Eberly News

Tagged with Physics
Thirteen first-year college students, including four enrolled in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, connected with West Virginia University in July for a virtual summer camp to get a head start on their college experiences.

The students are part of the First2 STEM Success Network, an INCLUDES Alliance and statewide collaboration supported by the National Science Foundation. The WVU Center for Excellence in STEM Education is one of the five lead organizations in the alliance and WVU was one of nine research immersion host sites this summer. The alliance is working to improve the college enrollment and retention rates of rural, first-generation and other underrepresented undergraduate STEM students from around the state, specifically during their first two years of college, a critical time when many students drop out.

Experience, guidance and community

Thirteen first-year college students, including four enrolled in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, connected with WVU in July for a virtual summer camp to get a head start on their college experiences.

A West Virginia University physicist has created an exact mathematical formula to explain the gravitational wave signals that have been observed from colliding black holes, which serve as a key validation of Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.  

While scientists usually interpret the signals from gravitational waves by comparing them to computer simulations, in 2019, Sean McWilliams offered a more accurate and efficient method for the calculations and interpretations.

Uncovering the invisible universe

Physicist Sean McWilliams has created an exact mathematical formula to explain the gravitational wave signals that have been observed from colliding black holes, which serve as a key validation of Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.

An important breakthrough in how we can understand dead star collisions and the expansion of the universe has been made by an international team that includes researchers with the Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology at West Virginia University. 

They have discovered an unusual pulsar – one of deep space’s magnetized spinning neutron-star ‘lighthouses’ that emits highly focused radio waves from its magnetic poles. 

The newly discovered pulsar (known as PSR J1913+1102) is part of a binary system – which means that it is locked in a fiercely tight orbit with another neutron star. The research has been published in Nature.

How colliding neutron stars could shed light on universal mysteries

An important breakthrough in how we can understand dead star collisions and the expansion of the universe has been made by an international team that includes researchers from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

West Virginia University’s Duncan Lorimer might be the godfather of the fast radio burst, but a pair of international students has taken exploring these mysterious cosmic flashes to a new level.

In 2007, Lorimer was credited for helping discover fast radio bursts - intense, unexplained pulses of energy, light years away, that pop for mere milliseconds. Ever since, only around 100 have been spotted.

But astronomers knew there were more out there. One major obstacle to new discoveries came in the form of researchers having to manually read data plots, recorded by satellite imaging, for hours on end.

Signals from deep space

West Virginia University’s  Duncan Lorimer might be the godfather of the fast radio burst, but a pair of international students has taken exploring these mysterious cosmic flashes to a new level.

The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office has announced the first cohort of Woodburn Fellowship recipients, whose two-year terms start in August 2020. 

The newly established fellowship program is one of the College’s highest honors for faculty. Associate and full professors classified as either tenured, teaching, service or research are eligible. The program will annually recognize exemplary professors who embody the highest potential for accomplishments in teaching, research and/or service in fields spanning the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. 

Woodburn Fellows are expected to be actively and constructively involved in departmental governance, contribute to a collegial work environment and provide mentorship to junior members of their department’s faculty. They will also provide leadership across the college, discipline and community levels. The fellowship includes an award to support professional development, such as travel and research expenses.

Eberly College announces first three Woodburn Fellows

The Eberly College Dean’s Office has announced the first cohort of Woodburn Fellowship recipients, whose two-year terms start in August 2020.

Eberly College announces 2019-2020 outstanding student awards

Congratulations to our outstanding seniors and graduate assistants for 2019-2020!

The West Virginia University Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is ahead of many other universities across the country in offering all biology, chemistry and physics labs online this summer. 

This is the first time WVU has offered all basic labs online. In many classes, it means students can experience even more in the online lab than they could in a face-to-face lab.

WVU offers all biology, chemistry and physics labs online this summer

WVU's Eberly College is ahead of many other universities across the country in offering all biology, chemistry and physics labs online this summer. This is the first time WVU has offered all basic labs online.

Researchers across the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University have moved quickly to donate personal protective equipment from their laboratories to healthcare workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Putting gloves into the right hands

WVU researchers donate protective gear to COVID-19 efforts

West Virginia University Professor of Physics Paul Cassak is among a select group of scientists tackling grand challenges in space in a new series from the American Geophysical Union. 

In celebration of AGU’s centennial, the special series explores major research discoveries over the last century and where research is still needed to address fundamental questions in our understanding of Earth and the solar system. 

Cassak, in collaboration with University of Bergen physicist Michael Hesse, highlighted the past, present and future of magnetic reconnection research in a February 2020 article.

Celebrating the past, present and future of space science

Professor of Physics Paul Cassak is among a select group of scientists tackling grand challenges in space in a new series from the American Geophysical Union.

For more than a decade, astronomers across the globe have wrestled with the perplexities of fast radio bursts — intense, unexplained cosmic flashes of energy, light years away, that pop for mere milliseconds. 

Despite the hundreds of records of these enigmatic sources, researchers have only pinpointed the precise location of four such bursts. 

Now there’s a fifth, detected by a team of international scientists that includes West Virginia University researchers. The finding, which relied on eight telescopes spanning locations from the United Kingdom to China, was published Monday (Jan. 6) in Nature.

In a nearby galaxy, a fast radio burst unravels more questions than answers

For more than a decade, astronomers across the globe have wrestled with the perplexities of fast radio bursts — intense, unexplained cosmic flashes of energy, light years away, that pop for mere milliseconds.