November 2020 News

Photo credit: Yale Physics Department/Karsten Heeger

Physics majors welcomed into department in annual hoodie ceremony

November 6, 2020
The Yale University Physics Department officially welcomed 47 newly-declared undergraduate majors in physics, physics (intensive), physics and geosciences, physics and...

Thierry Emonet (Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology) "How insects find their targets in a chaotic world"

November 3, 2020
From Yale News (November 3, 2020), “How insects find their targets in a chaotic world” Insects use a well-honed sense of smell to transmit diseases, destroy crops, and...
In this graphic, which illustrates the idea of coherent perfect absorption, a complex input electromagnetic wave is “perfectly” absorbed by the small black rod in the middle. The surrounding grey rods, meanwhile, are non-absorbing and reflect or refract the waves. Only with this special input wave is it possible to trap all the energy within the structure, where it is completely absorbed. (Courtesy of A. Douglas Stone)

Douglas Stone (Carl A. Morse Professor of Applied Physics) "Breaking symmetries for a new generation of materials"

November 2, 2020
From Yale News (October 29, 2020), “Breaking symmetries for a new generation of materials” A new generation of materials, engineered at the microscopic level, is poised to...