Notre Dame Physics and Astronomy provides an outstanding and distinctive education to our undergraduate and graduate students while maintaining a broad, vibrant research program as we attempt to answer some of the most fundamental questions in nature.
Excellence in education and in research
Notre Dame Physics and Astronomy provides an outstanding and distinctive education to our undergraduate and graduate students while maintaining a broad, vibrant research program as we attempt to answer some of the most fundamental questions in nature.
Scientists at the University of Notre Dame synthesized a material that exhibits a rare and promising form of magnetism known as altermagnetism, which could reshape how computers store and process information in the future, a new study in Nature Communications shows.
Scientists have long sought out new methods that can support the future of ultra-fast and energy efficient electronics, said Nirmal Ghimire, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Ghimire and collaborators synthesized single crystals of a compound called called CoNb₄Se₈ that exhibits altermagnetism, according to the study.
Can a superconductor turn heat flow into a detectable electrical signal without the motion of magnetic vortices? This response, known as the Nernst effect, was long thought to be hidden because superconductors carry current without a voltage drop and screen the resulting electrical current. A recent study led by Postdoctoral Research Associate Tzu-Chi Hsieh and Professor Yi-Ting Hsu in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Notre Dame sheds new light on this problem and was selected as an Editors’ Suggestion in Physical Review Letters.
Nuclear power, to many people, is a daunting field surrounded by stigmas and misconceptions. To Assistant Professor Nirupama Sensharma, however, nuclear energy presents an incredible opportunity for scientific growth.
Sensharma joined the faculty in the Department of Physics & Astronomy in August 2026. Her research centers on how the atomic nucleus behaves under different conditions, identifying deformations in nuclear shapes and analyzing their behavior. Beyond the laboratory, Sensharma is passionate about educating the public on the benefits of nuclear science.
