News from the Department of Physics and Astronomy

Available position: Ph.D. position in Condensed Matter Theory

2018-12-07

Available position: Research position focusing on studies of electronic structure and charge dynamics in energy materials

2018-12-05

Available position: Forskningsingenjör

2018-12-05

Available position: Tekniker till The Svedberg-laboratoriet

2018-11-30

Available position: Forskare i tillämpad kärnfysik

2018-11-30

Available position: Postdoctoral position in ion physics

2018-11-30

Available position: Tenure Track Position as Associate Senior Lecturer in Physics with specialization in Ion Physics

2018-11-16

Available position: Two or more PhD positions in Theoretical Physics within the subfields of Quantum Field Theory, Supergravity and String Theory

2018-10-23

​World Speed Record for Polymer Simulations

2018-10-01

Star polymers are within the most topologically entangled macromolecules. For a star to move the current theory is that one arm must retract to the branch point. The probability of this event falls exponentially with molecular weight, and a quicker relaxation pathway eventually takes over. With a simulation over a hundred times faster than earlier studies, it is demonstrated that the mean square displacement scales with a power law 1/16 in time, instead of the previously assumed zero. It suggests that star polymer motion is the result of two linear relaxations coinciding in time. By analogy to linear polymers, which reptate with a random walk embedded in a 3D network, we show that star polymers relax by a random walk in a 5D network.

Press Release: Magnetic Antiparticles Offer New Horizons for Information Technologies

2018-08-15

Nanosized magnetic particles called skyrmions are considered highly promising candidates for new data storage and information technologies. Now, physicists have revealed new behaviour involving the antiparticle equivalent of skyrmions in a ferromagnetic material. The researchers demonstrated their findings using advanced computer simulations that can accurately model magnetic properties of nanometre-thick materials.

Research: Neutrinos in the ice indicate source of cosmic rays

2018-07-12

An international research team that includes researchers from Uppsala University and Stockholm University have identified a likely source for the high energy cosmic rays reaching Earth. The discovery was made with the aid of the IceCube Neutrino Telescope at the South Pole in addition to observations made by about twenty different telescopes around the world.

Live Press Conference on Astrophysics Breakthrough

2018-07-12

An announcement of recent multi-messenger astrophysics findings led by the National Science Foundation’s IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. Hosted by NSF Director France Córdova, the briefing will feature leading astrophysicists from across the globe.

Film: Why does the IceCube telescope measure neutrinos at the South Pole?

2018-07-12

TV-inslag i SVT Vetenskapsstudion med Sophie Grape som expert

2018-06-22

Collaboration: New fund for PhD-students established

2018-06-04

Thanks to a donation of USD 40 000, a new scholarship fund has been established for doctoral students at the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The fund will award one scholarship per year to a research student, preferably of Greek origin.

Research: Giant telescope reveals star formation shortly after Big Bang

2018-05-16

In an article in the journal Nature, an international research team reports how, using the giant ALMA and VLT telescopes, they discovered signatures of the elements oxygen and hydrogen from an extremely distant galaxy – so far away that its light has taken 13.3 billion years to reach us. The scientists can now draw conclusions about star formation further back in the Universe’s history than ever before.

Article in Newsweek: Extremely Powerful X-ray Laser Heats Water to 180,000 Degrees in Less than a Trillionth of a Second

2018-05-15

Research: Uppsala researchers create world’s fastest water heater

2018-05-15

In an international collaboration, Uppsala researchers have successfully heated water from room temperature to 100,000 degrees Celsius in less than a millionth of a millionth of a second using an X-ray laser that can be regarded as the world’s fastest water heater.

Research: Magnetic Phase Transitions Become Faster

2018-04-16

The Uppsala researcher Peter Oppeneer at the department of physics and astronomy has together with researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder, USA, shown on a faster magnetic phase transition than what one previously has been able to observe.

Research: 3D-Printing for Fundamental Science

2018-04-11

Researchers at Uppsala University use additive manufacturing for innovative lab solutions.

Research Funding: 3.7 Million Euros for Imaging of Proteins

2018-04-06

The Uppsala researchers Carl Caleman and Erik Marklund have in an European cooperative project been granted 3.7 million Euros for X-ray imaging of proteins.

Research: The importance of the weak

2018-02-13

Researchers at the Division of Material Physics at Uppsala University have shown how the collective dynamics in a structure consisting of interacting magnetic nano-islands can be altered to possess liquid-like qualities, as well as promoting emergent magnetic states. Their findings are published in the scientific journal Nature Physics.

