Claudia Ratti Awarded Grants from NSF, NASA, and DOE
Claudia Ratti, M.D. Anderson professor of physics with the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Houston, is illuminating the mysteries of nuclear physics through groundbreaking research—and a series of prestigious grant awards totaling more than $2 million.
Ratti’s focus centers on the theory of strongly interacting matter. A key area of her research investigates extreme temperature conditions recreated in the lab and Quantum Chromodynamics, or the fundamental theory of strong interactions.
The funding for her five grants is from several prominent agencies: the National Science Foundation ($1,411,492), NASA ($596,876), and the U.S. Department of Energy ($485,000).
From Nuclear Physics to Colliding Stars
Through her research, Ratti seeks answers to two key questions in her field: What’s in the core of neutron stars and whether the phase transition from protons and neutrons to quarks and gluons can happen abruptly or gradually.
One of Ratti’s primary focuses is the study of matter under extreme conditions of temperature and density – environments that no longer occur naturally but can be replicated in advanced experimental physics.
“The phases of matter we are interested in existed and made up the whole universe just after the ‘Big Bang,’” said Ratti. “The conditions typically achieved in heavy ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) correspond to very high temperatures and small to intermediate densities.”
One facet of Ratti’s research focuses on the collision of stellar objects called neutron stars. It’s estimated that several thousands of collisions occur in the Universe each year, resulting in a very weak gravitational wave signal reaching Earth. “This experimental observation really opened up a whole new field of research,” said Ratti.
Helping the Next Generation of Physicists
In addition to her groundbreaking research, Ratti looks to inspire students who have a passion for science. Ratti hosts a nuclear theory group that includes postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students.
“They will learn all of these techniques, which will be useful in their future career,” said Ratti. “I am co-directing dedicated undergraduate mentorship programs in nuclear physics as part of the grants, where we are preparing bachelor students to enter the nuclear physics workforce.”
Ratti also participates in other outreach programs that include visits with high school students, being a faculty advisory for Women in Physics at UH, and being National Co-director of Pint of Science, a program that brings science to the public by allowing people to meet with scientists at a local bar or café.
Ratti hopes outreach programs and her nuclear theory group will attract more students at a higher caliber to apply to UH and inspire them to continue down the physics path.
- Ashley Byers, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics