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The Cornell University Department of Physics, known for the versatility of its program, the breadth of its training, and Nobel Prize-winning work, is unsurpassed in many areas. The presence on campus of a particle accelerator, one of just a few of its magnitude anywhere in the world, contributes to Cornell’s reputation in particle and accelerator physics. The department has more than 40 active professors, approximately 180 graduate students and 65 undergraduate majors, and offers a full range of university-level work in physics, from general education courses for nonscientists to doctoral-level independent research.
The Bethe Way is the department's yearly magazine. In it, we share exciting highlights of faculty hires, research breakthroughs, staff changes, teaching reform, faculty awards, and alumni connections.
Thomas Hartman, professor in the Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, is one of two Cornell faculty members elected this year as fellows of the American Physical Society (APS).
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Cornell physicist Brad Ramshaw has been named a 2025 Experimental Physics Investigator – national recognition awarded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to a select group of researchers pushing the boundaries of experimental physics.
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These simulations, developed with significant input from Cornell researchers using code written at Cornell, help scientists analyze gravitational waves observed by the LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA detectors located in the U.S., Italy and Japan.
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After expanding to its peak size about 11 billion years from now, the universe will begin to contract – snapping back like a rubber band to a single point at the end, according to a Cornell physicist.
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A Cornell researcher and collaborators have developed a machine-learning model that encapsulates and quantifies the valuable intuition of human experts in the quest to discover new quantum materials.
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Physics Professor Robert Thorne's company just celebrated 20 years in business and its 25th patent.
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Wang was honored for “original and innovative work on insect flight that provided fundamental insights into unsteady aerodynamics, flight efficiency, flight stability, and neural control, and for opening new dimensions of research in biological fluid dynamics.”
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The Center for Teaching Innovation will host “What Works,” on Oct. 1, featuring presentations, the Canvas Course Spotlight awardees, and a poster showcase that will demonstrate engaged learning approaches from Cornell faculty teaching in a diverse range of courses and fields.
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"On my first day after joining a research group in graduate school a professor said, I hear you’re interested in instrumentation.’ I didn’t know what that was, but I thought I’d better say yes. When people think about physics, they think about a guy with a pencil and paper, but physics is an experimental science.”
- Peter Wittich, Professor and Director, Laboratory of Elementary Particle Physics