Physics
Showing 351-398 of 398 Results
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Risa Wechsler
Director, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), Humanities and Sciences Professor and Professor of Physics and of Particle Physics and Astrophysics
BioRisa Wechsler is the Humanities and Sciences Professor and the Director of the Kavli Institute of Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology. She is also Professor of Physics (H&S) and Professor of Particle Physics & Astrophysics (SLAC), Director of the Center for Decoding the Universe, and an Associate Director at Stanford Data Science. She is a cosmologist whose work investigates some of the biggest outstanding questions about our universe — how it formed, what it is made of, how it is structured, and what its future holds.
Her research focuses on understanding the evolution of galaxies, the large-scale structure of the universe, and the nature of dark matter and dark energy. She uses large numerical simulations, theoretical models, and the largest observed maps of the universe to explore these forces that shape the cosmos. Her recent work also investigates the formation and cosmological context of the Milky Way and probes dark matter through small-scale cosmic structure, and explores how data science and AI/ML can drive new understanding. Wechsler has played key leadership roles in major international collaborations including the Dark Energy Survey, Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, and Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and time, a decade-long survey that will reveal the dynamic universe in unprecedented detail. She is recently involved in the Via Survey, which will map the Milky Way at high precision to probe dark matter physics in new ways.
Wechsler is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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Kevin Wells
Adm Svcs Admstr 2, Physics
Current Role at StanfordExecutive Director, Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics
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Carl Wieman
Cheriton Family Professor and Professor of Physics and of Education, Emeritus
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsThe Wieman group’s research generally focuses on the nature of expertise in science and engineering, particularly physics, and how that expertise is best learned, measured, and taught. This involves a range of approaches, including individual cognitive interviews, laboratory experiments, and classroom interventions with controls for comparisons. We are also looking at how different classroom practices impact the attitudes and learning of different demographic groups.
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Yecun Wu
Postdoctoral Scholar, Physics
BioDr. Yecun Wu is a postdoctoral scholar in the physics department at Stanford University, working with Prof. Steven Chu. His research interests encompass a range of interdisciplinary fields, including quantum sensing, quantum materials, energy storage, and sustainability. Dr. Wu's current research aims to tackle the pressing issues and challenges in the energy field by utilizing quantum technology. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, where he worked with Prof. Yi Cui and collaborating closely with Prof. Harold Y. Hwang. During his doctoral studies, he developed innovative methods to control the properties of two-dimensional materials using guest species, which opened new avenues for their use in quantum and energy applications.
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Lin Xin
Postdoctoral Scholar, Physics
BioLin Xin is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Physics Department at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology, following undergraduate studies at Shanghai Jiaotong University. His current research centers on advancing optical control of interactions among laser-cooled atoms, with an eye towards applications in quantum simulation, metrology, and computation. He has developed protocols in quantum optimal control for entanglement-enhanced eigenstates in spinor Bose-Einstein condensates.
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CHENHANG XU
Postdoctoral Scholar, Physics
BioI am a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in the Zong/Hwang group. I received my undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), where I specialized in pulsed laser deposition, the synthesis of complex oxide materials and MeV ultrafast electron diffraction (UED).
My research focuses on ultrafast structural dynamics in quantum materials using techniques such as MeV-UED, ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM), time-resolved X-ray diffraction, and pump–probe optical spectroscopy. These time-resolved probes are integrated with advanced and highly tunable sample environments, including in situ strain engineering and electrostatic gating, to actively control competing electronic, structural, and ferroic orders. This capability enables the design, discovery, and quantitative understanding of nonequilibrium phases, transient orders, and metastable states in quantum materials. -
Mason Yearian
Professor of Physics, Emeritus
BioMason received his PhD in physics at Stanford University. Later, he served as an assistant professor, associate professor, and professor at Stanford. Past research includes developing detectors for X-ray and gamma ray astronomy, and work on the GRO/EGRET experiments. Mason also developed a computer-based curriculum for teaching introductory physics courses in high schools and universities.
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Chao Yin
Postdoctoral Scholar, Physics
BioChao Yin is a Q-FARM Bloch Fellow at Stanford University. He earned his B.Sc. in Physics from Peking University (2016–2020), and completed his Ph.D. in Physics at University of Colorado Boulder (2020–2025) under the supervision of Prof. Andrew Lucas. His research interests include quantum information, condensed matter theory, and mathematical physics.
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Zhefu Yu
Postdoctoral Scholar, Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research aims to understand how supermassive black holes (SMBHs) grow over cosmic time, one of the key questions in astrophysics.
I have done substantial work in accurately measuring the mass of SMBHs through reverberation mapping (RM). In particular, I derived a new relationship between the radius of the Mg II broad line region and the continuum luminosity of the active galactic nuclei (AGN) based on the OzDES RM project, which is critical for SMBH mass measurements and demographic studies in cosmic noon – the peak of AGN activity. I have also done extensive work in understanding the accretion physics in both AGN and quiescent SMBHs.
Now my work focuses on better understanding the accretion onto SMBHs, the major path of SMBH growth. I collaborate closely with the XOC group and the Rubin LSST team in KIPAC. My research probes the inner most region of the AGN accretion disk through joint analysis of the X-ray spectral and timing data. I will also probe the accretion disk through time domain analysis of the LSST data in the near future. -
Richard Zare
Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor of Natural Science and Professor, by courtesy, of Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research group is exploring a variety of topics that range from the basic understanding of chemical reaction dynamics to the nature of the chemical contents of single cells.
Under thermal conditions nature seems to hide the details of how elementary reactions occur through a series of averages over reagent velocity, internal energy, impact parameter, and orientation. To discover the effects of these variables on reactivity, it is necessary to carry out studies of chemical reactions far from equilibrium in which the states of the reactants are more sharply restricted and can be varied in a controlled manner. My research group is attempting to meet this tough experimental challenge through a number of laser techniques that prepare reactants in specific quantum states and probe the quantum state distributions of the resulting products. It is our belief that such state-to-state information gives the deepest insight into the forces that operate in the breaking of old bonds and the making of new ones.
Space does not permit a full description of these projects, and I earnestly invite correspondence. The following examples are representative:
The simplest of all neutral bimolecular reactions is the exchange reaction H H2 -> H2 H. We are studying this system and various isotopic cousins using a tunable UV laser pulse to photodissociate HBr (DBr) and hence create fast H (D) atoms of known translational energy in the presence of H2 and/or D2 and using a laser multiphoton ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer to detect the nascent molecular products in a quantum-state-specific manner by means of an imaging technique. It is expected that these product state distributions will provide a key test of the adequacy of various advanced theoretical schemes for modeling this reaction.
Analytical efforts involve the use of capillary zone electrophoresis, two-step laser desorption laser multiphoton ionization mass spectrometry, cavity ring-down spectroscopy, and Hadamard transform time-of-flight mass spectrometry. We believe these methods can revolutionize trace analysis, particularly of biomolecules in cells. -
Alfred Zong
Assistant Professor of Physics and Applied Physics
BioI am an assistant professor in the Departments of Physics and of Applied Physics, and my group focuses on the study of light-induced non-equilibrium phenomena in quantum materials. To capture the ultrafast dynamics on the nanoscale, we develop a variety of techniques such as ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy, attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, and coherent diffraction imaging. These time-resolved probes are integrated with a complex sample environment such as in-situ strain and electrostatic gating in order to design, discover, and understand non-equilibrium phases of quantum materials.
We are seeking motivated undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs to join the group. Please email me directly to discuss opportunities.
For more details, check out the group website at https://zonglab.stanford.edu/
