Ohio University Department of Physics and Astronomy

08/10/2026

Congratulations to Miguel Abraham Mojarro who successfully defended his dissertation on Monday 8/3/26. We wish him luck starting his postdoctoral position at UBC in Vancouver in late August.

07/24/2026

Congratulations to our own Dr. Andrea Richard, co-lead on the team that just had their work on the "Magnetic character of the low-energy enhancement in 70Zn" published in Nature!

The low-energy enhancement in the γ-ray strength function of 70Zn is due to magnetic dipole transitions between nuclear states.

03/30/2026

We’re proud to share that a figure from a recent paper, including Prof. Christian Drischler as a co-author, has been selected for the cover of the February issue of EPJA (European Physical Journal A). This recognition highlights the impactful research and creativity within our department. Congratulations to everyone involved in this work.

Here’s the link to the issue:
https://link.springer.com/journal/10050/volumes-and-issues/62-2

Here’s the link to the paper (in that issue):
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epja/s10050-025-01760-w

03/25/2026

03/11/2026

This close to graduating and recruiting! Undergraduate students Sofia Hoffman and Colton Ashcraft are staffing our P&A table at the January Ohio Up Close event to inspire the next generation of physicists 🚀.

09/12/2025

Nice article about the Edwards Accelerator in The Post.

Ohio University’s particle accelerator allows physics students to study and experiment with no limits to their learning.

05/10/2025

From our very own Nohora Hernández.

Trapped ion prepared in a specific pure state follows an exponentially quicker path to relaxation

05/10/2025

What happens when quantum science rewrites 128 years of X-ray technology?
Physicist Saw Wai Hla achieved what was once thought impossible.

“We detected the X-ray signal of a single atom.” – Saw Wai Hla

For the first time, scientists can detect and analyse not thousands of atoms, but just one. A breakthrough with profound implications for materials science, medical diagnostics, and quantum technologies.

🏆 In 2024, Saw Wai Hla was named Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year in Physical Sciences.
👨‍⚖️ In 2025, he returns as a jury member to select the next big discovery.

Now, it’s your turn.
🎯 Are you—or someone you know—pushing the boundaries of physics, quantum science, or materials research?

📢 Nominate or apply now for the Falling Walls Global Call 2025 in Physical Sciences. The winner will present live in Berlin at the Falling Walls Science Summit, 7–9 November 2025.

📅 Deadline: 30 April
🔗 Learn more: https://falling-walls.com/global-call

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Saw Wai Hla is a professor of physics at Ohio University and a physicist at the Argonne National Laboratory . He is also the director of the Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute, Ohio University's largest interdisciplinary institute. He is a world-leading researcher in atomic and molecular manipulation on material surfaces and synchrotron x-ray studies of individual atoms. His research focuses on nano and quantum properties of materials, in particular molecular machines and rare-earth molecular systems for energy applications. He is the recipient of the Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (Experiment) in 2024.

05/03/2025

Congratulations to our 2025 Physics and Astronomy Graduates!!! Great work, we wish you success and happiness in your next chapter!!!

01/28/2025

This past weekend, we had the privilege of participating in the APS Conferences for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP) hosted at Purdue University!

From Friday to Sunday, the event brought together an inspiring community of women and gender minorities in physics from across the Midwest and on line. It was a wonderful opportunity to engage in exciting activities, share experiences, and build connections.

We represented Ohio University with our recruitment table, supported by our department. It was great to see so many enthusiastic students stopping by to learn about the opportunities we offer. The energy and passion they brought were inspiring!