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Home > About

Tate Laboratory of Physics, home of the School of Physics and Astronomy.

photo by Jonathan Chapman

The School of Physics and Astronomy is an umbrella organization in the Institute of Technology with responsibilities for teaching, research and service in physics and astronomy. Forty-one of the 55 faculty in the School are physicists and effectively constitute the Physics Department. Astronomy functions as a separate department within the School. The Program in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine is also independent, although historians of physics hold tenure within the School. Details of the activities of Astronomy, and History of Science, Technology and Medicine can be found on their respective web sites.

Physics research is carried out from a half mile underground to the edge of space, over a range of energies, from 10^-7 to 10²⁰ electronvolts, and over a range of length scales from the subatomic to the intergalactic. There are collaborations involving materials scientists, chemical engineers, electrical engineers and of course, physicists from around the globe. Major research areas include particle theory and experiment, condensed matter theory and experiment, nuclear theory, space physics, observational and theoretical astrophysics, and biological physics. The latter is a new and growing research activity.