Returning to the new normal, our post-lockdown research and teaching efforts have been booming! Get caught up on what our faculty members and research groups have been up to.
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a method of non-invasive imaging that relies on reflected light to produce high-resolution cross-sectional images. It is typically used for medical imaging and industrial non-destructive testing. Professor Kostadinka Bizheva and her research team developed novel optical technology for non-contact, in-vivo imaging of the cellular structure of the human cornea and limbus. This technology can have a significant impact on how ophthalmologists diagnose potentially blinding corneal and limbal diseases. Published in July 2022 in the Journal of Biomedical Optics, "Line-scanning SD-OCT for in-vivo, non-contact, volumetric, cellular resolution imaging of the human cornea and limbus" has become the top-viewed paper in OCT.
Stay tuned for our Spring/Summer issue, to learn more about this amazing breakthrough!
Brian McNamara has been following the development of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) for almost 3 decades. He is among the lucky astronomers who has been awarded time to use the telescope. His focus will be on an object about 6 billion light years away called Phoenix, a giant galaxy that appears to be forming from its surrounding gas. McNamara and his collaborators will use neon gas at temperatures of several thousand degrees which lies in the mid temperature range of the cooling process. By observing how this mid-temperature gas is distributed throughout the galaxy cluster, the team will track how the enormous energy released by the supermassive black hole is dispersing the gas, a process thought to be an integral part of galaxy formation.
Three years ago, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration produced the first image of a black hole - the supermassive black hole M87*, to be exact. Avery Broderick is a founding member of the EHT and has, together with his research group, developed powerful new computational tools that analyze and interpret the unique data generated by the global array of radio telescopes. In May, the EHT released a second image, this time of supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* - in the centre of the Milky Way. Both M87* and SgrA* are supermassive black holes, but entirely different in nature. SgrA* is smaller and faster than M87*, making Broderick's new analysis and imaging algorithms essential in confirming the second black hole.
We are witnessing an evolution of radio imaging,” Broderick says. “Sgr A* has forced us to contend with image variability, unlocking a new era in radio astronomy in which image dynamics is no longer an obstacle but a new way to learn about the physics of the source.
A single-photon detector and counting module (SPODECT) built by Waterloo’s Quantum Photonics Lab for the International Space Station (ISS) will be used to verify quantum entanglement and test its survivability in space. Waterloo’s SPODECT module is unique in that it will include four single-photon detectors, multi-channel coincidence detection as well as a microcontroller for operation and photon counting, all in a very compact format. The Waterloo project is headed by faculty member Thomas Jennewein, and is led by research associate Joanna Krynski. The work is a partnership of the Quantum Photonics Lab (QPL) with Excelitas Inc. (Canada) who provided the Silicon-APD devices, and Dotfast Consulting (Austria) who provided the internal coincidence detection solution.
Robert Mann and collaborators Joshua Foo, Magdalena Zych, and Cemile Arabci outlined what they describe as a new operational framework for studying space–time superpositions. Rather than using a “top-down” approach to quantize general relativity they instead consider the effects of a black hole’s quantum state on the behaviour of a specific physical device called an Unruh–deWitt detector. This is a hypothetical device that, in their thought experiment, would be placed outside a black hole's event horizon in such a way to yield Hawking radiation. The researchers then consider the effect of the black hole's mass on the output of that detector. This would be analogous to how a Michelson interferometer works, but intead measuring a superposition of masses.
In April 2022, Professor Stefan Idziak was recognized for his remarkable ability to convey complex physical principles to non-science students, and was awarded an Excellence in Science Teaching Award (ESTA). His teaching goes beyond simply learning material, using demonstrations and promoting questions within his classes.
ESTA was established to recognize and reward excellence in teaching and outstanding instructors within the Faculty of Science. This award was initiated by Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor Mario Coniglio in 2011 when he was the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies in the Faculty of Science. Each year, the ESTA award is awarded to a maximum of two candidates from the Faculty of Science who have demonstrated sustained, high quality teaching.
Dr. Karen Cummings, Prof. Robert Hill, and Steve Pfisterer received funding for their project on collaborative group work in introductory science courses. Their grant "Connecting Collaborative Group Work and EDI Goals in Introductory Science Courses" will help Waterloo students make better use of existing collaborative group work opportunities for deep learning and practice building inclusive, equitable groups.
Learning Innovation and Teaching Enhancement (LITE) Seed Grants fund projects investigating innovative approaches to enhancing teaching and fostering deep student learning at Waterloo.
The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) established a new Fellowship Program, naming Donna Strickland one of the first Fellows of CAP. The citation for the inaugural CAP Fellowships reads "for outstanding contributions to physics research and education, for leadership within the Canadian physics community and for inspiring the next generation of physics graduates." She was also awarded the Companion of the Order of Canada medal, and named a Knight of the Legion of Honour.
Three of our graduate students gave award-winning research posters and talks at the 2022 meeting of the Canadian Association of Physicists held at McMaster University in June.
Placing second in the Best Student Poster Presentation, Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (DAMOPC) is Stephane Vinet; placing first in Best Student Oral Presentation Awards, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (DCMMP) is Junjie Yin; and taking an honourable mention in Best Student Oral Presentation, Theoretical Physics (DTP) is Diana Mendez Avalos.
