Latest News
April 2012
Sergi Garcia-Manyes has been awarded the 2012 SBE Prize of the Sociedad de Biofísica de España, the Spanish Bophysical Society.
January 2012
Was Einstein wrong?
The world of physics was shaken in 2011 when the OPERA Collaboration reported that neutrinos may travel faster than light. King’s College physicists are in the forefront of attempts to understand this possible effect, and are involving King’s students in this effort.
If the OPERA result is confirmed, Einstein’s special theory of relativity must be modified in some way, a possibility that King’s physicists have been considering for several years. Any such modification of Einstein’s theory is strongly constrained by astrophysical observations, as also pointed out by King’s physicists. The jury is still out on the questions whether OPERA or Einstein was wrong.
Undergraduate students at King’s are now working with John Ellis (Clerk Maxwell Professor in the King’s Physics Department) and his colleagues Dr Jean Alexandre and Prof. Nikolaos Mavromatos to understand the possible implications of the OPERA result.
For a recent BBC TV interview with John Ellis on OPERA neutrinos (and the Higgs boson), see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/9661986.stm
The King’s Physics Department recently hosted a meeting discussing the OPERA results and its possible interpretation: for the talks at this meeting, see http://www.kcl.ac.uk/nms/depts/physics/news/events/OPERAversusMaxwellandEinsteinEvent.aspx.
For recent highly-cited scientific papers on the OPERA result by King’s physicists, see http://arXiv.org/pdf/1109.4980 and http://arXiv.org/pdf/1109.6296.
13 December
On 14 December King's College Senior Lecturer, Malcolm Fairbairn, appeared in the Daily Telegraph online to explain the significance of work at CERN on the Higgs Boson. To see Dr Fairbairn's contribution go to
December 2011
The excellent performance of the LHC project makes it possible, for the firsttime, to determine whether the Higgs boson really exists. On Tuesday Dec. 13th from 1pm to 3pm London time there will be a special seminar at CERN to report the latest experimental results: see
The King’s Physics Department is arranging for interested students and staff to watch this historic seminar via a webcast.
Members of the Theoretical Particle Physics and Cosmology (TPPC) Group in the King’s Physics Department do active research on the Higgs boson: Prof. John Ellis makes theoretical studies of its possible properties, Dr Bobby Acharya is a member of the ATLAS Collaboration that is searching for the Higgs boson, and Dr Jean Alexandre and Prof. Nick Mavromatos consider alternatives to the Higgs theory.
Further details can be found here.
19 October 2011
Physics PhD student Joseph Bamidele won the 3rd place poster prize at the School Third year Poster Competition held on 19 October 2011.
19 October 2011
Prof. John Ellis featured on the BBC2 programme Faster Than the Speed of Light? Have scientists at the LHC discovered particles which challenge the theory of relativity? The programme was shown at 9pm on 19 October
26 September 2011
A touch of gold makes glass more see through
Physicists at King’s have discovered a means of making glass more transparent - by coating it in a thin layer of gold.
Full details of this research can be found at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/newsevents/news/newsrecords/2011/09September/A-touch-of-gold-makes-glass-more-see-through.aspx
September 2011
Physics PhD student wins a poster prize at the National Physical Laboratory
PhD student Linden Webster won a poster prize at the Nano Meets Spectroscopy meeting at the National Physical Laboratory, 15-16 September 2011. Her poster was entitled "Single Nanoparticle Enhanced Fluorescence", and Prof Joseph Lakowicz from the University of Maryland, USA, presented the prize to Linden.
8 June 2011
Physics Research Student Wins the Tadion Rideal Prize Physics alumnus
Manuela Mura won the prize (worth up to £1000) for her thesis entitled: ‘Theoretical characterisation of STM images of assemblies of flat organic molecules on metal surfaces’ supervised by Professor Lev Kantorovich.
30 May 2011
Rosalind Franklin features on the BBC's One Show
Rosalind Franklin, famous for her pioneering work on DNA while working in the Physics Department at King's, was featured on The One Show on BBC1 on 30 May.
