Queen's 2015 Nobel Prize in PhysicsExperience Program enables Indigenous undergraduate to explore astroparticle physics
Katrina Reimer always loved physics, but she never dreamed that one day she would work to help detect dark matter in the universe.
Wolfgang Rau
Wolfgang Rau
Affiliated Adjunct, Senior Research Scientist (TRIUMF)
Affiliated Adjunct Faculty
Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy
Arts & Science
Research Interests
My research is focused on direct search for dark matter, primarily working with cryogenic detectors being developed for SuperCDMS (Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search). I am very interested in understanding the physics of the detectors which is essential for understanding the data as well as for improving the detectors or finding new operational modes. I am also involved in data analysis, Monte Carlo simulations and background reduction. As leader of the Canadian involvement in SuperCDMS I am pushing forward with the next phase of the experiment to be installed at SNOLAB.
For more info, visit the article on Dr. Rau on TRIUMF.
Celebrating employment Milestones at Queen's!
We recently held a retirement party for Chuck Hearn, who celebrated 40 years of service at Queen’s. Today we have additional celebrations!
Faculty Members Awarded Additional Funding
Last week, the Government of Canada announced research funding through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)’s largest and longest-standing program, the Discovery Grants. We are proud to share that several of our department members were successful in acquiring funds:
Champions for Mental Health in our Department
The Department would like to extend it’s congratulations and appreciation to Drs. Tony Noble and Aaron Vincent who were named as Champions for Mental Health.
Physics at Science Rendezvous Kingston 2024
Science Rendezvous Kingston returned to Slush Puppie Place on May 11th, 2024. The event was a huge success, with 5201 visitors interacting with 60 booths and 480 volunteers. Over 500 people came through the doors in the first 11 minutes and the crowds continued to the end.
Building-wide Emergency Menstruation Products
In April 2024, the Department applied for the inaugural Advancing EDII Fund for Astroparticle Physics hosted by the The Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute. We are delighted to announce that our application was funded and we were able to purchase menstrual products to supply Stirling Hall for years to come.
National Research Council makes huge investment in Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO)
![Stills/artist's impressions taken from animations of the SKA-Mid telescope in South Africa. [Credit: SKAO]](/physics/sites/physwww/files/uploaded_images/Images/News%20Images/Spekkens_SKA-Midtelescopes_1800x1200.jpg)
Stills/artist's impressions taken from animations of the SKA-Mid telescope in South Africa.![Graph shows Purcell factors (enhanced spontaneous emission rates) for a quantum dipole emitter placed inside the gap of a metal dimer cavity, in a finite gain medium (see cover), showing the usual local density of states (LDOS) values with small gain (a) [dashed line is no gain] and increasing amounts of gain (b), as well as (c) our corrected total Purcell factors that also include a non-local contribution fro](/physics/sites/physwww/files/uploaded_images/Images/Research%20Highlights/2024_OpticaQ_Vol2Iss2Cover.jpg)