Author: Nathanael Black

In Print: Testing the molecular cloud paradigm for ultra-high-energy gamma ray emission

Portraits of 3 astrophysics graduate students
PhD Candiates Rhiannon Turner, Samuel Groetsch, and Mahsa Najafi, co-authors on a new paper in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Graduate students and researchers from the Department of Physics are collaborators on a new paper published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Ph.D. candidate Rhiannon Turner is the paper’s lead author. Co-authors include Ph.D. candidates Samuel Groetsch and Mahsa Najafi, as well as Petra Huentemeyer and Xiaojie Wang.

The paper is titled “Testing the molecular cloud paradigm for ultra-high-energy gamma ray emission from the direction of SNR G106.3+2.7.” In it, the authors explore a PeVatron candidate located in the northern part of our galaxy’s plane and aim to answer a long-standing question for the region — where are the PeV cosmic rays being accelerated?

“When most people think of astronomy, they imagine the night sky sparkling with stars, or our Milky Way galaxy painted across the sky. However, there is an entire astrophysical world untouchable by the naked eye,” said Turner, the paper’s corresponding author. “The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory is a wide-field gamma-ray observatory located in Puebla, Mexico, that is operated by a worldwide collaboration. HAWC surveys two-thirds of the sky throughout the day and is sensitive to particles with energies ranging from 100s GeV to 100s TeV, which is about a trillion times more energetic than visible light. These highly energetic particles give us a way to probe extreme astrophysical objects, like Galactic pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe), electron-positron winds surrounding a fast-rotating neutron star (or pulsar); and shell-type supernova remnants (SNRs), the ejecta and shock fronts left behind after a star’s core collapse and explosion. These objects are able to accelerate particles known as cosmic-rays up to PeV (10^15 eV) energies. These types of accelerators are known as Pevatrons.”

In the paper, HAWC collaborators present an updated analysis on the Boomerang region, which is home to two possible PeVatrons: supernova remnant G106.3+2.7 and the boomerang shaped pulsar wind nebula from pulsar J2229+6114. This analysis probes the highest energy emission for this region (>56 TeV) and utilizes molecular clouds, dense regions of molecular hydrogen, to model the region’s shape.

“This modeling technique has not previously been used for a PeVatron study, but the good spatial coincidence between the molecular cloud and the gamma-ray emission in this region provides confirmation that this new avenue for PeVatron identification could help close the information gap for which astrophysical objects accelerate cosmic-rays to PeV energies,” said Turner.


About the Physics Department

Physicists at Michigan Technological University help students apply academic concepts to real-world issues. Our physicists take on the big questions to discover how the universe works—from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies. The Physics Department offers three undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees. Supercharge your physics skills to meet the demands of a technology-driven society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math. Graduate with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to solve real-world problems and succeed in academia, research, and tomorrow’s high-tech business landscape.

Questions? Contact us at physics@mtu.edu. Follow us on FacebookTwitter, and YouTube for the latest happenings. Or read more at the Physics Newsblog.

Faculty Position

Image of Michigan Tech campus from above
Michigan Technological University
Est. 1885

The Department of Physics at Michigan Technological University (MTU) seeks a candidate to fill a faculty position as a tenure-track Assistant Professor or higher level in Optics, to begin in August 2025. Preference will be given to candidates with experience in quantum optics, optical sensing, polaritonics, or photonic quantum computation. However, researchers displaying excellence in any areas of optics that complement the activities of current physics faculty at MTU are encouraged to apply. The successful candidate will receive support from the Elizabeth and Richard Henes Center for Quantum Phenomena (https://www.mtu.edu/quantum/), housed within the department.

Required qualifications include a Ph.D. in Physics or a closely related field, postdoctoral experience, and a proven publication record. Candidates should demonstrate commitment to teaching and mentoring at undergraduate and graduate levels. 

Please apply online at https://www.employment.mtu.edu/cw/en-us/job/493716/assistantprofessor-optics, including vita, statements of research interests and teaching philosophy, and contact information for three references. Application evaluation will begin January 6, 2025, and continue until the position is filled. Detailed information about the department can be found at https://www.mtu.edu/physics/. 