Filmed on the Strand Campus, in the actual laboratory where Franklin worked - a lab still used by the Physics Department - the film examines Franklin's pivotal contribution to the discovery of the structure of DNA.
The piece is still available to view on BBC iPlayer by following this link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011pvyd/The_One_Show_30_05_2011/
17 May 2011
May 2011
King's scientists developing remote bomb detection sensors
Scientists from the Department of Physics are embarking on an EU-funded project to develop a network of state of the art sensors capable of detecting hidden explosives. The King’s team, led by Professor Anatoly Zayats and involving Professor David Richards and Dr Gregory Wurtz from the Department of Physics will be working with colleagues across Europe, with €4 million split between 12 teams for a four year project. The partnership, led by Italian National Agency for New Technologies, involves scientists from Queen's University of Belfast and a number of other European centres and companies, including the Scientific Police Institute at the University of Lausanne and the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation. The consortium represents the entire chain from basic research to field deployment, in order to guarantee that the networks can be used by security services as soon as they are built.
The sensors will work by detecting the chemical traces of explosive vapours in the air in order to provide early warning to security services and protect vulnerable urban populations from the threat of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), often used by terrorist organizations. Professor Zayats and his team will be focusing on a technique called Raman scattering, which involves using lasers to identify the chemical fingerprints of explosives in the air. This technique detects tiny changes in the colour of light when it interacts with molecules.
Describing the technique, Zayats explains that ‘If you shine a laser on to a molecule, you can measure the Raman response,’ said Zayats. ‘At the moment we can do this right down to a single molecule, but the signal strength is too weak for applications outside the research lab.’ The team will employ metal nanostructures in order to enhance the signal, so eventually a sensor can be developed to warn when the concentration of key chemicals in the air reaches a certain threshold.
Professor Zayats hopes that once the network is fully developed, security forces will be able to identify a bomb inside a building or vehicle by sensors monitoring the chemical composition of molecules in the air outside. The sensors, specifically designed to be sensitive and easily hidden, could also be installed in a network to protect high profile public buildings, so as to provide an early warning for police if any traces of explosives are detected. ‘Once the project is finished it will require minimum effort to make it available to the police and security agencies,’ said Professor Zayats.
The contribution from the Department of Physics, together with a variety of other detection devices being developed across Europe, will enable a broad spectrum of chemicals to be picked up and also prevent false alarms.
‘This project is a perfect example of how the academic and commercial partnership can efficiently use new technologies to make the world a safer place for everyone,' said Professor Zayats. 'We are very excited that our research into nanostructures can contribute to this.’
April 2011
-
King's College marks the 150th anniversary of James Clerk Maxwell's biggest achievements. Read more.
-
Local schools visit Department of Physics
Two groups of Year Twelve pupils from Preston Manor High School, Wembley and William Ellis School, Highgate visited the Department of Physics on Tuesday 22nd March. Organised by three third-year Physics students, Claudio Emma, Siddharth Mehta and James Hayes, the day offered pupils a taster of student life within the Physics Department at King's. The day included a campus tour, thought-provoking lecture from Dr Malcom Fairbairn on Dark Matter and an inspiring talk about student life from Chris Tuckley, President of the Maxwell Society. The pupils were also given the opportunity to experience Physics at King's during a lab session on the Waterloo campus, conducting experiments related to CD diffraction and finding the viscosity of caster oil. Feedback from the pupils was very positive and we hope that the visit will have encouraged the pupils to consider a Physics degree at King's.
The day's organisers have been participating in the University Ambassador Scheme, a nationwide scheme designed to allow undergraduates to gain valuable transferable skills whilst exploring the teaching profession first hand by spending a ten week placement at a local secondary school. In return the p upils receive an enthusiastic role model for pursuing Physics beyond the School and an opportunity to find out more about university life. This year the Physics department have ten undergraduates participating in the Scheme, all of whom have done an excellent job in raising the profile of STEM subjects at university.