News

First female professors in Maths and Physics

(19 April 2006)

The first women professors in Durham University’s Maths and Physics departments have been appointed following the latest round of academic promotions.

They all work within fundamental areas that link particle physics and the universe – the smallest and the largest collections of matter known to science. Their varying research topics range from braneworlds to black holes. And they are active on the frontiers of knowledge where even the long-established theories and laws of Newton and Einstein are put to the test. Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor James Stirling said: "The promotions for Chris, Ruth and Anne are extremely well deserved. All three are major international figures in their respective fields, and reflect Durham's world-class strength in astronomy and particle physics. These are fields in which there has always been a very marked gender imbalance, and these three new professors will provide outstanding role models for the next generation of women scientists." The three women, who take up their professorships from October, are: Dr Ruth Gregory: getting to grips with braneworlds - joined the University in 1995 and is currently a reader in the Departments of Mathematical Science and Physics. Winner of the Institute of Physics 2006 Maxwell Medal - Ruth has collaborative links with many international colleagues and bodies Paris,Barcelona, Chicago and Moscow. Her research centres on the interface between fundamental high energy physics and cosmology. Physics explains how nature works, and it is generally used to tell us what will or what is most likely to happen in a given situation. Cosmology is the study of the universe, and seeks to explain what we see through our telescopes. Dr Gregory said: “What makes the study of particle cosmology so interesting is that we attempt to use physics we have not tested - and cannot test - in the lab, as the energies involved are simply too high, to answer the most fundamental question of all - how did our universe begin?” A exciting development in this field is that of the braneworld scenario. In this, explains Dr Gregory, Earth-dwellers are similar to "flatlanders", living in our four-dimensional universe which is a sheet (or brane) within a higher dimensional world. These extra dimensions can be relatively large (on the order of the thickness of a thread) yet remain hidden because we are stuck on our "world-sheet", the only clues they leave are very subtle inconsistencies in our own physical world. She adds: “My recent work has been to try to explore simple models of these braneworlds, and to see what physical features they can possibly have. For example, a deceptively simple modification of the original braneworld model gives a very curious law for gravitation. A generic feature of these hidden extra dimensions is that they show up as inconsistencies in Newton's Law of gravitation at small distances - as you might expect if you are giving gravity a few extra places to go on the small scale! However, what was curious about the model put forward by myself and collaborators, was that our gravity was not only different on the small scale, but also on the very, very large scale - distances comparable to the size of our universe! “It might seem that this would be in conflict with what we know about our universe - yet recent astronomical observations from the Hubble Space telescope have revolutionized our understanding of the universe: we either have modification of gravity at very large distances, or a mysterious ‘dark energy’, the so-called cosmological constant. Unfortunately, our model turned out not to be a viable theory of gravity as it suffered from unpleasant side-effects, however, I am still looking for other cosmological models - including those motivated from string theory, and trying to understand the more subtle structure of the ones we have. “Whether the apple falls according to Newton and Einstein, or whether gravity turns out to be something rather more exotic, either way - we have a challenge for cosmology!” Dr Anne Taormina: where mathematics meet medicine - joined the University in 1991 and is currently a reader in the Department of Mathematical Sciences - Dr Taormina has collaborations with York, Tokyo, Moscow and Brussels. Her main research is exploiting the power of symmetry to reduce complicated physical phenomena to their essentials. The skills she has developed in the area of Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics, to expose the most fundamental structure of our universe, are proving useful in Mathematical Biology – and contributing to medical research. Anne said: “Recently I have started to export sophisticated algebraic techniques that I continue to develop through my research in string theory and conformal field theory, to model the assembly of the protective shells of the most deadly viruses.” Dr Chris Done: delving into the properties of black holes - joined the University in 1994 and is currently a reader in the Department of Physics - Dr Chris Done’s recent work has used data from a NASA X-ray satellite to show that there is clear evidence for an event horizon in the stellar remnant black holes in our own Galaxy, and that gravity is consistent with Einstein's General Relativity even in the strong field limit. Chris said: “Black holes are one of the most extreme concepts of modern physics, space-time so warped that not even light can escape. They are easily observable only when the gas captured is accreted onto the black hole. The in-falling matter can convert some of its immense gravitational potential energy into high energy X-ray emission before disappearing forever below the event horizon.” Chris is a consultant for European Space Agency and is currently collaborating with a project in Tokyo, on data from black holes from a new X-ray satellite, Suzaku; and also with former colleagues with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA and Leicester University.