Home - Department of Physics & Astronomy

See all banners

News & Announcements

IT Helpdesk Info
Questions about IT issues? We can help--just use the IT Helpdesk Ticket System. Fill out an IT service/support request , and we'll be in touch.
Windows 7 Upgrades
Windows 7 is no longer supported by Microsoft. If you're still using Windows 7, we need to upgrade your computer to Windows 10. Fill out an IT service/support request.

For the latest updates from the College of Science on COVID-19, read here. Listen to the podcast on KCPW with our own Assistant Professor Michael Vershinin discussing the NSF Rapid Response grant he and Associate Professor Saveez Saffarian received to work on COVID-19.

U Physicists M. Vershinin and S. Saffarian Test Coronavirus Particles Against Temperature and Humidity

One of the biggest unknowns about the coronavirus is how changing seasons will affect its spread. Physicists from the University of Utah have received the university’s first COVID-19-related grant to tackle the question. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant to Michael Vershinin and Saveez Saffarian of the U’s Department of Physics & Astronomy to study the structure of the SARS-COV-2, the coronavirus strain at the center of the pandemic.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update for Spring Semester

Update: Due to the earthquake and aftershocks on March 18, all online classes are canceled until March 19. The University of Utah will shift to all-online instruction beginning March 19 for the rest of spring semester, including finals.

Discovery Points to Origin of Mysterious Ultraviolet Radiation

Billions of lightyears away, gigantic clouds of hydrogen gas produce a special kind of radiation, a type of ultraviolet light known as Lyman-alpha emissions. The enormous clouds emitting the light are Lyman-alpha blobs (LABs). LABs are several times larger than our Milky Way galaxy, yet were only discovered 20 years ago. An extremely powerful energy source is necessary to produce this radiation—think the energy output equivalent of billions of our sun—but scientists debate what that energy source could be.