Research, teaching and outreach in Physics at UW–Madison
Awards and Honors
Deniz Yavuz elected Fellow of the American Physical Society
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Deniz Yavuz
Congratulations to Prof. Deniz Yavuz, who was elected a 2025 Fellow of the American Physical Society!
He was elected “for outstanding experimental and theoretical contributions to nanoscale localization of atoms with electromagnetically induced transparency and collective radiation effects in atomic ensembles,” and nominated by the Division of Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics (DAMOP).
APS Fellowship is a distinct honor signifying recognition by one’s professional peers for outstanding contributions to physics. Each year, no more than one half of one percent of the Society’s membership is recognized by this honor.
Congrats to Vladimir Zhdankin, assistant professor of physics, on earning a Department of Energy Early Career award! The five-year award will fund his research on energy and entropy in collisionless, turbulent plasmas.
Systems in equilibrium are easy to describe, but often the most interesting questions in nature are complex and dynamic. Most plasmas, including astrophysical ones and manmade ones on earth, are not in equilibrium, so they are more difficult to characterize. Zhdankin’s research is working toward a more universal understanding of non-equilibrium plasmas, in the form of mathematical equations that can then be broadly applied.
“We think that our understanding of plasmas isn’t finished yet, and there are still some basic ingredients in the statistical mechanics which, once we understand better, we’ll have a more predictive framework for how plasmas should behave,” Zhdankin says.
Collisionless plasmas have a low enough particle density where the particles largely flow without bumping into each other. Instead, their trajectories are controlled by the electric and magnetic field, which leads to a generally chaotic flow, like the rapids of a river. It is that dynamic turbulence that causes these plasmas to be non-equilibrium, leading to interesting, if not straightforward, properties.
“In these systems, energy is conserved — it has to be,” Zhdankin says. “But we don’t quite have a handle on what’s happening with the entropy. We have reason to believe it’s increasing, consistent with the second law of thermodynamics, but it doesn’t seem to reach a maximum.”
Zhdankin’s goal is to better understand the energy and entropy in these complex plasmas through “particle-in-cell” simulations, where tens of billions of plasma particles — electrons and protons — are simulated in a small box, then manipulated in various ways.
“We imagine stirring the plasma to make it more turbulent and putting some energy into it, and then we want to see how it heats up and how the particles achieve higher energies,” Zhdankin says. “What if we increase or decrease the size of the box? Make the magnetic field stronger? Make the particles collide a little bit?”
The simulations can then be compared to real-world data, including measurements of the solar wind or laboratory plasmas. An ideal outcome would be obtaining formulae that better describe these complex, turbulent plasmas and can be applied across a broad range of systems, from laboratory experiments to the accretion flows of black holes.
“And there’s a chance we’re just not going to be able to get something predictive out of this work, if there’s just too big of a landscape of possibilities,” Zhdankin says. “But this topic, I consider it one of the most fundamental ones that could be studied in plasma physics.”
Hilldale Undergraduate Award Winners in Physics
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Four physics majors have earned 2025 Hilldale Fellowships. They are:
Ruben Aguiló Schuurs, Computer Sciences and Physics major, working with Mark Saffman
Zijian Hao, Astronomy – Physics and Physics major, working with Paul Terry (Physics)
Nathaniel Tanglin, Astronomy – Physics and Physics major, working with Elena D’Onghia (Astronomy)
Michael Zhao, AMEP and Physics major, working with Saverio Spagnolie (Mathematics)
Additionally, Qing Huang, a Data Science, Information Science, and Statistics major working with Gary Shiu (Physics) also earned an award.
The Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowship provides research training and support to undergraduates. Students have the opportunity to undertake their own independent research project under the mentorship of UW–Madison faculty or research/instructional academic staff. Please Note: Graduate students are ineligible to serve as the project advisor. Approximately 97 – 100 Hilldale awards are available each year.
The student researcher receives a $4,000 stipend (purpose unrestricted) and the faculty/staff research advisor receives $1,000 to help offset research costs (e.g., supplies, books for the research, student travel related to the project). The project advisor can decline the $1,000 if it is not needed to support the student’s research. Declined project advisor funds are pooled to offer additional Hilldale Fellowships.
Roman Kuzmin earns NSF CAREER Award
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Roman Kuzmin
Congrats to Roman Kuzmin, the Dunson Cheng Assistant Professor of Physics, for being selected for an NSF CAREER award. The 5-year award will support Kuzmin and his group’s research on understanding fluxonium qubits and how their properties can be used to simulate the collective behavior of quantum materials.
