On April 27 an exciting milestone for the Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) was reached. The 8.4 m primary mirror received its reflective coating. You can watch the process in a short video, and read about it here. This brings the observatory a critical step closer to carrying out its 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). UC Davis is providing significant leadership in this project. Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy J. Anthony Tyson started the project in the 1990s and currently serves as the LSST Chief Scientist. Senior Researcher Craig Lage is down at the site in Chile now and reports that the construction phase of the project is nearly complete.

Tracy has facilitated countless initiatives by graduate students over the years, including, recently, distributing the GradOPS undergraduate research spreadsheet, getting HEPA filter units placed in high-use department spaces, and implementing a new department feedback form to help our department be more responsive to the needs of its community members. Numerous graduate students have stories to tell about how Tracy had helped them, through personally engaging with the TEAM-UP initiative and supporting disabled students through facilities requests and more.

The Nuclear Physics Group, as part of the CMS collaboration, has submitted a paper studying the muon performance of the CMS Experiment from proton-proton to the tough conditions found in a heavy ion collision. The study was led by graduate students Ota Kukral and Jared Jay.

Scattering amplitudes are fundamental objects in quantum theories. Traditionally, one hypothesizes physical requirements such as locality and unitarity. The amplitudes are computed by summing over all physical processes that lead from the initial to the final state. The paper proposes the concept of the Amplituhedron, which eschews these for a platonic ideal of an underlying geometric construct. Physical principles are argued to follow as a corollary. The framework captures the basic essence of quantum dynamics and distills it into fundamental building blocks ,which are not particles or their associated fields. By abstracting the essential features, the authors argue that they can write down a simpler theory, maintaining all the symmetries and simplifying computations.

Physics & Astronomy esteemed staff member Bill Tuck is one of this year’s recipients of the new Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Award! Bill was recognized for his exceptional initiative and positive impact. One of Bill’s seven nominators(!), Lloyd Knox, had this to say about Bill: “The support he provides is excellent because he is both highly competent and he cares. He is on a mission to provide excellent support. It is not just a job.”

Give Day Challenge For UC Davis Give Day this year Professor Lloyd Knox and Chair Richard Scalettar have put up a $5,000 challenge. To encourage students and alumni to give, they will add a $50 gift of their own to the first 100 Give Day gifts to the Odyssey Graduate Fellowship endowment. Can you help us to reach our goal of 100 gifts? Even a $5 gift will trigger a $50 match.

Physics undergraduate student Andrea Lopez Arguello has been selected as a recipient of the Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity and Community for 2023-24. This prestigious award recognizes Andrea’s contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion in support of our campus and great community. The award comes with a $500 monetary prize. Congratulations to Andrea for this well-deserved honor!

UC Davis Physics and Astronomy postdoctoral researcher Eduardo Ibarra-García-Padilla generalizes theory of magnetic patterns to higher numbers of fermion colors