September, 2026 -- Former CEEM PhD thesis student Rakshya Khatiwada recently won a DOE Early Career award for her research project entitled "Quantum Advantage in Detecting Weak Coherent Signals with Entangled Superconducting Qubits". Rakshya earned her PhD from (then) IUPUI for work done at CEEM. Her thesis work was co-supervised by Ricardo Decca at IUPUI and Mike Snow at IUB. Rakshya won a postdoc position at the University of Washington to work on the ADMX axion search experiment and later accepted a joint position as an assistant professor at Illinois Institute of Technology/Fermilab to develop superconducting qubit-based quantum sensors.
September, 2026 -- IU Physicists Featured in Science Advances Special Issue Celebrating a Century of Quantum Spin
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University nuclear physicists Jinfeng Liao and Mike Snow have coauthored articles in a commemorative issue of Science Advances marking the 100th anniversary of the discovery of quantum spin.
Unlike a spinning top, the quantum "spin" of fundamental particles like electrons, protons, and neutrons never slows down; it is a fixed, quantized property governed by quantum mechanics and relativity. Over the past century, spin has proved essential to understanding the physical world, dictating the structure of the periodic table, binding atomic nuclei, and driving modern quantum computing.
The special issue features two distinct perspectives from the IUB faculty:
The Strong Force: Liao examines spin's role in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), illustrating how it serves as a unifying framework linking the internal structure of protons and neutrons to the collective behavior of strongly interacting matter. Fundamental Symmetries: Snow reflects on spin's impact across modern physics, surveying precision tests of the Standard Model and searches for exotic spin-dependent forces that may help unravel the mysteries of dark matter and spacetime.The measurement of the gluon contribution to the angular momentum of the proton by the STAR Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Lab led by CEEM researchers Scott Wissink and Will Jacobs was prominently featured in Jinfeng’s article.
Together, their contributions highlight how a foundational discovery from a century ago remains at the forefront of nuclear and particle physics research. The whole special issue can be found at: https://www.science.org/toc/sciadv/12/38 .
September 21, 2026 -- The IU nuclear physics group is leading the design, construction, and operation effort for a new 750kg liquid argon detector to run at the Oak Ridge National Lab Spallation Neutron Source over the next 4 years. It will make the most precise measurement of neutrinos scattering from argon nuclei to look for physics beyond the standard model of particle physics.
https://www.idsnews.com/article/2026/09/indiana-university-researchers-1600-pound-particle-detector-proton-beam
May 18, 2026 -- Mike Snow and the IU nuclear physics group are taking a lead role in the BL3 experiment which will measure the neutron lifetime at the NIST neutron source. Here at IU, they are currently testing the superconducting magnet that will sit and the center of the experiment.
July 22, 2025 -- Walter Pettus, Dan Salvat, and Rex Tayloe received an award from DARPA to develop quantum sensors for detection of neutrinos via coherent elastic scattering. Working in collaboration with RTX BBN and Naval Research Lab.
Friday, October 9, 2026 at 4:00 pm - Nuclear Physics Seminar MESH Large Conference Room
APS-DNP Meeting Practice Talks
Speakers -
Michael Van Meter
Applications of Neutron Polarimetry in Searches for Exotic Light Boson Exchange: Theoretical Summary and Experimental Technique https://schedule.aps.org/dnp/2026/events/P07/5
Robert Cabral
Event Reconstruction for the Project 8 Neutrino Mass Experiment
https://schedule.aps.org/dnp/2026/events/C07/2 Samuel Schleich
Results on the Decay of Nature’s Rarest Isotope: 180mTa and Its Unique Stability
https://schedule.aps.org/dnp/2026/events/F07/6
As a permanent tribute to the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF), we are displaying a sector of the IUCF injector magnet outside the Multidisciplinary Engineering and Sciences Hall. The magnet was part of the original test injector constructed for the IU cyclotrons, which operated from 1976-2014.
Multidisciplinary Engineering and Sciences Hall
2401 N. Milo B. Sampson Lane
Bloomington, IN 47408
Phone: (812) 855-9365
