Science & Technology

Physicists in Arts & Sciences are gaining quantum insights from imperfect crystals. The research supported by the Center for Quantum Leaps advances the field of quantum simulation using an atomic-level quantum system.

Erik Henriksen, an associate professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, is part of a team that was awarded funding from the National Science Foundation’s Quantum Sensing Challenges for Transformational Advances in Quantum Systems program.

Sohee Chun, a graduate student in physics in Arts & Sciences, was awarded a Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science Technology grant to optimize the shield inside a crysostat and around a gamma ray detector.

Roger Michaelides, an assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, is co-investigator of a new NOAA-funded project that aims to improve the warning systems for flash floods that often threaten areas recently denuded by fire.

As reported in a paper in Nature Communications, physicist Chong Zu in Arts & Sciences and his team are finding new ways to harness the quantum power of defects in otherwise flawless crystals. 

Physicist Sheng Ran in Arts & Sciences has won a prestigious National Science Foundation award for a project investigating new quantum materials. The research has potential applications for next-generation electronics.

A powerful WashU-built device can squeeze and twist rocks with 100 tons of force. Geologist Philip Skemer in Arts & Sciences explains how his group is using the apparatus to better understand processes that affect the evolution of planets.

Planetary scientists Paul Byrne and Rebecca Hahn in Arts & Sciences have created the first comprehensive map of volcanoes on Venus, pinpointing 85,000 of them. Their study was posted online in JGR Planets, and the dataset is publicly available.

Physicist Anders Carlsson in Arts & Sciences used 40 years of data from the St. Louis region to figure out the ideal mix of solar generation and storage for a reliable power grid.

Far from orderly “brick-by-brick” assembly, the internal structures of cells are grown in stochastic bursts, according to physicist Shankar Mukherji in Arts & Sciences, author of a Jan. 6 study in Physical Review Letters.