MTU is Michigan’s flagship technological university and will be a Carnegie-classified R1 institution in 2025. The university provides its graduates with an extremely high return on investment through its academic rigor and focus on experiential learning. Located near the shore of Lake Superior in Michigan’s scenic Upper Peninsula, the university provides a high standard of living. The community offers a small-town environment with outstanding four-season recreational opportunities.

MTU is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. 


About the Physics Department

Physicists at Michigan Technological University help students apply academic concepts to real-world issues. Our physicists take on the big questions to discover how the universe works—from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies. The Physics Department offers three undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees. Supercharge your physics skills to meet the demands of a technology-driven society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math. Graduate with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to solve real-world problems and succeed in academia, research, and tomorrow’s high-tech business landscape.

Questions? Contact us at physics@mtu.edu. Follow us on FacebookTwitter, and YouTube for the latest happenings. Or read more at the Physics Newsblog.

The Reactive INTERFACE Force Field

Professor Ravindra Pandey
Professor Ravindra Pandey

A team including Michigan Tech research groups led by Ravi Pandey and Greg Odegard (MAE) has published a research article in Nature Communications. The title is “Implementing reactivity in molecular dynamics simulations with harmonic force fields.”

The research highlights the development of the Reactive INTERFACE Force Field (IFF-R) for molecular dynamics simulations for various material systems, including molecules, nanotubes, metals and polymer composites. The newly developed IFF-R, which incorporates specific chemical environments and electronic structure effects as needed, is both accurate and efficient. IFF-R calculations use significantly fewer computational resources compared to current reactive force fields to predict the structural and mechanical properties of complex biological and material structures, from atomic to micrometer scales.

Recent physics alum Geeta Sachdeva (PhD ’22) was a key contributor to this project. The research groups of Hendrik Heinz of the University of Colorado Boulder, Adri van Duin of Penn State, and Pieter J. in ‘t Veld of BASF, Germany also collaborated on the study.

The work was partially supported by grant NNX17AJ32G from the NASA Space Technology Research Institute for Ultra-Strong Composites by Computational Design to Michigan Tech.


About the Physics Department

Physicists at Michigan Technological University help students apply academic concepts to real-world issues. Our physicists take on the big questions to discover how the universe works—from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies. The Physics Department offers three undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees. Supercharge your physics skills to meet the demands of a technology-driven society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math. Graduate with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to solve real-world problems and succeed in academia, research, and tomorrow’s high-tech business landscape.

Questions? Contact us at physics@mtu.edu. Follow us on FacebookTwitter, and YouTube for the latest happenings. Or read more at the Physics Newsblog.

Carly Robinson inducted into College of Sciences and Arts Academy

The College of Sciences and Arts has inducted physics alum Dr. Carly Robinson (BS ’07) into the College of Sciences and Arts Academy.

Dr. Robinson currently serves as Assistant Director for Information Products and Services at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information. As an undergraduate at Michigan Tech, Robinson worked with Dr. Will Cantrell to study the effect of biomass burning on cirrus cloud formation.

The College of Sciences and Arts Academy recognizes Michigan Tech graduates who have distinguished themselves in their professions and made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of the College of Sciences and Arts, Michigan Technological University, and society.


About the Physics Department

Physicists at Michigan Technological University help students apply academic concepts to real-world issues. Our physicists take on the big questions to discover how the universe works—from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies. The Physics Department offers three undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees. Supercharge your physics skills to meet the demands of a technology-driven society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math. Graduate with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to solve real-world problems and succeed in academia, research, and tomorrow’s high-tech business landscape.

Questions? Contact us at physics@mtu.edu. Follow us on FacebookTwitter, and YouTube for the latest happenings. Or read more at the Physics Newsblog.

Claudio Mazzoleni and Will Cantrell Receive 2024 Juan Fernandez de la Mora Prize

Claudio Mazzoleni
Claudio Mazzoleni
Will Cantrell
Will Cantrell

Professor Claudio Mazzoleni (Physics) and Dean/Professor Will Cantrell (GS/Physics) are recipients of the 2024 Juan Fernandez de la Mora Prize from the American Association for Aerosol Research.

The prize recognizes Mazzoleni and Cantrell’s contributions to experimental research in aerosol science. Their group will receive a differential mobility analyzer (DMA) as a gift from Professor Juan Fernandez de la Mora, a faculty member at Yale University, to measure size distributions of nanometer particles at high resolution.