Collaboration: Filmed lecture - The Human Story Lurking behind the Hofstadter Butterfly

2018-02-12

Seminar by Douglas Hofstadter, Indiana University, given on 5 February 2018 in Siegbahnsalen at Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University.

Press release: New method enables high-resolution measurements of magnetism

2018-02-06

In a new article, published in Nature Materials, researchers from Beijing, Uppsala and Jülich have made significant progress allowing very high resolution magnetic measurements. With their method it is possible to measure magnetism of individual atomic planes.

Research: Extra Capacity of Smart Phones Batteries do not depend on Lithium

2018-02-02

The researcher Dr. Laurent Duda and the doctoral student Felix Massel from Uppsala have, together with researchers from the University of Oxford, the University of Kent and the Paul Scherrer Institute, come a long way in finding future lithium free batteries for among other things smart phones and laptops. The new results were published in the journal Nature Chemistry January the 22 2018.

Research: Ultra Fast Change of Volume Discovered in Magnetic Materials

2018-01-26

All magnetic materials show a change of volume if their magnetization changes, but how the process takes place on the shortest time scales is still a mystery. To understand how magnetic changes of volume occur inside the femtosecond range (10^-15s) one needs both new measurement methods and novel theories. An international collaboration of both experimental and theoretical research groups has now managed to come a step closer to the solution of this riddle.

Collaboration: Filmed Lecture by Douglas Hofstadter - Albert Einstein on Light; Light on Albert Einstein

2018-01-23

Lecture by Douglas Hofstadter, Indiana University, given on 18 December 2017 in Siegbahnsalen at Uppsala University’s Ångström Laboratory.

Research Funding: Grants for renewable-energy research

2017-12-08

The Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Energy Agency are collaborating in an initiative to provide project grants for energy-oriented basic research. Which projects to fund in the 2017 call for applications has now been decided. Uppsala University is receiving grants for four projects.

Research: On the hunt for new and peculiar superconductors

2017-10-27

Annica Black-Schaffer wants to understand unconventional superconductors. The fact that she recently received the prestigious ERC Starting Grant and is a former recipient of grants from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation is a testament to the interest in her research. One beckoning application is tomorrow’s supercomputers.

Honorable mention: Henry N. Chapman and Stefano Moretti Named New Honorary Doctors in Physics

2017-09-19

Two new honorary doctors connected to the Department of Physics and Astronomy have been named at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Uppsala University. Henry Chapman, physicist/biophysicist and Stefano Moretti, particle physicist will be conferred Honorary Doctors of Philosophy.

Forskning: A New Level of Magnetic Saturation

2017-07-24

An international group of astronomers including Dr. Oleg Kochukhov from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala University has detected unexpectedly strong magnetic fields on the surface of a few fast rotating M dwarf stars.

Research: Measuring magnetism in 3D

2017-06-08

A team of researchers from Uppsala University, China and Germany have substantially extended the possibilities of an experimental technique called EMCD, that is used for measuring magnetism in materials. The results were published in Nature Communications on May 15 2017.

Collaboration: Seminar with Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek "Time Crystals – New States of Matter"

2017-05-24

Press release: Magnetic order in a two-dimensional molecular chessboard

2017-05-22

Achieving magnetic order in low-dimensional systems consisting of only one or two dimensions has been a research goal for some time. In a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, Uppsala researchers show that magnetic order can be created in a two-dimensional chessboard lattice consisting of organometallic molecules that are only one atomic layer thick.

Education: New study program for people newly arrived in Sweden

2017-02-22

In collaboration with the municipality of Uppsala and the Department of Scandinavian languages, the Department of Physics and Astronomy is organising a preparatory year for those newly arrived in Uppsala who would like to study at the university.

Press release: A new type of nano-sensor detects DNA building blocks

2017-02-13

Researchers from Uppsala University and Brazil have developed a new type of nano-sensor that can detect single molecules. The nano-sensor, comprising a combination of two different materials, has been used to identify the different building blocks in DNA.

Hedersuppdrag: Mats André invald i Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien

2016-12-02

Press release: Collective dynamics in magnetic nano-structures

2016-11-29

Researchers at the Division of Solid-state Physics and the Division of Material Physics at Uppsala University have shown how the collective dynamics in a structure consisting of interacting magnetic nano-islands can be manipulated. Their findings are published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.

