Physics and Astronomy

NSF awards 38 Graduate Research Fellowships to Rice students

The National Science Foundation has awarded 38 Graduate Research Fellowships to Rice University students.

US News grad school rankings give high marks to Rice programs

A total of 19 graduate programs at Rice University rank among the nation's top 25 in their categories in the latest edition of U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools.”

Faculty set Rice record with eight CAREER Awards

Rice faculty set a record, winning eight NSF CAREER Awards in 2002

Physicists harness electrons to make ‘synthetic dimensions’

Rice University physicists have learned to manipulate electrons in gigantic Rydberg atoms with such precision they can create “synthetic dimensions” where the system acts as if it had extra spatial dimensions, which are important tools for quantum simulations.

Inaugural class of Rice Innovation Fellows announced

The Provost’s Office and the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Lilie) have announced the inaugural class of Rice Innovation Fellows, a program that will provide educational and financial support to the next generation of scientist- and engineer-led spinout ventures.

Strong magnets put new twist on phonons

Phonons, quasiparticles in a crystal lattice that are usually hard to control by external fields, can be manipulated by a magnetic field -- but it takes a very strong magnet.

Physicists find evidence of new quantum phase

Rice physicists collaborated on the discovery of a quantum phase that appears to break time-reversal symmetry.

Rice physicist Pengcheng Dai wins superconductivity award

Rice University physicist Pengcheng Dai and two European physicists have won the 2022 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes Prize, one of the leading awards for experimental research in superconductivity.

NSF funds Rice effort to measure, preserve quantum entanglement

Rice University physicist Guido Pagano has won a prestigious CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study quantum entanglement and develop new error-correcting tools for quantum computation.

Earth isn’t ‘super’ because the sun had rings before planets

Before the solar system had planets, the sun had rings — bands of dust and gas similar to Saturn’s rings — that likely played a role in Earth’s formation, according to a new study.

A-list candidate for fault-free quantum computing delivers surprise

Superconducting uranium ditelluride is a promising material in the race to create fault-tolerant quantum computers, but physicists are rethinking how superconductivity arises in the material in light of puzzling new experimental evidence in this week’s issue of Nature.

Rice astronomer available to discuss James Webb Space Telescope

Rice astronomer Patrick Hartigan is available to comment on the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope.

Rice’s Technology Development Fund backs faculty projects

Nine projects proposed by Rice researchers have been granted seed funding by Creative Ventures' Technology Development Fund.

Orbital harmony limits late arrival of water on TRAPPIST-1 planets

Seven Earth-sized planets orbit the star TRAPPIST-1 in near-perfect harmony, and U.S. and European researchers have used that harmony to determine how much physical abuse the planets could have withstood in their infancy.

Rice prof’s Nature paper details unique quantum phenomenon

Rice physicist Guido Pagano is part of a team reporting in Nature on the discovery of a new phenomenon in quantum systems.