Research Reflections: A Year of Physics and Astronomy
Research Reflections: A Year of Physics and Astronomy
Over the past year, physics and astronomy faculty at West Virginia University
have proven their commitment to innovation and excellence through their research,
teaching, and service. We asked them to pause for a moment of reflection and
tell us:
What was your most impactful achievement this year? Here's a look at what they had to say.
Dr. Anderson led the project to identify new Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) in
MeerKAT telescope data. This effort resulted in the identification of 237 new
Galactic SNR candidates. If the 237 candidates are confirmed as true SNRs,
it would approximately double the number of known Galactic SNRs in the survey
area, alleviating much of the discrepancy between the known and expected populations.
This work was published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Dr. Bristow's Ultrafast Nanophotonics Group validated a newly built in situ transient
reflection setup for measuring photocarrier dynamics in nano-photocatalysts
under operando chemical reaction conditions. This led to determination of photocarrier
dynamics in Cu2O nanoparticles during the water-gas shift reaction of methane,
the PhD dissertation of Dr. Sunil Gyawali (now at Argonne), and the publication
Review of Scientific Instrument (editor’s pick) and ACS Nano articles.
Dr. Burke-Spolaor's Transient and Black Hole Astrophysics research group detected
two bright radio flashes coming from unidentified celestial sources behind
the Milky Way's nearest galactic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy. The group's
observations from the Very Large Array in New Mexico and the Green Bank Telescope
in West Virginia showed evidence that the Andromeda Galaxy is surrounded by
a hot, diffuse halo of plasma.
Dr. Flagg's group, in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, developed a system to automate position-finding and spectroscopy
of thousands of quantum dots, enabling massive data collection and targeted
fabrication of nanophotonic devices. Such devices will be fundamental components
of future optical quantum computing applications on a chip.
Dr. Fonseca’s group worked within the CHIME and NANOGrav collaborations to explore
novel ways in using radio pulsars and fast radio bursts (FRBs) as tools for
probing unique phenomena. Participating students led a study of FRB properties
using CHIME data that confirmed their sensitivity to the ionized interstellar
medium of our Galaxy, derived the first-ever “model independent” constraint
on turbulence in the IISM, employed “deep learning” methods to confirm correlations
between FRB morphology and apparent “subpopulations” using raw CHIME FRB
data, and developed a unique model for detecting Trojan-like asteroids orbiting
pulsar-binary systems, applying this model to recent NANOGrav data and finding
meaningful upper limits – resulting in Astrophysical Journal (ApJ) and ApJ
Letters submissions.
Dr. Fowler’s group organized and hosted a science team meeting for NASA’s Mars
Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission in May 2025. MAVEN is a
spacecraft that has been orbiting the planet Mars for over 10 years to observe
solar wind interactions with the planet. The week-long science meeting was
attended by around 70 US researchers, including undergraduate student attendees
seeking graduate school opportunities at WVU, and has been well regarded.
Dr. Goodrich’s group continues to be active in the newly launched TRACERS mission
with the objective to measure magnetic reconnection remotely from the cusp
of the magnetosphere. They have also spearheaded the scientific effort
in the West Virginia Space Flight Design Challenge, providing opportunities
for students in West Virginia to design, build, and fly scientific instruments
on sounding rockets launched from Wallops Flight Facility.
Dr. Holcomb’s Magnets, Interfaces, Novel Materials and Devices (MIND) Group
led a collaboration with NASA Goddard (together with the Drs. Bristow,
Johnson, and Romero) on the development and characterization of superconducting
devices for single-photon detection. Graduate student Femi Akinrinola earned
first place in the AVS Applied Surface Science Student Awards Competition
for his work identifying niobium oxide phases using x-ray absorption spectroscopy
measurements performed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Dr. Johnson, in collaboration with colleagues from Chemistry and Health Sciences,
is involved in the development and application of a novel source for
native mass spectrometry. This innovative source enables the study of
proteins, DNA, and other biomolecules in their native (biologically functional)
state. Furthermore, it facilitates rapid investigation of their molecular
dynamics, including drug interactions.
