Theoretical physics
News involving the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics
20 November 2019
Evidence for anisotropy of cosmic acceleration
The observed acceleration of the Hubble expansion rate has been attributed to a mysterious ‘dark energy’ which supposedly makes up about 70% of the universe.
10 October 2019
This year's Nobel Prize
As James Peebles, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz are announced as the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in physics, we look at the significance of their work.
The 2019 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to James Peebles for his theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology and to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for their discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.
4 July 2019
Prof Alexander Schekochihin awarded the 2019 Cecelia Payne-Gaposchkin Medal
Professor Alexander Schekochihin has been awarded the Institute of Physics 2019 Cecelia Payne-Gaposchkin Medal and Prize for elucidating the dynamics that regulate the properties of turbulent, magnetised laboratory and astrophysical plasmas.
SETI Institute - An introduction to the research & education programs of SETI
Celebrating its 35th year in 2019, the SETI Institute, founded by Astronomers Carl Sagan, Jill Tarter and Frank Drake, has grown from a small research team focused on searching for radio signals beyond our solar system (as a proxy for intelligent civilizations) to an organization of over 90 PhD scientists representing 23 different academic backgrounds, organized into 6 divisions of research. CEO, Bill Diamond, will describe the multidisciplinary structure and research of the Institute, whose mission is to explore, understand and explain the nature and origins of life in the universe.
Finance & Physicists Lecture
Finance might appear to be a world away from physics and hence from your life. However, whether you take not of it or not, your daily life is governed by markets. Finance is ultimately the study of markets, specifically seen through a financial lens and the understanding of these has ramifications for everything from how much we are paid to where we live and what is available in the supermarket.
15 April 2019
Oxford scientists unlock the properties of turbulence
Our world and the whole Universe is full of turbulent fluids, usually in the plasma state. Most people are familiar with the notion of turbulence. Whether it is the chaotic swirls that appear as you add milk to your coffee or tea or the unpredictable motions of the atmosphere all too familiar to frequent fliers. However, despite this ubiquity, it is exceptionally hard to pin down in precise mathematical terms, with current theories either derived empirically or through dimensional analysis.
13 April 2019
Eric and Wendy Schmidt announced on April 8 that Megan Engel is one of 20 new Schmidt Science Fellows — a program of Schmidt Futures, in partnership with the Rhodes Trust
Eric and Wendy Schmidt today announced the 20 members of the 2019 class of Schmidt Science Fellows – a program of Schmidt Futures, in partnership with the Rhodes Trust – at an event in New York City.
19 September 2018
New £50m physics building opened by Sir Tim Berners-Lee
The University of Oxford has marked the opening of the Beecroft Building, a new 8,950sqm building for experimental and theoretical physics.
World wide web pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee and donor Adrian Beecroft joined the Chancellor, Lord Patten of Barnes, and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson, to officially open the new state-of-the-art facility located in Oxford University’s science area in Parks Road.
12 July 2018
2018 Dirac Medal and Prize awarded to Prof John Chalker
Prof John Chalker has been awarded the 2018 Dirac Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics for:
'his pioneering, deep, and distinctive contributions to condensed-matter theory, particularly in the quantum Hall effect, and to geometrically frustrated magnets.’
You can read more here
12 July 2018
Congratulations John Chalker
Many congratulations to John Chalker who has been awarded the 2018 Dirac Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics for 'his pioneering, deep, and distinctive contributions to condensed-matter theory, particularly in the quantum Hall effect, and to geometrically frustrated magnets.’
You can see more at http://www.iop.org/about/awards/page_71751.html