Superconducting qubits are one promising technology for quantum computing, and the best-studied type is the transmon. Kuzmin’s work will investigate the fluxonium type, which he expects to be an improvement over transmons because they have demonstrated higher coherence, and their ground and first excited state are better separated from other energy levels.
“These properties make fluxonium behave similar to a magnetic moment, or like a magnetic atom, which we can fabricate in the lab and tune its properties,” Kuzmin says. “Things become interesting when interactions are very strong, and you need to involve many-body physics to describe them. We plan to build circuits which recreate the behavior of these complicated systems so that we have better control and can study multiple collective phenomena that appear in materials with magnetic impurities.”
In the lab, this research will be explored by building circuits with fluxonium qubits, capacitors, and inductors, which are further combined into more complicated circuits. The circuits will be used to test theoretical predictions of such behaviors as quantum phase transitions, entanglement scaling, and localization.
In addition to an innovative research component, NSF proposals require that the research has broader societal impacts, such as developing a competitive STEM workforce or increasing public understanding of science. Kuzmin plans to expand his work in the department’s Wonders of Physics program. This past February, he helped build a wave machine (with Steve Narf) to visually demonstrate patterns of interference, and he performed in all eight shows. His group has also participated in TeachQuantum, a summer research program for Wisconsin high school teachers run through HQAN, the NSF-funded Quantum Leap Challenge Institute that UW–Madison is a part of.
“One of the goals of this proposal is to introduce more quantum physics to the annual Wonders of Physics show; another is to provide hands-on training for high school teachers in my lab,” Kuzmin says. “Together, these activities will increase K-12 students’ engagement with quantum science and technology.”
The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is an NSF-wide activity that offers the Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.
Four professors earn promotions, including tenure for Ke Fang
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Congratulations to Associate Professor Ke Fang on her promotion with tenure, to Professor Justin Vandenbroucke on his promotion to full professor, and to Profs. Dan Hooper and Britton Plourde who were both granted tenure!
Ke Fang
Prof. Fang is an experimental particle astrophysicist and WIPAC investigator who studies the origins of subatomic particles and their fundamental nature by detecting messengers from throughout the universe. She has made major contributions to the analysis of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory, the IceCube Observatory and the NASA Fermi satellite.
In 2021, Fang received the Shakti P. Duggal Award for Early Career Contributions in Cosmic Ray Physics. In 2023, she received the NSF CAREER award. In 2024, she was named a Sloan Fellow. Later that year, she was named the inaugural recipient of the Bernice Durand Faculty Fellowship, a departmental award named in honor of Durand, one of the first two women faculty members in the UW–Madison physics department. She also served as the US spokesperson for HAWC in 2023-2025.
“Ke Fang is one of the most impactful astroparticle phenomenologists of her generation,” says physics department chair and professor Kevin Black. “Her work is highly original and broad with strong implications for the emerging area of multi-messenger astronomy and particle astrophysics.”
Justin Vandenbroucke
Prof. Vandenbroucke is also a WIPAC investigator and experimental particle astrophysicist. He joined the department in 2013. His main research focus is in multi-messenger astrophysics, including neutrino astronomy, gamma-ray astronomy, and cosmic rays. He is a member of the IceCube collaboration and the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory consortium and is an affiliate member of the Fermi LAT and VERITAS collaborations.
Vandenbroucke was previously promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2019. He was named a Vilas Associate from 2023-2025, and was a co-recipient of UW2020 awards in 2018 and 2020. He also leads the Distributed Electronic Cosmic-Ray Observatory (DECO), a citizen science project that enables users around the world to detect cosmic rays and other energetic particles with their cell phones and tablets.
“Justin Vandenbroucke is an outstanding experimentalist who, at the same time, develops creative and challenging data analysis projects that have led to scientific results published in highly cited papers,” Black says. “He does this in two different fields, gamma-ray and neutrino astrophysics, and is a leader in both.”
Dan Hooper
Prof. Hooper, PhD’03 was named the director of WIPAC and joined the physics faculty as a full professor in 2024. He is a theoretical particle astrophysicist whose research focuses on the interface between particle physics and cosmology. His work has spanned the areas of dark matter, high-energy neutrino astronomy, gamma-ray astronomy and cosmic-rays. He is the author of several books and co- hosts the physics podcast “Why This Universe?” breaking down some of some of the biggest ideas in physics into easily digestible chunks.
