We raise nearly 2½ times our state budget in research funds.

8th nationally in Citation impact of publications

14th nationally in research funding

8th nationally in Ph.D.’s produced (many of whom make their careers in NY State, improving the life of us all)

Where our research takes us.

Research in Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook

String theoryParticle physicsQuark gluon plasma/RHIC

Atomic physics

Astronomy

Condensed Matter, Statistical mechanics, atmospheric science, planetary science …

Cosmology, 3O background

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Stony Brook Physics and Astronomy research is discovering the secrets of the universe from the first moment of the big bang to the nature of the atom and nucleus, to the development of new techniques for communication and computing.

A few examples follow:

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NASA simulation

2. We discovered that the stars formed much earlier in the history of the universe than thought – and this affects the way the universe evolves.

1. We have found that powerful gamma ray bursts (discovered by military satellites!) explained by rapidly rotating black holes that make enormous dynamos.

X-ray image of fibroblast

3. Our department has made innovative X-ray microscopes that can see details unavailable in microscopes using light or electrons.

4. Long term studies of molecules in the upper atmosphere have brought understanding of the ozone hole over the poles, and led to a program to cure the problem.

Mountain ridge in Antarctica named after Stony Brook professor

5. High temperature superconducters could transform our lives – cheap powerful magnets for transportation, communication, medical imaging. We are investigating how they work to push the frontiers for new materials.

Buckminster Fullerene compounds

6. New circuits for computing are being developed, with industry partnerships, to provide the steps for computing after silicon chip technology reaches its limit. Based on low temperature quantum devices.

~1014 synapses

7. Chemical self-assembly of molecular electron devices on prefabricated nanowire structures. The resulting circuits are expected to evolve into neural networks that simulate the cerebral cortex but work ~100,000 times faster.

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The wavefunction for an atomic electron measured using a ‘quantum camera’.

8. Ultrafast laser pulses can be used to ‘sculpt’ new molecules and probe the nature of chemical reactions.

Ring Imaging Cherenkov counter to tag the electrons

There is the electron.

9. Our students and faculty have built large detectors to search for the quark gluon plasma at Brookhaven Lab – a state of matter not seen since the first million-millionth second after the big bang. One of the signatures requires finding an electron in the presence of 1000’s of other particles produced in gold – gold collisions at very high temperature and density.

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Cosmic ray

ET

image of the sun

10. Our particle physicists led the discovery of the top quark – the last constituent of matter.

11. Stony Brook physicists working underground in Japan detect neutrinos from space and from the sun; they discovered that neutrinos have mass. The ratio of top quark to neutrino mass is 100 trillion! (why is that?)

event in 100,000 ton H2O detector