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  • FASER
    Embarking on new detector research at CERN

The Institute for Fundamental Science (IFS) enhances the experimental, theoretical, and astronomy research activities at the University of Oregon. IFS is one of several centers and institutes supported by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, and maintains close relationships with the Department of Physics, the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Mathematics, and the Materials Science Institute.

The institute hosts visiting scientists, supports graduate and undergraduate student research, facilitates interaction between the experimental activities and theoretical investigations of IFS members, and fosters communication of research to the broader community.

IFS members have major involvement in international collaborations including the ATLAS and FASER Experiments at CERN, LIGO’s gravitational wave observatories, and others.  We have vigorous programs of research in astronomy and astrophysics; condensed matter theory and statistical mechanics; data science; mathematics; particle theory; quantum information and quantum optics; and the International Linear Collider project.


Center Activities

Dr. Tien-Tien Yu Receives Prestigious PECASE Award from President Biden

IFS particle physicist and UO associate professor Tien-Tien Yu has been awarded the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). From the Office of the White House:

Today, President Biden awarded nearly 400 scientists and engineers the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.

Established by President Clinton in 1996, PECASE recognizes scientists and engineers who show exceptional potential for leadership early in

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IFS Seminar January 15, 2025: Aditya Parikh (Stony Brook)

Probing Dark Matter Microphysics Using Stellar Streams

Speaker: Aditya Parikh (Stony Brook University)

Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Time: 4:00 – 5:00 pm

Location: 472 Willamette Hall (IFS Seminar Room)

Abstract:

If dark matter has strong self-interactions, future astrophysical and cosmological observations, together with a clearer understanding of baryonic feedback effects, might be used to extract the velocity dependence of the dark matter scattering rate. To interpret such data, we should understand what predictions for this quantity are made by various models of the underlying ...

CERN70: Preparing for the future

12 December 2024

Gian Giudice is Head of CERN’s Theoretical Physics department

Source || Part 23 of the CERN70 Series
Advancements in fundamental knowledge have always been driven by a dialogue between theory and experiment. Theory sometimes opens up new avenues of exploration, which experimentalists then venture into and either validate them or, on the contrary, find a new direction for their research. Experimentalists sometimes produce a completely unexpected result that requires an explanation, a theoretical framework. From CERN’s earliest days, its founders recognised the ...