News 2024

CMS W boson mass measurement

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 08:01:52 GMT

The CMS collaboration published the most precise measurement of the W Boson mass at LHC so far.
It is in in line with the prediction from the Standard Model of particle physics.

Publication in Science on the hardness of quantum materials simulations

Sun, 27 Oct 2024 23:00:00 GMT

A large team of researchers including the Neupert group at UZH have benchmarked computational methods for simulating quantum many-body systems on a range of iconic model problems.

Welcome Prof. Johanna Nordlander

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 23:00:00 GMT

Prof. Johanna Nordlander is a leading expert in oxide materials discovery

Dectris Prize for Brigitte Decrausaz

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 09:28:49 GMT

Brigitte Decrausaz was awarded the Dectris Prize 2024 for the best experimental physics master thesis at our department on "Magnons in the Multiferroic Ni3TeO6"

First detection of the neutrino fog by XENONnT

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 14:35:42 GMT

The first measurement of solar 8B neutrinos via coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) in XENONnT has been published in Physical Review Letters.

Open Day 2024, 21. & 22. November

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 23:00:00 GMT

Exhibition of research posters in the mechanical workshop and in the Lichthof

Soluyanov Prize for Maryna Mesiura

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 09:29:03 GMT

Maryna Mesiura was awarded the Soluyanov Prize 2024 for the best theoretical physics master thesis at our department on "On the combinations of triangles, memories and gyroscopes"

Group Bzdušek: Spectra of hyperbolic lattices from supercells

Katharina Mueller — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:00:00 GMT

In their latest PRL work, the Bzdušek group formulates a novel method for efficient modelling of hyperbolic lattices. Simultaneously, two associated software packages have been publicly released to make the technique accessible to the broader community.

In Memoriam: Günther Rasche, Wolfgang Jaus

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 13:31:57 GMT

Günther Rasche (5 May 1934 – 14 July 2024)
Wolfgang Jaus (14 January 1938 – 4 July 2024)

Günther Rasche (1934 - 2024) and Wolfgang Jaus (1938 - 2024) both joined the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of Zurich around 1960. At that time, Walter Heitler (1904 - 1981), one of the leading figures in European physics, was working at the University of Zurich, attracting many physicists from all over Europe, including Günther Rasche and Wolfgang Jaus. Both Günther Rasche and Wolfgang Jaus, who both moved to Zurich under Heitler's influence after starting their studies in Germany. A close, often symbiotic collaboration developed between Günther Rasche and Wolfgang Jaus; this also resulted in some important publications in theoretical elementary particle physics that are still valid today. Looking back on their activities at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, now part of the University's Institute of Physics, Günther Rasche and Wolfgang Jaus symbolise the transition from an earlier era of small, very personal groups to the larger, often transnational collaborations in theoretical physics of today.

Vacuum cleaving of superconducting niobium tips

Katharina Mueller — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 23:00:00 GMT

The first 1st-author publication of Carolina Marques (group Natterer) describes vacuum cleaving of superconducting niobium tips to optimize noise filtering and with adjustable gap size for scanning tunneling microscopy.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2023.102483

Welcome Prof. Bjoern Penning

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 23:00:00 GMT

Prof. Bjoern Penning will work on Dark Matter searches with the LZ experiment

Welcome Prof. Marcelle Soares-Santos

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 23:00:00 GMT

Prof. Marcelle Soares-Santos will work in observational cosmology with cosmic surveys and gravitational waves

2023 Buchalter Cosmology Prize for Davide Racco

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 07:51:12 GMT

The work “Footprints of the QCD Crossover on Cosmological Gravitational Waves at Pulsar Timing Arrays”, by Dr. Davide Racco and his collaborators Dr. Gabriele Franciolini and Fabrizio Rompineve, has been awarded with the third prize of the Buchalter Cosmology Prize.

Green light for LISA

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 12:51:18 GMT

The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission to investigate gravitational waves in space has successfully completed the preliminary studies and testing phase. This ESA project has thus reached a major milestone: it has passed the stage of intensive testing by experts in the Mission Adoption Review process.

Extract weak signals by neural network denoising

Katharina Müller — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 23:00:00 GMT

A recent publication in Nature Machine Learning by the groups Neupert, Natterer and Chang shows how weak signals can be extracted by neural network denoising

Welcome Dr. Lídia del Rio

Katharina Müller — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 23:00:00 GMT

As of March 1, 2024, Lidia del Rio joins the Department of Physics as an independent PI, the Essentia Foundation Research Fellow for Quantum Information Theory, funded by the Stichting Essentia Foundation. Dr. del Rio’s research interests are on quantum information theory and foundations of physics. Furthermore she will be invested in outreach and science communication projects at UZH and beyond.

Welcome Dr. Chiara Capelli

Katharina Müller — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 23:00:00 GMT

As of April 1, 2024, Dr. Chiara Capelli joins the Department of Physics as an Ambizione Fellow in the group of Laura Baudis. She will work on optical measurements and weak decays searches with liquid xenon detectors.

SHiP experiment approved

Katharina Müller — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 23:00:00 GMT

Just over ten years after its initial proposal, the SHiP experiment has been approved by the CERN management to start data taking in the next decade! The SHiP experiment is designed to search for extremely weakly interacting particles by using an incredibly intense beam of protons available at the LHC.

The experiment was co-founded by Prof. Nicola Serra and was supported by an SNF-Starting grant in the design phase, where Martina Ferrillo (left) and Dr. Iaroslava Bezshyiko (right) made vital contributions. The approval of the CERN management moves the experiment into the finalization of the design and construction phase – what an exciting time to be part of the experiment!