Dr. Koepke's research group published papers on Applicability of bispectral
analysis to causality determination within and between ensembles of unstable
plasma waves; Energetic electron diffusion during controlled magnetic-island
bifurcation; Energetic electron transport in magnetic fields with island
chains and stochastic regions; Time-resolved biphase signatures of quadratic
nonlinearity observed in coupled Alfvén eigenmodes on the DIII-D tokamak;
BicAn: An integrated, open-source framework for polyspectral analysis;
Instantaneous difference-frequency locking observed during toroidicity-induced
Alfven eigenmode coupling in the DIII-D tokamak; Structure and dynamics
of magneto-inertial, differentially rotating laboratory plasmas; understanding
of- and developing plasma physics models for-particle density profiles
in stellarators; and Intensity, duration and motion of auroral arcs.
A collaborative work by Dr. Li’s quantum materials group and Dr. Mandal’s computational
quantum materials group has revealed how electronic correlations enhance
electron–phonon coupling in the high-temperature superconductor single-layer
FeSe, uncovering a new microscopic pathway to unconventional superconductivity
in iron-based materials. The research was recently published in Nano
Letters.
Dr. Lorimer's group discovered a Fast Radio Burst with the Green Bank
Telescope using a realtime processing system that employs deep learning
algorithms to efficiently identify signals of astrophysical origin.
This system is now being extended to search for polarized radio emission
from long-period transients in the Milky Way.
Dr. Mandal’s group recently combined advanced many-body simulations with machine
learning to identify novel quantum materials called altermagnets,
a newly discovered class of magnets distinct from conventional
ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. This collaborative work with
Rutgers University, published in Physical Review Letters, marks
a significant step toward high-fidelity high-throughput computations
for strongly correlated quantum materials.
Dr. McLaughlin continues to serve as Co-Director of NANOGrav, the
North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves,
which aims to characterize the low-frequency gravitational wave
universe through observations of cosmic clocks called pulsars
with large radio telescopes. The team has announced evidence
for a stochastic background of these waves and is currently working
on a more sensitive dataset which will reveal their source, and
in turn unique insights into the evolution and origin of our
universe.
Dr. McWilliams’s theoretical/computational astrophysics group developed and released
a state-of-the-art, first principles-based model for the gravitational
waves emitted by pairs of merging black holes, and demonstrated
its accuracy compared to costly numerical relativity simulations.
Such accurate and efficient models are needed for current and
future observations with laser interferometers like Advanced
LIGO. Two papers detailing the theoretical underpinnings of
the model and its implementation and validation appeared in
Phys. Rev. D.
Dr. Romero’s group co-developed the ALEXANDRIA structural database,
an open collection of over five million density functional
theory (DFT) calculations for 1D, 2D, and 3D materials that
has become a global benchmark for machine-learning in materials
science. Since publication, it has been cited more than 90
times and adopted by Google, Meta, and Microsoft to train
crystal structure prediction models, enabling the largest
AI-driven materials discoveries to date.
In collaboration with researchers at the Naval Research Lab, Dr. Scime's plasma physics
group performed the first detection of ion-acoustic solitons
created by a charged object in a flowing plasma. This phenomenon
may provide an early warning signature of space debris
headed for impact with a spacecraft in Earth orbit. The
work was published in Physics of Plasmas.
Dr. Stanescu’s group has developed new tools for modeling
topological semiconductor superconductor devices in the
presence of "real-life" factors, such as disorder. In
collaboration with the experimental group led by Javad
Shabani (New York University), these tools will help
realizing optimal planar semiconductor-superconductor
Josephson junctions capable of hosting robust topological
phases - a critical step toward engineering topological
qubits.
Dr. Steinberger's Research Group is establishing an experimental low-temperature
plasma research program and has developed an atmospheric-pressure
plasma source designed for controlled, biologically
compatible contact to support plasma-medicine studies.
We are investigating its potential as an adjunct cancer
therapy to selectively target tumor cells, improve
efficacy, and reduce side effects.
Drs. Gay and John Stewart’s Physics Education Research
group is actively pursuing an NSF Funded Collaboration
with Michigan State University and Ohio State University
to develop a suite of conceptual physics assessment
to replace legacy instruments developed 30 years
ago. This will transform physics assessment across
the nation.