Uppsala’s FREIA Lab to help upgrade the Large Hadron Collider

2016-11-02

The world’s largest particle physics laboratory, CERN, and Uppsala University have signed a deal worth SEK 20 million for accelerator development at the University’s FREIA Laboratory.

Research: Rosetta paints a new picture of comets

2016-10-12

A completely changed understanding of comets. This may be the outcome of space probe Rosetta’s twelve-year journey through the solar system, which came to an end on Friday 30 September. Now, researchers continue to discuss how to interpret all the data Rosetta has collected over the years and sent back to earth.

Press release from DLR: Comet lander Philea found

2016-09-05

Press release: Magnetism under the magnifying glass

2016-08-31

Being able to determine magnetic properties of materials with sub-nanometer precision would greatly simplify development of magnetic nano-structures for future spintronic devices.

Article on New Scientist: Impossible vanishing stars could be signs of advanced alien life

2016-08-01

MAX IV – ready to open up a new world

2016-06-21

On 21 June the MAX IV Laboratory in Lund was officially opened – Sweden’s largest ever investment in research infrastructure. The laboratory is the world’s most modern facility for synchrotron light. Here, researchers from across the world can investigate molecular structures and surfaces in more detail than ever before. Uppsala researchers have contributed extensively towards the development and stand ready to make use of the new possibilities.

New combination of materials could speed up computers

2016-06-17

Researchers at Uppsala University have discovered a new combination of materials that paves the way for faster and more effective storage in electronic devices like computers and smartphones. What researchers discovered is that the so-called magnetic damping can be made extremely small, eliminating energy losses in the dynamics of magnetic materials.

Oxygen found in extremely distant galaxy – a new key to the history of the universe

2016-06-16

Using the giant ALMA telescope in Chile, astronomers in Japan, the UK, Sweden and Germany have found oxygen in an extremely distant galaxy – farther away than oxygen has ever been found before. The finding opens the door to new methods of studying galaxies in the universe’s childhood and provides a key to unravelling this enigmatic epoch of the universe’s history when the gas between the galaxies shifted from being neutral to being ionised.

Collaborative project on thermal cameras in teaching

2016-06-16

Jesper Haglund at the Division of Physics Education Research has been awarded 170 000 kr for a project on thermal cameras in teaching in collaboration with the company FLIR.

Prize: Johan Larsson awarded Uppsala University's Pedagogical Prize 2016

2016-05-25

Johan Larsson, a lecturer in the Division of Physics Education Research, Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been awarded the 2016 University Pedagogical Prize in the Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology.

Press release: New method to create terahertz radiation advances materials science

2016-05-23

Uppsala physicists have in an international collaboration developed a new method for creating laser pulses which are shorter, have much higher intensity and cover the THz frequency range better than current sources. The study is published today in the authoritative journal Nature Photonics and is of great importance to materials research.

Article on SBS: Expect the fallout to become worse: Chernobyl 30 years on

2016-04-29

New discovery to increase storage capacity in Lithium-ion batteries

2016-03-24

Researchers from Uppsala University have made new advances in understanding energy storage in Lithium-ion batteries. This will benefit the design of new materials for future batteries with considerable higher storage capacity than today. 

Uppsala physicist ranked as one of Europe’s foremost

2016-03-21

Henrik Johansson, senior lecturer in theoretical physics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy and ranked as one of the foremost researchers in Europe, has been awarded a Swedish Foundations’ Starting Grant.

ERC grant: 1.5 million euros to Theoretical Physics

2015-12-04

Monica Guica has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant of 1.5 million euros for the project "Emergent spacetime and maximally spinning black holes".

Wallenberg Academy Fellow to theoretical physics

2015-12-03

Monica Guica has been appointed Wallenberg Academy Fellow at Uppsala University.

Ulf Danielsson awarded Hedenius Prize 2015

2015-11-23

November 22nd, at the ABF building in Stockholm, Ulf Danielsson awarded for his active divulgation of science through his popular science books, public lectures and frequent partition in various media.

Campus movie about Ångström Laboratory

2015-11-13

Researcher Profile: The hunt for exact results on the smallest building blocks of matter

2015-10-26

The solution to the "confinement problem" is a kind of holy grail of particle physicists. The goal of Joseph Minahan's research project is to find accurate results in gauge theories and string theories that can lead to a better understanding of quantum theory in general. And to get a few steps closer to a solution to this elusive problem the project has just been granted 34 million SEK from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

34 million SEK from Wallenberg Foundation to Theoretical Physics

2015-10-08

Joseph Minahan wins 34 million SEK Wallenberg grant.

