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Upcoming Events
HET and HEE Seminars
High Energy Theory Seminar: "TBA"
Zimo Sun (IAS Princeton)
April 27, 2026
2:00pm
3:00pm
Condensed and Living Matter Seminars
Special Condensed and Living Matter and CSLM seminar: Super-spreading and condensation of aligned swimmers
Sriram Ramaswamy (Indian Institute of Science)
April 27, 2026
3:00pm
4:00pm
After a brief introduction to active systems, my talk will discuss aspects of the collective behaviour of motile particles in a fluid, with emphasis on the case of a globally favoured axis of motion. We show…
Symposiums
Charting the Cosmos: From Distance Ladders to Precision Cosmology
A Symposium in Honor of 2026 Franklin Medalist Wendy Freedman
Wendy Freedman (University of Chicago)
April 29, 2026
9:00am
3:30pm
Registration Required:
The Center for Particle Cosmology is honoring Wendy Freedman, recipient of the 2026 Benjamin…
Condensed and Living Matter Seminars
Condensed and Living Matter Seminar: Creativity by Compositionality in Generative Diffusion Models
Matthieu Wyart (Johns Hopkins University)
April 29, 2026
3:30pm
5:00pm
Diffusion models have shown remarkable success in generating high-dimensional data such as images and language – a feat only possible if data has strong underlying structure. Understanding deep generative models thus…
Astro Seminars
Astrophysics Seminar: Pulsar Timing Arrays: a new window into the gravitational-wave sky
Gabriela Sato-Polito (IAS)
April 29, 2026
3:30pm
4:30pm
Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) consist of a set of regularly monitored millisecond pulsars with extremely stable rotational periods that are used as precise cosmic clocks. The arrival time of pulses can be altered by…
Astro Seminars
Astrophysics Seminar: Searching for new particles and astrophysical phenomena with CMB and large-scale structure surveys
Sam Goldstein (Columbia University)
May 6, 2026
3:30pm
4:30pm
High-resolution cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large-scale structure (LSS) surveys are opening a new era of precision cosmology. In this talk, I will discuss several signals that we can search for with these…
Department News
Professor Mat Madhavacheril awarded the 2026 New Horizons in Physics Prize
April 20, 2026
This year's
New Horizons in Physics Prize
was awarded to Professor
Mat Madhavacheril
“for advances in cosmic microw
Congratulations to the Department of Physics and Astronomy’s Student Award Winners!
April 8, 2026
The Department Colloquium awards will be given out is on Wednesday, April 8th at 3:30pm in DRL A8
Spring 2026 Department Student Prizes and Awards
Symposium to honor 2026 Franklin Medalist Wendy Freedman - Schedule Release
April 2, 2026
On Wednesday, April 29, the Center for Particle Cosmology will be hosting a one-day symposium to honor 2026 Franklin medalist, Wendy Freedman. Dr.
Professor Josh Klein Awarded Ira H. Abrams Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching
March 20, 2026
This year's Ira H. Abrams Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching in the School of Arts and Sciences was awarded to Professor Josh Klein.
Peter Harnish Recognized with Models of Innovation Award
March 11, 2026
Since 1999, this award, previously named the Models of Excellence Award, has recognized staff member accomplishments that reflect initiative, leadership, increased efficiency, and a deep commitment
Mapping the expanding cosmos: Dark Energy Survey unveils clearest picture yet
March 10, 2026
The universe is vast, and although scientists have known for nearly a century that it is getting larger over time, they expected that gravity would slow that expansion.
Astrophysics & Cosmology
Fourteen full-time faculty members are joined by staff, postdocs, and students in research on astrophysics and cosmology.
Condensed Matter
The Condensed Matter research at Penn is organized around three broadly defined groups: Quantum Matter, Soft Matter and Living Matter.
Particle Physics
The Particle Physics group at Penn studies the fundamental forces of Nature, early universe cosmology and mathematical physics.
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