About the Juan Fernandez de la Mora Prize 

The study of nanometer particles at high resolution has been held back by the limited number of research groups having high-resolution nano-DMAs. To stimulate research in the field, a prototype of a Half-Mini DMA (1,2), which has been developed by Dr. Juan Fernandez de la Mora, a faculty member at Yale University, will be awarded by the AAAR to an AAAR member. One instrument will be awarded each year as a gift from Juan Fernandez de la Mora, and the license to operate it is a gift from the NanoEngineering Corporation (NEC).


About the Physics Department

Physicists at Michigan Technological University help students apply academic concepts to real-world issues. Our physicists take on the big questions to discover how the universe works—from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies. The Physics Department offers three undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees. Supercharge your physics skills to meet the demands of a technology-driven society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math. Graduate with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to solve real-world problems and succeed in academia, research, and tomorrow’s high-tech business landscape.

Questions? Contact us at physics@mtu.edu. Follow us on FacebookTwitter, and YouTube for the latest happenings. Or read more at the Physics Newsblog.

APS CU*iP at Michigan Tech

CU*iP 2025
Conferences for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP)

We’re pleased to share that the American Physical Society has chosen Michigan Tech as a host institution for one of fifteen Conferences for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP) being held nationwide in 2025. CU*iP are three-day regional events for undergraduate women and gender minority physics majors to network and build their careers in physics.

The conference will be held January 24 – 26 with applications opening August 26. Detailed information can be found at the CU*iP at Michigan Tech website. Members of the Michigan Tech community are invited to apply to attend the conference, which will feature a grad school and career carnival in addition to the structured programming.

CU*iP conferences are sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation and by the Department of Energy. CU*iP at Michigan Tech is also made possible by support from multiple divisions within the university.

About Women in Physics at MTU

WiP at MTU hosts monthly Tutorials (open to all MTU students) to help build technical skills. Recent tutorials have featured introductions to Latex, MATLAB, and in Fall 2024 we’re featuring Python. We also invite speakers to campus about once a semester to tell us about exciting careers and build connections off campus. We provide community outreach to local schools. All of our programming is aimed at promoting women and gender minorities who want to pursue careers in STEM fields. Meetings and events are open to all students at MTU. Find out more on our involvement link here, or visit us on Instagram.


About the Physics Department

Physicists at Michigan Technological University help students apply academic concepts to real-world issues. Our physicists take on the big questions to discover how the universe works—from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies. The Physics Department offers three undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees. Supercharge your physics skills to meet the demands of a technology-driven society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math. Graduate with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to solve real-world problems and succeed in academia, research, and tomorrow’s high-tech business landscape.

Questions? Contact us at physics@mtu.edu. Follow us on FacebookTwitter, and YouTube for the latest happenings. Or read more at the Physics Newsblog.APS CU*iP at Michigan Technological University

Professor Huentemeyer, Other Project Leaders Select Site for Southern Wide-Field Gamma-Ray Observatory

Michigan Tech is a key contributor to the construction planning of the Southern Wide-Field Gamma-Ray Observatory (SWGO), a cutting-edge facility that will enable researchers to observe very-high- to ultra-high-energy gamma rays from cosmic sources.

Petra Huentemeyer - Gamma-Ray Observatory
Distinguished Professor of Physics Petra Huentemeyer, Vice-spokesperson for the Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory.

The project’s leaders, including the director of Michigan Tech’s Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences Institute, Petra Huentemeyer, have selected Pampa La Bola in Chile as the future site of the Gamma-Ray Observatory, which will be the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

“Selecting the site for an Gamma-Ray Observatory is a major milestone on the path toward building it,” said Huentemeyer. “The fact that we reached a decision in such an effective manner really speaks to the strength of our collaboration of 15 countries.”

Gamma-Ray Observatory - array of detectors
A large array of detectors will allow SWGO to measure cosmic rays up to the PeV scale. Image credit Richard White, MPIK via swgo.org

Read more about the SWGO project at Michigan Tech News.


