News
On Earth, navigation is a reliable blue dot. In deep space, GPS disappears.
Researchers are preparing an experiment for Purdue 1, the 2027 space mission with an all-Boilermaker crew, to study laser-cooled atoms in microgravity and advance quantum positioning, navigation and timing, or Q-PNT, toward satellite-independent navigation for space and Earth, with Shengwang Du, the Scifres Family Professor in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of physics and astronomy, quoted in the article.
A single unexplained event offers a new clue in the search for dark matter
Deep underground in South Dakota, scientists searching for dark matter have found something they cannot easily explain. Purdue physicist Shilo Xia helped coordinate simulations behind the latest results from the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment
Purdue astronomers uncover massive structures in the young universe
An international team of astronomers has discovered the most distant galaxy supercluster progenitor ever observed. The discovery supports existing theories of how galaxy clusters evolve, and reveals how they are connected to the larger cosmic web. The study relies largely on data from the ODIN survey, conducted with the U.S. Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope in Chile.
2025-2026 Physics and Astronomy Interactions Newsletter
Welcome to the Special Summer 2025-2026 edition of Interactions, an annual publication for Purdue's Department of Physics and Astronomy. Interactions online highlights exciting published research, faculty spotlights, students, alumni, and achievement recognitions.
2 Purdue AI research projects selected among the first Genesis Mission awards
Two Purdue University faculty are leading separate projects recently announced for funding by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission awards. Purdue is the only university in Indiana to lead projects under AI-focused research awards. Wei Xie, professor of physics and astronomy, was one of the awardees.
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