Group Grazzini: Wtt production paper

Katharina Mueller — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:00:00 GMT

Congratulations: The paper on Wtt production has been published on PRL as Editors’ suggestion!

The production of a top-antitop quark pair in association with a $W$ boson ( $t ¯ t W$ ) is one of the heaviest signatures currently probed at the Large Hadron Collider. Since the first observation reported in 2015, the corresponding rates have been found to be consistently higher than the standard model predictions, which are based on next-to-leading order calculations in the QCD and electroweak interactions. The paper present the first next-to-next-to-leading order QCD computation of $t ¯ t W$ production at hadron colliders.

Quantum transport response of topological hinge modes

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 23:00:00 GMT

Experimentalists from Princeton University, in collaboration with Titus Neupert, have found evidence for quantum coherent transport along the crystal hinges of a topological quantum material. The material in question is bismuth bromide, a so-called higher-order topological insulator. The theory group of Titus Neupert had predicted the existence of such materials in 2017, with various proposed material systems probed with different experimental techniques over the past years. The common feature of such higher-order topological insulators are conducting channels on the crystal hinges which are carrying current free of dissipation. As such, they could be used in future electronics.

The present experiment, for the first time, demonstrates quantum coherent transport through such hinge modes, by demonstrating so-called Aharonov-Bohm oscillations of the conductivity in a magnetic field. While the experiment does not prove the dissipationless nature of current flow, it demonstrates that the current is clearly concentrated at the crystal hinges.

Reference:
Quantum transport response of topological hinge modes
S. Hossain et al., Nature Physics (2024)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-024-02388-1

A novel quantum state in an elemental solid

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 14:04:30 GMT

In collaboration with experimental researchers from Princeton University, the group of Titus Neupert unveiled a new topological state of an elemental arsenic. The work shows that arsenic is a “hybrid” topological material. As such, the 3D semiconductor has special conducting topological states on its surface, as well as a separate set of such states on the hinges of the crystal. Such states are envisioned to carry current at lowest dissipation in future electronic devices.

Based on the findings of this study, arsenic joins in a family of isostructural elements bismuth and antimony, which, respectively, support hinge and surface states only. The results are published in Nature 628, pages 527–533 (2024) (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07203-8).

Beate Heinemann

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 11:03:54 GMT

UZH awarded the honory doctorat to Prof. Dr. Beate Heinemann of the University of Hamburg and the DESY research center for her pioneering role in exploring new phenomena and planning particle accelerators.

Dark matter under Black Hills

Tue, 14 May 2024 13:07:23 GMT

Thanks to new arrival Björn Penning, the University of Zurich is now a member of another epic dark matter experiment.

Deep beneath the Black Hills in the USA, scientists are using a highly sensitive detector to search for dark matter. Since the start of the year, the University of Zurich joined the programme through its new professor Björn Penning. This means that Zurich is now involved in both leading dark matter experiments, and there are already plans for the future...

Deep down below these hills, several particle physics experiments are underway to uncover the secrets of dark matter and neutrinos.

Single-photon detection using large-scale high-temperature MgB₂ sensors

Thu, 16 May 2024 22:00:00 GMT

New publication on single-photon detection in magnesium diboride quantum sensors operating at 20 K by Ilya Charaev and et.al in Nature Communications https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47353-x

Observation of J/ψ decaying to four muons

Sun, 09 Jun 2024 22:00:00 GMT

CMS publication of the first observation of J/ψ decaying to four muons in PRD with a significant contribution of the UZH CMS group

Congratulations to Gabriela Rodrigues Araujo

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 22:00:00 GMT

for winning the CHIPP prize 2024 for the best PhD thesis on Advancing Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Search with LEGEND and MONUMENT, and Exploring Passive Neutrino Detectors with PALEOCCENE

XENONnT measures signals from solar neutrinos

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 22:00:00 GMT

At the IDM conference in L’Aquila (IT), the XENONnT collaboration announced the first measurement of low-energy nuclear recoils from neutrinos produced in nuclear reactions inside the sun, particularly those involving the element boron.
UZH Professor Laura Baudis and her group are involved in the XENONnT experiment with leading contributions to the detector and the analysis.

UzhNEARTH: New exhibition

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 22:00:00 GMT

Art and Science 1600 meter Underground in the Science Pavilion UZH.
The UZHN/EARTH exhibition connects science and art created 1600 m underground. The Sanford
Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota, USA hosts experiments that allow us to better understand the universe. The experiments are located deep underground to minimize the impact of cosmic rays. Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of dark matter research and discover the inspiring artworks of Prof. Gina Gibson.

Chiral kagome superconductivity modulations with residual Fermi arcs

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 09:49:10 GMT

In a recent publication, a collaboration led by Jia-Xin Yin of SUST and including the group of T. Neupert at UZH, report the detection of chiral superconducting gap modulations with residual Fermi arcs in KV₃Sb₅ and CsV₃Sb₅ kagome materials using scanning tunneling experiments at ultra-low temperatures. The authors find a U-shaped superconducting gap with chiral 2a × 2a spatial modulations. Furthermore, quasiparticle interference measurements uncovered segmented Fermi arcs within the superconducting state. These findings suggest that the superconducting order has a chiral pair-density-wave component, offering insights into the interplay of superconductivity and charge-density-wave order in these materials. The results are published in Nature 632, pages 775–781 (2024).