Consider Taking Phys 598 NEU: Fall 2019 Course on Neutrino Physics

Physics graduate students,

Please consider signing up for PHYS 598NEU (Topics in Neutrino Physics) this Fall: https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2019/fall/PHYS/598, which is being offered by Prof. Jen-Chieh Peng as a special topics course. Our Associate Head for Graduate Programs, Lance Cooper, has agreed to give breadth-course credit for this class to graduate students.

Neutrino physics is exciting. I am old enough to remember the resolution of the solar neutrino problem (and convincing evidence finally produced for neutrino oscillations) as an undergraduate student. 20 years ago, I asked my mentor Eric Cornell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Allin_Cornell) for advice about research directions. One of his comments: neutrinos are weird. I agree---weird, fantastic, and full of research opportunities.

We live in the age of the first Neutrino Observatory: IceCube (https://icecube.wisc.edu/). And, neutrinos have long been a source of inspiration for SciFi. Right now, I’m reading The Last Astronaut (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K6HNF46), which uses neutrinos as a critical communication mechanism between astronauts dealing with an alien intruder to the solar system. I’m not finished yet…so, no spoilers!

Best wishes,

Brian