New and exciting activities in the
McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences
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Recent News from McDonnell Center Fellows
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New simulations shed light on how orbiting matter falls into spinning black holes
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Imagine matter spiraling toward a black hole as magnetic fields twist, intensify and erupt around it. This turbulent environment can produce some of the universe's most dramatic phenomena. Spinning black holes can launch jets of energy and particles into space. Understanding how matter behaves near these objects remains a challenge, particularly when the surrounding plasma is so dilute that its particles rarely collide.
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New simulations led by staff scientist John Mehlhaff offer a closer look at how matter falls toward a spinning black hole. The study provides the first fully kinetic simulations of black-hole accretion that begin with plasma carrying angular momentum. Published in Physical Review Letters, where it was selected as an Editors’ Suggestion, the study was co-authored by Alex Chen, Yajie Yuan, and Martin Luepker, who was a graduate student at the time.
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Center for Quantum Leaps researchers awarded Department of Energy grant
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Chuanwei Zhang, the Wayman Crow Professor of Physics, and Chong Zu, an assistant professor of physics and MCSS fellow, have been awarded nearly $760,000 by the U.S. Department of Energy for a three-year project that will use artificial intelligence to advance quantum sensing. They will use the funding to explore how machine learning can improve quantum sensing of advanced energy materials.
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A white dwarf polluted by its own ashes
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White dwarfs, the dense leftover cores of stars like our Sun, often carry traces of planetary material that has fallen onto their surfaces, and the chemistry of that material reveals what the planets were made of. In a new study, Williams and colleagues found a white dwarf polluted by unusual materials, including niobium, an element never before seen in a white dwarf. The composition of the material resembles neither that of any known Solar System body nor typical white dwarf pollution. The niobium points to debris shed by the star as it died, hinting that the source may be a “second-generation” planet candidate built from the remains of its own host star. McDonnell Center Postdoc Zifan Lin has authored a News & Views article in Nature Astronomy discussing what the planet candidate could tell us about how planets form and survive around dead stars, and why white dwarfs are promising places to search for planets and even signs of life.
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Nobel Prize recognizes neutrino astronomy
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The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin–Madison for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. The Nobel recognizes how neutrinos are opening a new window onto the universe.
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At WashU, Bhupal Dev studies these elusive particles and what they can reveal about the cosmos. His recent research has explored unusual high-energy neutrino observations that may offer new clues about the nature of these mysterious particles.
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The Physical Foundations of Precision Black Hole Astrophysics
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Astrophysics & Space Sciences Seminar
George Wong
Princeton University
TODAY, Friday, October 9
9:00am, Compton 241
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| Effect of Solar Wind Electrons on Stimulating the Oxidation and Hydroxylation of Lunar Materials-I AND Experimental Constraints on Mg-Suite Source Depth through Extrusive Materials
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EEPS Brown Bag
Copland Yang & Stephanie Zhang
WashU
TODAY, Friday, October 9
Noon, Rudolph 301
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High Energy Horrors: How Cosmic Rays Serve as Unconventional Messengers from Space AND Blazars: The Universe Taking Aim
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Astronomy on Tap
Nicole Osborn & Ben de Jonge
WashU
Tuesday, October 13
7:00pm, Urban Chestnut
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Glacially-Driven Changes in Submarine Hydrothermal Activity
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EEPS Colloquium
Jennifer Middleton
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Thursday, October 15
11:30am, Rudolph 301
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A&S WOWS Virtual Info Session
featuring the Physics Department
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Information on Physics' research thrusts and century-old Physics PhD program, fellowship opportunities, and life on campus and in St. Louis.
Thursday, October 15
1:00pm, Virtual/Zoom
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Galaxies and Their Black Holes: Tracing and Harnessing a Cosmic Partnership
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Astrophysics & Space Sciences Seminar
William Brandt
Pennyslvania State University
Friday, October 16
9:00am, Compton 241
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EEPS Brown Bag
Casper Graham
WashU
Friday, October 16
Noon, Rudolph 301
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| What are the Laws Governing the Evolution of The Law?
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Saturday Science Lecture
James Holehouse
WashU
Saturday, October 17
1-:00am, Crow 201
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| Accelerating Physics with AI
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A Scientific Discovery Workshop
Addressing Research Challenges Through
Cross-Sector Collaboration
Monday - Tuesday, October 19-20
Compton 340
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Compiled and edited by Alison Verbeck. Have news to share? Please send it along!
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