News: 2021

September

Infinity category theory offers a bird’s-eye view of mathematics

September 15, 2021

seven illustrations of how to remove a t-shirt demonstrate the mathematical concept of symmetries

Mathematicians have expanded category theory into infinite dimensions, revealing new connections among mathematical concepts. Among them is Prof. Amie Wilkinson, whose commentary on symmetry and "moves" in category theory is helping to shape modern mathematics.


Prof. Young-Kee Kim elected to presidency of the American Physical Society

September 13, 2021

Young-Kee Kim

Prof. Young-Kee Kim, an eminent experimental physicist at the University of Chicago, has been elected future president of the American Physical Society. She will assume the position in 2024, when she will become the ninth UChicago scientist to do so.


Scientists create tiny capsules that can vacuum up or deliver cargo at will

September 9, 2021

Microscopic view of inorganic molecules containing cargo developed by physicists at UChicago and NYU

Prof. William Irvine, of the Department of Physics, James Franke Institute, and Enrico Fermi Institute, and collaborators at New York University have created a way to make tiny mechanical capsules that can pick up, carry, and release cargo on cue. The results, published Sept. 8 in Nature, could potentially have applications in medicine, pollution cleanup, or robotics.


Aloof neutrons may actually ‘talk’ to one another briefly in new kind of symmetry

September 9, 2021

Dam Thanh Son

Dam Thanh Son, the University Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago, laid out the argument that aloof neutrons may actually ‘talk’ to one another briefly in new kind of symmetry in a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which he co-authored with Hans-Werner Hammer of the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany. Their findings propose a new realm of ‘unnuclear physics.'


Asst. Prof. Aaron Elmore receives CAREER Award for resource-efficient databases

September 7, 2021

Aaron Elmore

Aaron Elmore, assistant professor at UChicago Computer Science, develops database models that use intermittent query processing (IQP). The approach grafts machine learning prediction to database processing, providing more efficient computation to systems working with bursty data or intermittent monitoring. As a new recipient of the CAREER award, the National Science Foundation's most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty, Elmore will continue designing these innovative systems for data-driven applications.


PSD in the News - August 2021

September 3, 2021

PSD against a white and turquoise background

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to bring software that makes quantum computing faster to the market, to speed up development of materials that can harness energy from sunlight, and to pioneer US quantum research and design a new internet protocol that manages different types of quantum information encoding.


A new carbon material for better bioelectronics

September 3, 2021

Members of the Tian Group, UChicago

Prof. Bozhi Tian’s group has a newly patented method for fabrication of carbon-based bioelectronic devices and interfaces that could shape therapeutics of the future. The discovery demonstrates electrical biosensing that is more flexible, efficient, and stable.


NSF announces $25 million institute in Chicago for quantum biology research

September 2, 2021

As part of a nationwide initiative to boost research in quantum science, the National Science Foundation will establish a $25 million institute in Chicago to investigate quantum sensing for biology and train the quantum workforce. Headquartered at the University of Chicago and in partnership with Chicago State University, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Harvard University, the institute will be funded for five years.


University awards PSD alumnae Katherine Freese, PhD’84, and Zhenan Bao, SM’93, PhD’95, for professional achievements

September 2, 2021

SIde by side portraits of Katherine Freese and Zhenan Bao, winners of UChicago Alumni awards

The University of Chicago will award two PSD alumnae for their professional achievements in a Nov. 5 ceremony. Katherine Freese, PhD’84, is a professor of physics at the University of Texas at Austin—where she holds the Jeff and Gail Kodosky Endowed Chair in Physics—and professor of physics at Stockholm University in Sweden. Zhenan Bao, SM’93, PhD’95, is department chair and K.K. Lee Professor of Chemical Engineering, and by courtesy, a professor of chemistry and a professor of material science and engineering at Stanford University.


U.S. Department of Energy funds center to build a foundation for quantum chemistry

September 2, 2021

illustration of molecules at the atomic level

UChicago chemists specializing in mathematical physics, materials chemistry, and physical chemistry are part of a team of scientists who have received $3 million in funding to support three years of quantum information science research. Working with Harvard University and Purdue University, the collaboration will try to build the foundations for using quantum computers to model molecules at the atomic level—yielding not only insights that could lead the way to new chemical discoveries, but potentially laying the groundwork for quantum computing as a whole.


New College data science major: From foundations to insight to impact

September 1, 2021

Mike Franklin

A new data science major will help UChicago undergraduates learn how to analyze data and apply it to critical real-world problems in various disciplines. Students also have the option to combine data science with a second major.


UChicago turbocharges quantum computing quest

September 1, 2021

David Awschalom

Crain’s Chicago Business profiles UChicago’s major investment in quantum computing research in hopes of putting itself and Chicago at the forefront of the next big innovation in technology.


President Paul Alivisatos begins tenure with focus on engaging the UChicago community

September 1, 2021

Paul Alivisatos

In a letter sent to members of the University community on his first day in Levi Hall, the leading chemist and new president wrote he will spend the fall in listening and planning sessions. He would like to explore two particular aspects: the UChicago of deep inquiry and scholarship, and the “engaged” UChicago in the world of practice.


August

Internet protocol for different quantum information encoding awarded DOE funding

August 26, 2021

an illustration of light penetrating a quantum scenario

As part of a new $61 million investment from the Department of Energy in quantum research, a consortium of scientists from University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were awarded funding to design a new internet protocol that manages different types of quantum information encoding.


Machine learning provides a shortcut to simulate interactions in materials for solar energy harvesting

August 25, 2021

Artistic representation and diagram depicting how Artificial Intelligence can describe how light is absorbed by a solid, liquid or molecule

Professor of Chemistry Giulia Galli is among a team of scientists at Argonne National Laboratory using machine learning to speed up development of materials that can harness energy from sunlight. The team was able to simplify the solution of the quantum mechanical equations that describe how light is absorbed by a solid, liquid or molecule.