News & Events - 2024
2024-04-05
The Department of Physics is proud to welcome its newest faculty member:
Assistant Professor Xueyang Song grew up in north China and attended the Asian Physics Olympiad at high school. She got her Bachelor of Science from Peking University, and PhD in physics from Harvard University, under the supervision of Ashvin Vishwanath. Before joining HKUST, she was a Moore postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Professor Song is interested in theoretical condensed matter physics, in particular strongly correlated systems where free electron approximation fails. Quantum effects give rise to emergent phenomena there, such as particles with fractional charge and photon-like excitations in solid state systems. The interplay of symmetry, topology and correlations constrains the ground states, dynamics and kinematics of such systems, despite the absence of exact solution on the many-body systems. She studied effective descriptions and physical properties of frustrated magnetic systems, that fail to order at zero temperature. Instead, the magnetic moments conspire to form collective motions that are best captured by fractions of the elementary degrees of freedom and sometimes gauge structures. More recently, she focused on the exotic physics realized in 2d Moire systems, formed by a slight lattice misalignment among multiple atomic-thin layers stacked together. She investigated topological superconductivity and phase transitions relevant to these tunable platforms.
Her research makes extensive use of effective field theory, as well as lattice models, through a combination of analytical and numerical methods.
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2022-02-08
Congratulations to Prof. Che Ting Chan, Prof. Jensen Li, and Prof. Bei Zeng of the Department of Physics for important recognition of their research achievements.
Prof. Che Ting Chan was elected Member of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences (ASHK). The ASHK was founded in 2015 with the purpose to promote the development, advancement, and teaching of science and technology in Hong Kong, to educate and inform the public on issues pertaining to science and technology, and to foster Hong Kong as a centre of scientific excellence. Elected Membership in the Academy represents the highest academic honour in the field of science and technology that Hong Kong peers can bestow.
Prof. Jensen Li was elected Member of the Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences (YASHK). Established as a chapter of the ASHK in 2018, the YASHK is comprised of members in their early and mid-career who contribute jointly with the ASHK to the advancement and promotion of science and technology in Hong Kong.
Prof. Bei Zeng was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Prof. Zeng was nominated for this prestigious Fellowship by the Division of Quantum Information, which cited her “For pioneering work and contributions in quantum information science (QIS), including error correction and fault-tolerance, many-body entanglement, quantum tomography, quantum marginals, and QIS applications in quantum matter, and for her long-term contribution to QIS services and education.” The APS Fellowship Program was established to recognize members who have made exceptional contributions to the physics enterprise through outstanding research, leadership or service, or application of physics to science and technology. Each year, no more than 0.5% of the total APS membership is elected for Fellowship after a rigorous and competitive review process.
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2021-10-18
Congratulations to Prof. Gyu-Boong Jo, Prof. Jiannong Wang, and Prof. Jingdi Zhang (left to right) in the Department of Physics for important recognition of their research achievements.
Associate Prof. Gyu-Boong Jo has been named an RGC Research Fellow by the Hong Kong Research Grant Committee (RGC) in recognition of his outstanding academic and research achievements. Prof. Jo’s selection for the Fellowship was made in support of his cutting-edge work titled “Emulating New Quantum Matter using an Atomic Quantum Simulator with Ultracold Atoms”, in which he controls an ensemble of atoms in a quantum simulator to tackle intractable problems in quantum science.
Chair Prof. Jiannong Wang, who currently serves as the Head of the Department, was elected Fellow of the Physical Society of Hong Kong. The citation for this prestigious honor recognized Prof. Wang “for her groundbreaking discoveries and exploration of semiconductor heterostructures and quantum materials”.
Assistant Prof. Jingdi Zhang has been selected to be a recipient of a 2021 NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Scheme (Hong Kong and Macau) Award by the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC). This award recognizes Prof. Zhang as one of the most prominent and promising young scientists in Hong Kong and Macau for his innovative use of state-of-the-art time- and energy-resolved ultrafast terahertz spectroscopy to study ultrafast non-equilibrium dynamics in quantum materials by means of light-matter interaction.
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2019-10-16
The Department of Physics sets Service Award for Undergraduate Physics Students to promote the spirit of service among the Physics students. Priority will be given to those who served their fellow Physics students, the Physics Department, or the community in the capacity of Physics students. The total amount of the award is up to HK$20,000 annually.
We are pleased to announce that the 2019 Physics Service Award will be given to Wai Ki WONG.
Wai Ki WONG (3rd year Physics UG student) 2019 Physics Service Award
“For his outstanding service and leadership in the initiative of forming the new Physics Students’ Association.”
For the details of the award, please check the HKUST Physics UG Scholarship website: http://physics.ust.hk/scholarship/index.html
Congratulations to our students for their achievements.
Sincerely yours,
Prof. Penger Tong
Head, Department of Physics
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
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2016-12-01
Prof Tao Liu was awarded 2016 School of Science Research Award.
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