News: 2023

April

Meet new Associate KICP Fellow: Ana Martina Botti

April 10, 2023

Ph.D., Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 2019


New calibration of the ‘red giant method’ improves measurement of the Hubble constant

April 3, 2023

In a new paper in Nature Astronomy, Taylor Hoyt –who received his Ph.D from UChicago in 2022 and is currently a researcher in Berkeley Lab’s Physics Division – presents a new approach to calibrating the measurement of the universe’s present day expansion rate.


February

Prof. Michael Gladders is the 2022-2023 recipient of the Marian and Stuart Rice Research Award

February 9, 2023

Prof. Michael Gladders is the 2022-2023 recipient of the Marian and Stuart Rice Research Award, a U. Chicago Physical Sciences Divisional honor that provides funding for intellectually exciting and innovative research ventures that enables new directions of research.


Meet new member: Galen Tsongas, Events Administrator

February 7, 2023

We welcomed a new staff member last week, Galen Tsongas, who will be our Events Administrator in KICP and A&A! Galen will be coordinating events, workshops, conferences, colloquiua, seminars, and visitors.


Erik Shirokoff, astronomer who built instruments to map the universe, 1979-2023

February 3, 2023

Assoc. Prof. Erik Shirokoff, a University of Chicago astronomer who built instruments to understand the earliest ages of the universe, died Jan. 26. He was 43.


“Scientists release newly accurate map of all the matter in the universe”, UChicago News

February 2, 2023

Analysis combines Dark Energy Survey, South Pole Telescope data to understand evolution of universe


January

A coherent story of the Universe from galaxy and CMB surveys

January 31, 2023

Combining data from the Dark Energy Survey and the South Pole Telescope, scientists piece together a coherent story of the Universe from galaxy and CMB surveys. These are some of the most stringent tests of the standard cosmological model using cross-correlations of independent data sets.


“Robert Rosner, 2023 APS President, Takes the Helm”, APS News

January 30, 2023

Robert Rosner likes big questions.
How could nuclear power help humanity in a warming climate? How can physicists better explain their work to the public? And why are magnetic fields… well, everywhere? “The nerve of them, being so ubiquitous,” he says.


Meet new KICP Fellow: Ariane Dekker

January 27, 2023

My research is in theoretical astroparticle physics, with the main focus on dark matter searches. In particular, I developed a structure formation model with which dark matter candidates can be tested using various astrophysical observations. Moreover, I explore the astrophysical sky with X-rays, gamma-rays and high-energy neutrinos to search for dark matter signatures.


“Meet astronomy and astrophysics student, Mandy Chen”, PSD News

January 5, 2023

Mandy Chen was born and raised in Guizhou Province, Southwest China. Before coming to the University of Chicago she was studying at the University of Hong Kong, where she got bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics and astronomy. This is her fifth year as a PhD student in astronomy and astrophysics. Her research focuses on observations of the diffuse circumgalactic medium—the outermost envelopes of galaxies. She says she “seeks to better understand the dynamical state of this diffuse gas, and its connection to the star-formation/supermassive blackhole activities of galaxies and the cosmic baryon cycle in general.”


Meet new KICP Fellow: Jessica Zebrowski

January 3, 2023

Jessica Zebrowski's research centers on understanding cosmic acceleration. She is interested in developing mm-wave instrumentation and data analysis techniques to build pioneering line intensity mapping experiments. These experiments will constrain cosmology by mapping the evolution of large-scale structure over time.