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Department of Physics

Columbian College of Arts & Sciences

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Department News

iPhone with social media apps, such as Facebook and Instagram, on home screen

New ‘Shockwave’ Science Tracks Online Hate Speech

Led by physics professor Neil Johnson, a research team created a formula that demonstrates how, why and when hate speech spreads throughout social media.

X-rays from the first flash of GRB 221009A could be detected for weeks as dust in the galaxy scattered light back to observers, appearing as a set of expanding rings. This gif shows the shapes captured by a NASA X-ray telescope. (NASA/Swift/A. Beardmore)

What Makes a Gamma-Ray Burst the ‘Brightest of All Time?’

Doctoral physics student Brendan O’Connor is the lead author of a new study on the massive cosmic explosion detected last October.

Two large satellites out in an open field at night

Astrophysics Student Impacts Earth and Sky

Graduate student Sarah Chastain searches space for cosmic transients—a project that is also opening the field to a diverse new generation of students and schola

Department Newsletter

Read Our Newsletter

Exclusively for alumni, the Department of Physics’ annual newsletter features alumni and department updates as well as event information. If you are one of our alumni, update your contact information with the GW Office of Alumni Relations to start receiving this and other exclusive alumni benefits. And don’t forget to send an email to the department with your life updates for future newsletters.

Latest Issues: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, Fall 2019, Spring 2019

 

Department Colloquium

Physics department colloquium takes place in Corcoran 101 (725 21st NW, Washington DC 20052), usually on Thursdays 4-5pm. Refreshments are provided on the fourth floor from 3:45 p.m.

Update: All department colloquia will be held in a hybrid mode (in-person and on Zoom). Please email [email protected] if you want to get on the mailing list for updates and Zoom links.

There are currently no events available.

Events Archiv

Frances E. Walker Lecture Series

The Frances E. Walker Lecture Series brings prominent women physicists and astrophysicists to campus to highlight their accomplishments and connect mentors with students. The series is supported by the Frances E. Walker Fund for Women in Physics.

Past Frances Walker Lectures

Barry Berman Memorial Lecture Series

The goal of the Barry Berman Memorial Lecture Series is to inspire young people to study medical physics by inviting nationally and internationally prominent scientists to speak on the application of physics principles to medicine. The series was founded in 2011 through a generous gift from one of Berman’s close collaborators and colleagues, Cedric Yu, a faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology.

Professors Berman and Yu formerly worked together under a National Institutes of Health-funded project on radiation cancer therapy.

Past Berman Lectures