Bartol Research Institute

Last updated
Bartol Research Institute
Established1924
FocusPhysics
AddressSharp Lab, 104 The Green, Newark, DE, 19716
Location
Coordinates 39°40′52″N75°45′11″W / 39.68111°N 75.75306°W / 39.68111; -75.75306
Website The Bartol Research Institute

The Bartol Research Institute (formerly the Bartol Research Foundation) is a scientific research institution at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Delaware. Its members belong to the faculty of the University of Delaware and perform research in areas such as astroparticle physics, astrophysics, cosmology, particle physics, and space science.

Contents

Research

Having a strong research mission, the Bartol Research Institute has counted several renowned physicists among its members, mostly focusing on fundamental science. Starting with its first director, W.F.G. Swann, cosmic rays were and still are one of the main research topics. [1] [2] With its second director, Martin A. Pomerantz, an Antarctic research program was developed along these lines and is maintained until today: Bartol scientists contribute to several Antarctic cosmic-ray projects, including ballon-borne cosmic-ray detectors such as ANITA, and ground-based experiments such as neutron monitors [3] and the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.

Furthermore, nuclear physics and high-energy physics belonged to the research portfolio since early on. Today research is done in particular in theoretical particle physics and theoretical as well as experimental particle astrophysics. Consequently, the Bartol Research Institute is a member of several major international collaborations that run some of the leading experiments in this field, such as VERITAS, the Cherenkov Telescope Array, the Pierre Auger Observatory, and IceCube. In 2012, Qaisar Shafi was appointed the Inaugural Bartol Research Institute Professor of Physics. [4]

Space physics, including plasma and solar physics, is another major research area of the Bartol Research Institute. Among its members is William H. Matthaeus, the current director of the NASA Delaware Space Grant Consortium", who has made key contributions to the field including involvement in the Parker Solar Probe. Delaware's Space Grant Consortium was founded in 1991 under the leadership of Norman F. Ness. [5] Shortly before Norman Ness became the third Bartol Director, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his seminal contributions to measuring planetary and interplanetary magnetic fields. [6] In particular, he is the principal investigator of the magnetometer of NASA's Voyager program. [7]

Last but not least, the present research portfolio of Bartol also includes various areas of astronomy, in particular, stellar and planetary astrophysics.

Since 1985, the Bartol Research Institute has awarded the Shakti P. Duggal Award to a young scientist in cosmic-ray physics at each occurrence of the biannual International Cosmic Ray Conference. [8] [9]

History

Founded in 1924 by the endowment of Henry W. Bartol at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA, as the Bartol Research Foundation, [10] [11] it moved to its own building at the Swarthmore College in 1927 where it resided for fifty years. The research was also supported by grants from the federal government of the USA, and the research topics included nuclear physics, cosmic rays, astrophysics, and the physics and chemistry of surfaces. [12] The Bartol Research Foundation was also active in public outreach, e.g., by a contribution to the 1939 New York World's Fair. [13]

In 1977 the Bartol Research Foundation relocated to its present location in the Sharp Lab building on the main campus of the University of Delaware in Newark, [14] and later changed its name to the Bartol Research Institute. [15] The integration of the Bartol Research Institute into the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware was completed in the year 2005. [16] The Bartol Research Foundation (later the Bartol Research Institute) and its researchers issued numerous scientific publications, [17] [18] and hosted conferences. [19]

List of directors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niels Bohr Institute</span> Scientific research institute

The Niels Bohr Institute is a research institute of the University of Copenhagen. The research of the institute spans astronomy, geophysics, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum mechanics, and biophysics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrophysics</span> Subfield of astronomy

Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space–what they are, rather than where they are", which is studied in celestial mechanics.

The Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics is part of the Max Planck Society, located in Garching, near Munich, Germany. In 1991 the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics split up into the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, the Max Planck Institute for Physics and the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics. The Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics was founded as sub-institute in 1963. The scientific activities of the institute are mostly devoted to astrophysics with telescopes orbiting in space. A large amount of the resources are spent for studying black holes in the Milky Way Galaxy and in the remote universe.

Reuven Ramaty (1937—2001) was a Hungarian astrophysicist who worked for 30 years at NASA's NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre. He was a leader in the fields of solar physics, gamma-ray line spectrometry, nuclear astrophysics, and low-energy cosmic rays. Ramaty was a founding member of NASA's High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager which has now been renamed the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager in his honour. This was the first space mission to be named after a NASA scientist and was operational from 2002 until 2018. The Online Archive of California holds over 400 entries for documents, papers and photographs published by and of Ramaty and his work. Ramaty made many contributions in the field of astrophysics and solar physics. He was given the Goddard Lindsay Award in 1980 and had a tribute dedicated to his work at the University of Maryland in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies</span> Irish educational institution and academic publisher

The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dublin.