“Dan Hooper is a singular figure in his field, a stand-out leader in terms of scientific impact whose ideas cast a wide influence on the study of high energy theory, dark matter phenomenology, collider physics, astroparticle physics, and the direct experimental and observational search for dark matter,” Black says.
Britton Plourde
Prof. Plourde joined the department as a full professor in 2024 from Syracuse University. He is an experimental condensed matter physicist who studies superconducting quantum circuits. He is currently on a half-time leave at UW–Madison and works with Qolab, a quantum computing startup company based in Madison. Plourde was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2024 in the Division of Quantum Information, and in 2023 was elevated to Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
“Britton Plourde is internationally recognized for his contributions in the field of low-temperature physics and superconducting quantum circuits,” Black says. “He has made significant contributions in the field of superconducting quantum computing and is best known in the community for his works on superconducting qubits, left-handed and quantum metamaterials, and, more recently, for studies of decoherence sources and suppression of errors in superconducting quantum circuits.”
Natasha Kassulke and Alisa King-Klemperer contributed to this story
Karle, Lu lead team awarded Research Forward funding
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) hosts the Research Forward initiative to stimulate and support highly innovative and groundbreaking research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The initiative is supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and will provide funding for 1–2 years, depending on the needs and scope of the project.
Albrecht KarleLu Lu
Research Forward seeks to support collaborative, multidisciplinary, multi-investigator research projects that are high-risk, high-impact, and transformative. It seeks to fund research projects that have the potential to fundamentally transform a field of study as well as projects that require significant development prior to the submission of applications for external funding. Collaborative research proposals are welcome from within any of the four divisions (Arts & Humanities, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences), as are cross-divisional collaborations.
Nine projects were chosen for funding in Round 5 of Research Forward (2025), including one from Physics:
From radiation therapy to the high energy universe: Generative AI for particle tracking
Artificial intelligence is rapidly expanding across all fields of science, particularly in physics. The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for groundbreaking advancements in artificial intelligence that have led to significant discoveries in various physics applications. This project uses a specific type of AI, generative AI, to achieve breakthroughs in diverse particle physics research applications.
Analyzing and understanding the results of high-energy particle interactions using traditional methods requires immense computing resources. Even a single particle collision can involve billions of calculations. This research will enable substantial shortcuts in calculating the outcomes of particle interactions for fundamental physics and astrophysics.
The collaborative research between physicists and computer scientists will significantly improve data use, enabling discoveries that would otherwise be impossible. Medical physics applications, such as radiation therapy, are also envisioned.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Albrecht Karle, professor of physics
CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS
Yong Jae, associate professor of computer science
Lu Lu, assistant professor of physics
CO-INVESTIGATOR
Benedikt Riedel, computing manager for WIPAC
Bill Foster earns University Staff Recognition Award
Ten University Staff members — including physics instrument maker Bill Foster — have been honored with 2025 University Staff Recognition Awards for their contributions to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The recipients have been recognized by colleagues for teamwork, dedication to excellence, problem-solving abilities and innovative approach to their jobs.
Foster is in his 36th year as an accomplished instrument maker and welder at the Physics Instrument Shop in Chamberlin Hall. He has not only fabricated scientific research equipment, but he has also contributed to many other research departments across the university and beyond. Very particular and detailed in his work, Foster takes the time to thoroughly research projects. Foster is also regarded as a master welder, particularly known for his vacuum and Ultra High Vacuum welding abilities. He’s worked on projects that include vacuum chambers, telescope chambers for testing tissue samples, a plant watering system that went aboard the space shuttle and the South African telescope project.
Nathan Wagner named 2025 Astronaut Scholarship Foundation scholar
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This post is adapted from an announcement originally made by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation
For 2025, a total of 74 undergraduate students from 51 universities and colleges across the United States will each receive up to $15,000. ASF will present this year’s Astronaut Scholars during its Innovators Symposium & Gala featuring the Neil Armstrong™ Award of Excellence on Aug. 13-16, 2025, at the Omni Houston Hotel in Houston, Texas.
Asked what the scholarship means to him, Wagner says:
“I’m humbled to receive this award — it’s a huge honor to represent UW–Madison and its Physics Department on the national level. The Astronaut Scholarship and its benefits are very inspiring and promise to provide years of guidance and mentorship to my fellow 2025 ASF peers and I. I thank the UW–Madison ASF liaison office and its selection committee for nominating me for national consideration. I also thank the many advisors, faculty, primary investigators, supervisors, staff, mentors and family who have supported me to this time in my life. I’m sincerely grateful for the recognition and commit to supporting ASF’s challenge to continue work that will push the boundaries of science and technology.”
