Department of Physics
News and Research Spotlights
in the field you're interested in.
Research
First detection of light echoes from behind a black hole
Illustration of X-ray flare and echoes from supermassive black hole
Research
Celebrating IceCube’s first decade of discovery
Logo for IceCube anniversary
Research
From genes to memes: Algorithm may help scientists demystify complex networks
network of fluorescent cells
Research
Normal brain growth curves for children developed
model of child with exposed brain and surrounded by building blocks
Awards and Honors, Research
National Institutes of Health funds neural engineering graduate training program
brain network illustration over laptop credit istock
Research
Elusive mergers of black holes with neutron stars confirmed for first time
illustration of blue neutron star merging into black hole, with colorful swirls surrounding it
Research
New X-ray map reveals the growing supermassive black holes in next-generation survey fields
XMM-Newton image of the 3.2-square-degree ELAIS-S1 field
Awards and Honors, Faculty Announcements
NSF renews funding for Two-Dimensional Crystal Consortium
Roman Engel-Herbert in 2DCC
Awards and Honors, Student Stories
Penn State Learning honors outstanding Guided Study Group leaders
Old Main tower with cherry blossoms
Awards and Honors
Jainendra Jain elected to the National Academy of Sciences
Jainendra Jain
Research
The muon’s magnetic moment fits just fine
Artist’s conception of the mystery of the magnetic moment of the muon
Research, Science Journal, Winter 2021
Beyond the Limits of Observation
This full-sky image of the temperature fluctuations (shown as color differences) in the cosmic microwave background was made from nine years of observations by NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite. These temperature fluctuations are the seeds of galaxies, from a time when the universe was less than 400,000 years old. Credit: NASA