About the Physics Department

Physicists at Michigan Technological University help students apply academic concepts to real-world issues. Our physicists take on the big questions to discover how the universe works—from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies. The Physics Department offers three undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees. Supercharge your physics skills to meet the demands of a technology-driven society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math. Graduate with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to solve real-world problems and succeed in academia, research, and tomorrow’s high-tech business landscape.

Questions? Contact us at physics@mtu.edu. Follow us on FacebookTwitter, and YouTube for the latest happenings. Or read more at the Physics Newsblog.

Best Wishes to Prof. Ramy El-Ganainy

We say goodbye this month to Professor Ramy El-Ganainy, and wish him the very best as he takes a new position with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at St. Louis University. Ramy joined our department in 2013. His contributions to teaching, research, and service have been significant. His research work has brought national and international visibility to Michigan Tech, and helped grow the department’s program in photonics and quantum optics.

We will miss Ramy and wish him great success in the next step of his academic career

Department faculty and staff with Professor El-Ganainy
Best Wishes Ramy!

About Ramy El-Ganainy

El-Ganainy is a professor of physics. Recently, he joined the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems as a guest scientist for one year. He was elected by the Board of Directors of Optica (formerly OSA), Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, to the Society’s 2023 Fellow Class for seminal contributions in the fields of non-Hermitian photonics, parity-time symmetry, and optical supersymmetry. His research interests span a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from classical optics to computational techniques for radiation-matter interactions. He has published 175+ papers and given more than 10 conference presentations.


About the Physics Department

Physicists at Michigan Technological University help students apply academic concepts to real-world issues. Our physicists take on the big questions to discover how the universe works—from the smallest particles to the largest galaxies. The Physics Department offers three undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees. Supercharge your physics skills to meet the demands of a technology-driven society at a flagship public research university powered by science, technology, engineering, and math. Graduate with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience needed to solve real-world problems and succeed in academia, research, and tomorrow’s high-tech business landscape.

Questions? Contact us at physics@mtu.edu. Follow us on FacebookTwitter, and YouTube for the latest happenings. Or read more at the Physics Newsblog.

Professor Emeritus Bryan Suits Passes Away

Professor Bryan Suits
Professor Bryan Suits
Suits One String Guitar
Dr. Suits demonstrating a one string guitar in his Physics Behind Music course.

Bryan Suits, a professor in the Department of Physics from 1985 to 2023, passed away this month.

Bryan’s primary research focus was nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). His most cited work concerned remote sensing by nuclear quadrupole resonance, applied to problems such as explosives detection. Notably, the NMR spectrometers and processing electronics in Bryan’s lab contained almost no commercial instruments. Everything was Bryan Suits’ brand, designed and built by him and his students. He couldn’t find any instruments matching the impedance of his coils, and phase-sensitive detector and boxcars were not fast enough for him, so he simply built everything himself.

Bryan was also a regular contributor to the American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher, writing on wide-ranging topics from frequency and pitch, to the propagation of typos, to long pendulums in gravitational gradients. The latter was inspired by Bryan’s historical research into early 20th century pendulum experiments conducted in the Tamarack Mine by Michigan Tech Physics faculty. In 2005, these were recognized by Guinness World Records as the World’s Longest Pendulum thanks to Bryan’s efforts (the piano wire and iron weights were hung 4,250 feet down Shaft No. 5, and the pendulum period was a remarkable 70 seconds).

Bryan answered the call of duty to serve as department chair during Physics’ crucial and extraordinarily difficult transition to a significant focus on research. Afterward, Bryan dedicated himself to teaching. His experimental skills became invaluable assets for our students. He developed a state-of-the-art electronics lab that accompanied his lectures. The lab wasn’t just based on computer simulations; instead, students built electronic gadgets from scratch using a soldering iron and basic components.

Bryan received the Michigan Tech teaching award in 2007. He fully deserved it just for that electronics class, but in addition, he developed a highly successful and popular Physics of Music course containing fascinating demonstrations, another example of Bryan’s exceptional experimental abilities. Finally, the many live demonstrations experienced by hundreds of Michigan Tech students in introductory physics courses Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism were developed and refined by Bryan. His legacy of teaching lives on through his demos and through two textbooks he wrote for the courses he developed: “Electronics for Scientists” (Springer, 2020) and “Physics Behind Music” (Cambridge, 2023).