W.F.G. Swann was an English physicist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Gaensler</span> Australian astronomer

Bryan Malcolm Gaensler is an Australian astronomer based at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He studies magnetars, supernova remnants, and magnetic fields. In 2014, he was appointed as Director of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, after James R. Graham's departure. He was the co-chair of the Canadian 2020 Long Range Plan Committee with Pauline Barmby. In 2023, he was appointed as Dean of Physical and Biological Sciences at UC Santa Cruz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physical Research Laboratory</span> Indian space research institute

The Physical Research Laboratory is a National Research Institute for space and allied sciences, supported mainly by Department of Space, Government of India. This research laboratory has ongoing research programmes in astronomy and astrophysics, atmospheric sciences and aeronomy, planetary and geosciences, Earth sciences, Solar System studies and theoretical physics. It also manages the Udaipur Solar Observatory and Mount Abu InfraRed Observatory. The PRL is located in Ahmedabad.

Astroparticle physics, also called particle astrophysics, is a branch of particle physics that studies elementary particles of astrophysical origin and their relation to astrophysics and cosmology. It is a relatively new field of research emerging at the intersection of particle physics, astronomy, astrophysics, detector physics, relativity, solid state physics, and cosmology. Partly motivated by the discovery of neutrino oscillation, the field has undergone rapid development, both theoretically and experimentally, since the early 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyman Page</span> American astrophysicist

Lyman Alexander Page, Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Physics at Princeton University. He is an expert in observational cosmology and one of the original co-investigators for the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) project that made precise observations of the electromagnetic radiation from the Big Bang, known as cosmic microwave background radiation.

Martin Arthur Pomerantz was an American physicist who served as director of the Bartol Research Institute and who had been a leader in developing Antarctic astronomy. When the astronomical observatory at the United States Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station was opened in 1995, it was named the Martin A. Pomerantz Observatory (MAPO) in his honor. Pomerantz published his scientific autobiography, Astronomy on Ice, in 2004.

Norman Frederick Ness was an American geophysicist. He worked at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ramanath Cowsik is an Indian astrophysicist and the James S. McDonnell Professor of Space Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. He is considered by many as the father of astroparticle physics. A recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, Cowsik was honored by the Government of India, in 2002, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri

Georg Pfotzer was a German physicist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Olinto</span> Astroparticle physicist and professor

Angela Villela Olinto is an American astroparticle physicist who is the provost of Columbia University. Previously, she served as the Albert A. Michelson Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago as well as the dean of the Physical Sciences Division. Her current work is focused on understanding the origin of high-energy cosmic rays, gamma rays, and neutrinos.

William Henry Matthaeus is an American astrophysicist and plasma physicist. He is known for his research on turbulence in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and astrophysical plasmas, for which he was awarded the 2019 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics.

Abigail Goodhue Vieregg is a professor of physics at the Enrico Fermi Institute and Kavli Institute of Cosmology, University of Chicago, specializing in neutrino astrophysics and cosmology. Her work focuses on cosmic high-energy neutrinos and mapping the cosmic microwave background.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qaisar Shafi</span> Theoretical physicist

Qaisar Shafi is a Pakistani-American theoretical physicist and the Inaugural Bartol Research Institute Professor of Physics at the University of Delaware.

Irene Tamborra is an Italian particle astrophysicist, specializing in the areas of neutrino astrophysics and cosmology as well as multi-messenger astronomy. She is professor of particle astrophysics at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

Thomas Korff Gaisser was a particle physicist, cosmic ray researcher, and a pioneer of astroparticle physics. He is known for his book Cosmic Rays and Particle Physics and the Gaisser–Hillas function.

References

  1. "Journal of the Franklin Institute, Volume 229, Issue 3, March 1940, Pages 281-335."
  2. "1927 Bartol Research Foundation." Retrieved June 05, 2020.
  3. "Neutron Monitoring." Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  4. "Qaisar Shafi". University of Delaware. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  5. "UDAILY - New Space Grant Director." Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  6. "National Academy of Sciences." Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  7. "University of Delaware Research Online Magazine." Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  8. Gaisser, Thomas K. "Brief History of the Shakti P. Duggal Award." Retrieved June 05, 2020.
  9. 36th International Cosmic Ray Conference "Shakti P. Duggal Award." Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  10. "The Philadelphia Inquirer". 19 Sep 1924. p. 16. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  11. "The Centenary Celebration of the Franklin Institute". Science. 60 (1552): 288. 26 Sep 1924. Bibcode:1924Sci....60..288.. doi:10.1126/science.60.1552.288 . Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  12. "." Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  13. "TEST WITH COSMIC RAY MADE FOR WORLD FAIR; Bartol Foundation Shows Tubes That Help Turn On Lights". The New York Times. New York Times, Section General News, Education News, Page 52. 23 April 1939. Retrieved 17 June 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  14. "The Philadelphia Inquirer". 428. 13 Sep 1987. Retrieved 17 June 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  15. Giardinelli, Alisa (2004). "A Dream Deferred," Swarthmore College Bulletin, March 2004. Webpage archived at WebCite from this original URL on 2008-03-09.
  16. Rowland-Perry, Sherry L. "The Bartol Research Institute: A Brief History." Retrieved June 05, 2020.
  17. WorldCat Identities "Bartol Research Foundation Archived 2020-06-15 at the Wayback Machine ." Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  18. iNSPIRE HEP "Delaware U., Bartol Inst.." Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  19. Gaisser, Thomas K. (16–21 October 1978). Cosmic Rays and Particle Physics-1978: Bartol Conference. Newark, DE; USA: AIP Conference Proceedings. Retrieved 17 June 2020.