“I am thrilled to see Nathan Wagner receiving this recognition for his exceptional dedication and ability as an undergraduate scholar contributing at the forefront of research in atomic and quantum physics,” says UW–Madison physics professor Mark Saffman, Wagner’s research advisor.
Adds UW–Madison physics professor Deniz Yavuz, Wagner’s academic advisor, “Nathan is one of the best undergraduate students that I have ever interacted with. I expect great things from him, and he is fully deserving of this award.”
ASF’s Astronaut Scholarship is offered to junior and senior-year college students pursuing degrees in STEM. The process begins with nominations from professors or faculty members at an ASF-partnering university. Upon selection, each student receives a scholarship up to $15,000. Additional highlights include exclusive mentorship and professional networking with astronauts, alumni and industry leaders. Astronaut Scholars also take part in the Michael Collins Family Professional Development Program and receive a fully funded trip to attend ASF’s Innovators Symposium & Gala, including a technical conference where Astronaut Scholars showcase their cutting-edge research.
ASF awarded its first seven $1,000 scholarships in 1986 to pay tribute to the pioneering Mercury 7 Astronauts — Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton. The program was championed by the six surviving Mercury 7 Astronauts, along with Betty Grissom (widow of Gus Grissom), Dr. William Douglas (Project Mercury’s flight surgeon) and Orlando philanthropist Henri Landwirth. What began as a powerful tribute, quickly evolved into a national commitment to support exceptional college students pursuing degrees in STEM. Since then, over the past 40 years, more than $10 million has been awarded to more than 850 college students.
Matt Otten earns Air Force Young Investigator Research Program award
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Matt Otten has won an Air Force Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) award, offered through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
The program intends to support early-career scientists and engineers who show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research. Nearly 40 awards were expected to be made in this cycle.
The three-year, $450,000 award will fund a postdoctoral fellow in Otten’s group, who will work on quantum characterization, verification, and validation (QCVV) of quantum computers. QCVV asks if a quantum computer is working and what the device’s limitations are, in an effort to engineer a better system in future iterations.
With any quantum computer, researchers input different tasks and calculations under different conditions, then receive back some classical data that describes the quantum state. Otten describes what happens between input and output as “a black box.”
“Our work is trying to open that black box and put in physics,” Otten says. “And we’re starting from a good place: we already have good models of what those qubits do and how they’re supposed to behave, and we can fit the parameters of the model to the observations of the data.”
Otten’s group will collaborate with experimentalists on their quantum computers. If the data fit the model, it suggests that the quantum computer is behaving as predicted and that the researchers understand the full process. But if the date do not — and given that a major impediment to quantum computing has been understanding and controlling errors, this scenario is more likely — then the researchers will need to determine why.
“That’s the goal of the research, to develop the techniques so that we can tie the errors that we see in the data to a physical source for that error, and then we can give feedback to the experimentalists,” Otten says. “And maybe they can tell me what went wrong without doing this complicated QCVV, but as we build bigger and bigger systems, this problem becomes harder to solve.”
Gage Erwin named DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellow
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This post is adapted from the DOE’s announcement regarding the Computational Science Fellows
Congrats to physics PhD student Gage Erwin on being named a U.S. Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellow!
Gage Erwin
The 2025-2026 incoming fellows will learn to apply high-performance computing (HPC) to research in disciplines including machine learning, quantum computing, chemistry, astrophysics, computational biology, energy, engineering and applied mathematics.
The program, established in 1991 and funded by the DOE’s Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), trains top leaders in computational science.
“We are so pleased to congratulate the 30 new fellows,” said Ceren Susut, Associate Director of Science for DOE’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research program. “Each of these incredibly talented people has demonstrated both outstanding academic achievement and tremendous research potential. Their research topics cover some of the highest priorities of the Department of Energy, including quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and science and engineering for energy and nuclear security.”
Fellows receive support that includes a stipend, tuition, and fees, and an annual academic allowance. Renewable for up to four years, the fellowship is guided by a comprehensive program of study that requires focused coursework in science and engineering, computer science, applied mathematics and HPC. It also includes a three-month practicum at one of 22 DOE-approved sites across the country, and an annual meeting where fellows present their research in poster and talk formats.
