce the establishment of Price Place, a state-of-the-art facility designed as a gathering spot for CCAPP postdocs, students, and visitors. Located in Ohio State University's Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, Price Place will serve as a home to CCAPP's many visitors, both long and short term, giving young scientists a competitive advantage as they pursue forefront research.
Sponsored by a generous donation from Steve Price and Jill Levy, Price Place continues their focus on fostering the development of young researchers in cosmology and astroparticle physics.
The room is scheduled to be completed by May 2011.
Astrophysicists Shine Bright with Award - The 2011 Rossi Prize
The American Astronomical Society's High Energy Astrophysics Division has awarded a prestigious prize to eight Ohio State scientists. All are part of the research team for the Large Area Telescope, an instrument on board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, which scans the skies for the most energetic form of radiation. Among their discoveries: Einstein was right about the structure of space-time.
In deep galaxy surveys, astronomers get a boost — from gravity
As many as 20 percent of the most distant galaxies currently detected appear brighter than they actually are, because of an effect called "strong gravitational lensing," according to a new study that involves Haojing Yan, postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics at Ohio State. The discovery could change astronomers' notions of how galaxies formed in the early universe. Yan is part of an international team of astronomers who are using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to probe the distant universe.
Read more: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/deeplens.htm
Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v469/n7329/full/nature09619.html
CCAPP Videos on YouTube
- Videos of CCAPP are posted on YouTube! Learn about CCAPP, the Symposium and watch the poster session:
- Explore @ CCAPP
- CCAPP Symposium 2009
- CCAPP Symposium Rapid Poster Session
CCAPP Funding Opportunities
- CCAPP encourages applications from visitors (short and long term), for mini-workshops, and for proposals related to CCAPP science initiatives.
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