Department of Physics and Astronomy

Faculty Spotlight

Peter Garnavich

The star system, referred to as J0240, is only the second of its kind on record. It was identified in 2020 as an unusual cataclysmic variable — a binary system consisting of a white dwarf star and a mass-donating red star. Normally, the compact white dwarf star collects the donated gas and grows in mass. In J0240, however, the fast-spinning, magnetic white dwarf rejects the donor’s gas and propels it out of the binary system.

“It takes a rapidly spinning dwarf with a strong magnetic field in order to create a propeller,” said Peter Garnavich, professor of astrophysics and cosmology physics and chair of the Department of Physics at Notre Dame, and lead author of the study that presented evidence of the propeller system. “Normally, gas coming off of the donor star will land on the white dwarf. That’s as common as sand on a beach. But in a magnetic propeller, the gas is ejected from the binary in a wide spiral pattern — like a lawn sprinkler watering your yard.”

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Faculty Spotlight

Graham Peaslee

Many cosmetics sold in the United States and Canada likely contain high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a potentially toxic class of chemicals linked to a number of serious health conditions, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame. “These results are particularly concerning when you consider the risk of exposure to the consumer combined with the size and scale of a multibillion-dollar industry that provides these products to millions of consumers daily,” Graham Peaslee, professor of physics at Notre Dame and principal investigator of the study, said. “There’s the individual risk — these are products that are applied around the eyes and mouth with the potential for absorption through the skin or at the tear duct, as well as possible inhalation or ingestion. PFAS is a persistent chemical — when it gets into the bloodstream, it stays there and accumulates. There’s also the additional risk of environmental contamination associated with the manufacture and disposal of these products, which could affect many more people.”

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Faculty Spotlight

Lauren Weiss

Looking up into the night sky, the cosmos might look like a messy jumble of planets and stars. But Lauren Weiss, who joined the Department of Physics as an assistant professor this fall, has discovered patterns in a universe that otherwise seems chaotic.

Weiss is an astrophysicist who studies exoplanets, or planets that orbits stars other than the sun. She observes their masses, compositions, orbits, and other properties, and the patterns she finds in this data help her investigate the origins of planetary system formation. In fact, Weiss explained that planets are often organized in specific configurations with similar spacing and size groupings. This “surprise of finding order where you didn’t expect it” has been her favorite discovery thus far. 

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Faculty Spotlight

Michael Wiescher

Profesor Michael Wiescher, Freimann Professor of Physics and Director of the Institute for Structure and Nuclear Astrophysics (ISNAP) at the University of Notre Dame and founding director of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA) received the prestigious Wolfson Fellowship of the British Royal Society. Wiescher will serve as a visiting professor at the University of Edinburgh to expand on a collaborative European research effort in nuclear astrophysics. 

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