New Professors 2024
43 new professors were inaugurated at Uppsala University on November 15, 2024. Of them two came from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Rikard Enberg, Theoretical Physics
Research Presentation
My research in particle physics and astroparticle physics is about the very smallest and the very largest forms of matter. Examples include elementary particles and the forces between them, cosmic radiation from black holes, and exploding stars millions of light years away, and how the Universe as a whole came to be what it is. The aim of this research field is to understand matter and the fundamental forces at their most fundamental level, and how these forces have influenced the evolution of the Universe following the Big Bang.
We have a very successful theory, called the standard model, which describes all particles and fundamental forces hitherto discovered (except gravity, which is described by the general theory of relativity). But we also know that this cannot be the ultimate theory because it is incomplete at high energies, does not explain the gravitational force, and cannot explain the mass of neutrinos or observations such as the Universe’s dark matter and the Universe’s imbalance between ordinary matter and antimatter.
My research combines constructing and analysing theories for new physics beyond the standard model with investigating what these theories predict in different experiments, and conversely figuring out what the data say about these theories. In particular, I study the role of the Higgs boson and what particle physics experiments can teach us about it, and how this relates to what happened in the very young Universe. I also study what we can learn about fundamental physics from observations of cosmic rays, neutrinos and gravitational waves from the cosmos.
Urban Eriksson, Physics specialising in Physics Education Research
Research Presentation
Human curiosity about, and our understanding of, the Universe in general and in detail have always fascinated me. Through my background as a teacher, I understood early on that different individuals can have different views about our world, and very often it was difficult to communicate this to the pupils and students I encountered in ways that they could understand. Physics and astronomy are the language for communicating knowledge about the Universe, and this language consists of so much more than ‘just’ spoken and written words. It also uses other resources such as graphs, formulas, tables, images, simulations, animations, gestures, devices, activities and much more. Learning physics and astronomy is like learning a new language.
There are many different ways to study communication within the subject area, and associated learning processes. In my research, I often start from the theoretical framework called social semiotics, where you study the communication within a subject area via all the different resources that are used. My research also aims to improve teaching and learning in physics and astronomy by systematically examining communication and learning processes in these subject areas. I explore issues such as how knowledge can be communicated and used in more productive ways, how different digital tools and other tools can be used to support the teaching of these subjects, and the effects that social and cultural practices have on learning, and how these practices are communicated.