Bryan also had a rich personal life. He raised his family in Houghton. He was a stalwart member of the Physics softball team. He was a musician extraordinaire, performing for many years as the principal flutist of the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra. His artistry on the flute created many memorable performances, including major solos by Debussy, Saint-Saens and Shostakovich. One of his prized accomplishments was rediscovering a lost symphony by astronomer-composer William Herschel (who discovered Uranus). After Bryan edited and rescored it, the KSO premiered the symphony in October 2022. Ten years ago or so, Bryan started to run. He was determined to run and finish the Boston Marathon, and his dream came true when in 2017 he ran in and finished the race.

Bryan’s dry wit, warmth and musicality made a lasting impression on all who knew him.

Read Bryan’s full obituary.

Alumni Profile – Bethany Hellman

2022 alumna Bethany Hellman
2022 graduate Bethany Hellman in the Optical Nanoscopy Lab at the University of Central Florida.

Bethany Hellman graduated in the Spring of 2022 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics. She was an inaugural recipient of The Elizabeth Henes Memorial Award for outstanding undergraduate women in physics. Bethany was a member of the Society of Physics students throughout her time at Michigan Tech, worked as a coach at the Physics Learning Center, and performed experimental research with the guidance of Professor Jacek Borysow. 

In your time at Michigan Tech, what was it like to be a member of the Physics Department? 

I think the best part of the physics department at Tech is the close-knit nature of the  department. Right from the start of my undergraduate degree, we developed good study  strategies and worked together to get through our classes. This cooperation built good team working skills as well as helped with individual understanding of the material.  Additionally, it is easy to talk to and connect with the professors, and it helps make the  department feel less intimidating. The opportunities for travel, whether it be to visit labs and colleges or to attend conferences, really helped integrate me into the STEM community and get a feel for what the field is like and what the field is doing. While it is hard, there were definitely moments where I felt I was getting a good college education.

Can you talk a little bit about your senior research project and what it was like to get  hands-on experience in the lab? 

My senior research involved laser engineering, and I don’t think we praise the hands-on experience enough. It is one thing to learn about the theory and see it all work out nicely on a chalkboard, but when it comes time to do something with that information you need to learn a new set of skills that is unrelated to what we learn in a classroom. Only by fine tuning the transmission through a fiber optic cable and slightly adjusting a mirror to find the perfect spot did I learn that optics requires a lot of patience and fine motor skills. I knew in theory that I needed my seed laser to hit the gain medium of the semiconductor laser, but in practice that gain medium is on the order of micrometers in size; learning how to actually align the optics to get there required trial and error. I honestly loved the research I was doing, and the freedom I had to figure it out on my own helped me develop an independence when it comes to research. I learned how to read manuals, how to troubleshoot, and how to look for other sources on the web when I had a question to answer. It is truly one of the most valuable aspects of my undergraduate degree. 

Do you feel like this experience helped you in your search for graduate schools? 

It definitely did. My research opened my eyes to the field of optics and photonics, and when I applied to graduate school I have no doubt the research I had helped me get accepted into the program I’m in now. It also helped me figure out what exactly I wanted from a graduate program; I really enjoyed the hands-on activity, and after visiting two universities I decided on the one that had a building full of labs instead of classrooms. It has also helped prepare me for graduate level research, which requires a lot of self direction, and it helped develop a base of skills for working in a lab. 

What is it that you are doing now? 

Currently I am working with Dr. Han in his Optical Nanoscopy Lab while pursuing my  doctorate in Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida. The focus of the  lab is super resolution fluorescence microscopy, although currently I am working on phase imaging microscopy (more specifically quadriwave lateral shearing interferometry, or QLSI). As such, I am working on a microscope setup with an LED light source and a camera with a diffraction grating, and down the road I aim to improve the resolution of the setup. It requires learning a lot of new skills, like how to prepare a bead sample or a DNA sample for viewing, a lot of optics, and some coding.  

Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for those who are thinking of becoming a physics major? 

I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that you learn very applicable skills in  physics. It is tough for sure, but with a little perseverance the most important thing you will learn is how to learn. You will learn how to find the answer to your own questions and how to properly understand the information you need. You will learn patience, because I don’t believe it comes easily to any of us, and it may take several times to fully understand a concept. With these skills however, there isn’t anything you can’t learn, and that opens a lot of doors.