Columbia Physics Department

Columbia Physics Department The Physics Department at Columbia prides itself in a long and d

06/23/2026

Pivot Fellow Axel Saenz Rodriguez used his fellowship to transition from pure math to applied quantum physics, with the goal of developing more sustainable energy sources: https://bit.ly/4a1pyGV

06/23/2026

Six Columbia Engineering students have been named 2026–2027 Fulbright U.S. Student Grant recipients!

Gitika Gorthi BS’26, Eden Knapp BS’26, Sumer Moudgill BS’26, Emilia Topp-Johnson MS’26, Lili Boenigk SEAS'24, and Alon Levin PhD’27 will head abroad to conduct independent research and graduate studies, exploring everything from organ transplantation and solar sail technology to gravitational-wave detection.

Congratulations to our six awardees! Read the announcement: https://bit.ly/4fJnkQd

06/23/2026

How do you find a hidden force of nature? Catch a ghost particle interacting in a bubble chamber! 👻🫧

Because neutrinos have no charge, they don't leave tracks in detectors. Instead, scientists have to look for the charged particles they create when they do interact.

In 1973, CERN’s Gargamelle experiment — a bubble chamber filled with liquid freon — caught a neutrino entering invisibly, interacting and then moving on, again invisibly.

This "neutral current" interaction indicated the existence of a brand-new force carrier: the Z boson.

This historic moment was a major milestone for electroweak theory, according to which the weak force and the electromagnetic force are different versions of the same force.

https://home.cern/science/experiments/gargamelle/

06/23/2026

John Labbate, a second-year PhD student in Columbia Engineering’s Fusion Research Center, is helping advance the science and public understanding of fusion energy’s potential. Working with Professor Carlos Paz-Soldan, Labbate is contributing to research while also creating educational content and leading outreach efforts that inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Learn more about his journey and the future of fusion in the Columbia News article, “Building the Fusion Future.”
https://news.columbia.edu/news/building-fusion-future

06/23/2026

”Whatever you are interested in and get excited about, that is what you should do.”

Some advice to all young researchers and students from physicist Michael Kosterlitz. He was awarded the 2016 physics prize for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions.

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