90 million SEK from The Knut och Alice Wallenberg Foundation

2015-10-08

A colloquium on this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics

2015-10-06

A colloquium on this year’s Nobel Prize will be given by professor Olga Botner, who is member in the Nobel Committee for Physics, today Tuesday Oct 6 at 16:15 in Siegbahnsalen, Ångström laboratory.

Uppsala University honorary doctor to Margaret Murnane from Boulder Colorado

2015-09-30

Professor Margaret M. Murnane, from University of  Colorado in Boulder (USA), was named an honorary doctor at the Faculty of Science and Technology. She is world-leading expert in ultrafast quantum optics and is well known for her work in high-harmonics generation of laser light, ranging from extreme ultraviolet to soft X-ray region. The ceremony will take place in January 2016.

Two independent and primitive envelopes of the bilobate nucleus of comet 67P

2015-09-29

Star researcher Karin Lind: Hoping for an exciting breakthrough

2015-09-07

As one of six young researchers from around the world, Uppsala researcher Karin Lind has been awarded EUR 1.6 million and her own research team. These will be used to make advances in her research and her theories. At the end of the year she will be leaving Uppsala for the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany.

Research Infrastructure Fellow to build VERITAS beamline at MAX IV

2015-06-26

Researcher Marcus Agåker has been awarded a “Research Infrastructure Fellow” by the Swedish Strategic Foundation (SSF), to build the VERITAS beamline at the MAX IV facility in Lund. VERITAS is a beamline for Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS) in the soft X-ray regime, a technique that has been pioneered in Uppsala. The grant is 15 million Swedish crowns for a period of 5 years.

Builds electronics to new experimental facility (in Swedish)

2015-06-12

Prof. Mehran Salehpour winner of the IBA-Europhysics Prize 2015

2015-06-09

The winner of the 2015 IBA-Europhysics prize for Applied Nuclear Science and Nuclear Methods and Nuclear Methods in Medicine is Prof. Mehran Salehpour at the Division of Applied Nuclear Physics.

New experimental hall in Hamburg is named after Kai Siegbahn

2015-05-31

Jacob Eriksson defended his thesis

2015-05-25

Jacob Eriksson has successfully defended his PhD thesis Neutron Emission Spectrometry for Fusion Reactor Diagnosis: Method Development and Data Analysis.

Five dissertations from Molcond in 2014

2015-05-19

In 2014 there were five dissertations from our division. Congratulations to the new PhDs:

• Susanna Kaufmann Eriksson, "Interfaces in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Studied with Photoelectron Spectroscopy at Elevated Pressures"
• Ieva Bidermane, "Structure and Electronic Properties of Phthalocyanine Films on Metal and Semiconductor Substrates"
• Lage Hedin, "Studies of Single and Multiple Ionization Processes in Rare Gases and some Small Molecules"
• Rebecka Lindblad, "Electronic Structures and Energy Level Alignment in Mesoscopic Solar Cells: A Hard and Soft X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Study"
• Davide Ragazzon, "Titania Nanoscale Films and Surfaces - Surface Science Investigation of Structure and Properties​

The darkness at the end of the time. A book about the universe's dark side by Ulf Danielsson (in Swedish)

2015-05-15

35 million SEK from Wallenberg Foundation to "Geometry and Physics"

2015-04-29

Maxim Zabzine awarded 35 million SEK Wallenberg grant, jointly with Tobias Ekholm.

Uppsala University awards Doctor Honoris Causa to Dipankar Das Sarma

2015-04-23

Professor Dipankar Das Sarma, from Solid State Chemistry Unit at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, will be awarded a honorary degree at Uppsala University. The conferment ceremony will take place in January 2015, and the promotor will be professor Nils Mårtensson. Professor Sarma is a world expert in functional materials.

Magneto-plasmonics of Ni

2015-04-23

Angular resolved reflectivity measurements reveal how the plasmonic properties of Ni anti-dot arrays can be influenced by an external magnetic field.

Life came to Earth with comets (in Swedish)

2015-03-30

Radioinslag i P3 Institutet, SR: Galaxkannibalism uppmuntras av gravitationen

2014-11-29

New ALMA image shows close interaction between Mira and its companion

2014-11-25