The Bartol Research Institute (formerly the ''Bartol Research Foundation'') is a scientific research institution at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

. Its members belong to the faculty of the University of Delaware and perform research in areas such as astroparticle physics,

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

, and

space science Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

Research

Having a strong research mission, the Bartol Research Institute has counted several renowned physicists among its members, mostly focusing on fundamental science. Starting with its first director, W.F.G. Swann,

cosmic ray Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

s were and still are one of the main research topics. With its second director, Martin A. Pomerantz, an Antarctic research program was developed along these lines and is maintained until today: Bartol scientists contribute to several Antarctic cosmic-ray projects, including ballon-borne cosmic-ray detectors such as ANITA, and ground-based experiments such as

neutron monitor A neutron monitor is a ground-based detector designed to measure the number of high-energy charged particles striking the Earth's atmosphere from outer space. For historical reasons the incoming particles are called "cosmic rays", but in fact they ...

s and the

IceCube Neutrino Observatory The IceCube Neutrino Observatory (or simply IceCube) is a neutrino observatory constructed at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. The project is a recognized CERN experiment (RE10). Its thousands of sensors are located under ...

. Furthermore, nuclear physics and high-energy physics belonged to the research portfolio since early on. Today research is done in particular in theoretical particle physics and theoretical as well as experimental particle astrophysics. Consequently, the Bartol Research Institute is a member of several major international collaborations that run some of the leading experiments in this field, such as

VERITAS Veritas is the name given to the Roman virtue of Honesty, truthfulness, which was considered one of the main virtues any good Roman should possess. The Greek goddess of truth is Aletheia (Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: ). The German phi ...

, the

Cherenkov Telescope Array The Cherenkov Telescope Array or CTA is a multinational, worldwide project to build a new generation of ground-based gamma-ray instrument in the energy range extending from some tens of GeV to about 300 TeV. It is proposed as an open observatory a ...

, the

Pierre Auger Observatory The Pierre Auger Observatory is an international cosmic ray observatory in Argentina designed to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays: sub-atomic particles traveling nearly at the speed of light and each with energies beyond 1018 eV. In Ear ...

, and

IceCube The IceCube Neutrino Observatory (or simply IceCube) is a neutrino observatory constructed at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. The project is a recognized CERN experiment (RE10). Its thousands of sensors are located under ...

. In 2012, Qaisar Shafi was appointed the Inaugural Bartol Research Institute Professor of Physics. Space physics, including plasma and solar physics, is another major research area of the Bartol Research Institute. Among its members is

William H. Matthaeus William Henry Matthaeus (born 1951) is an American astrophysicist and plasma physicist. He is known for his research on turbulence in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) (e.g. numerical simulations and kinetic theory) and astrophysical plasmas (e.g. solar ...

, the current director of the NASA Delaware Space Grant Consortium", who has made key contributions to the field including involvement in the

Parker Solar Probe The Parker Solar Probe (PSP; previously Solar Probe, Solar Probe Plus or Solar Probe+) is a NASA space probe launched in 2018 with the mission of making observations of the outer corona of the Sun. It will approach to within 9.86 solar radii ...

. Delaware's Space Grant Consortium was founded in 1991 under the leadership of Norman F. Ness. Shortly before Norman Ness became the third Bartol Director, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his seminal contributions to measuring planetary and interplanetary magnetic fields. In particular, he is the principal investigator of the magnetometer of NASA's Voyager program. Last but not least, the present research portfolio of Bartol also includes various areas of astronomy, in particular, stellar and planetary astrophysics. Since 1985, the Bartol Research Institute has awarded the ''Shakti P. Duggal Award'' to a young scientist in cosmic-ray physics at each occurrence of the biannual

International Cosmic Ray Conference The International Cosmic Ray Conference, or ICRC, is a physics conference organized biennially by thCommission C4 (Astroparticle Physics) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) since 1947, where physicists from the whole worl ...

History

Founded in 1924 by the endowment of Henry W. Bartol at the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

in Philadelphia, PA, as the Bartol Research Foundation, it moved to its own building at the

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

in 1927 where it resided for fifty years. The research was also supported by grants from the federal government of the USA, and the research topics included nuclear physics, cosmic rays, astrophysics, and the physics and chemistry of surfaces. The Bartol Research Foundation was also active in public outreach, e.g., by a contribution to the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...

. In 1977 the Bartol Research Foundation relocated to its present location in the Sharp Lab building on the main campus of the

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

, and later changed its name to the Bartol Research Institute. The integration of the Bartol Research Institute into the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Delaware was completed in the year 2005. The Bartol Research Foundation (later the Bartol Research Institute) and its researchers issued numerous scientific publications, and hosted conferences.

List of directors

William Francis Gray Swann William Francis Gray Swann (August 29, 1884 – January 29, 1962) was an Anglo- American physicist. Education He was educated at Brighton Technical College and the Royal College of Science from which he obtained a B.Sc. in 1905. He worked ...

(1927–1959) * Martin A. Pomerantz (1959–1987) * Norman F. Ness (1987–2000) *Stuart Pittel (2000–2011) * Stephen Matthew Barr (2011–2019) *Jamie Holder (2019–)

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.bartol.udel.edu/ University of Delaware Astrophysics institutes Physics institutes 1924 establishments in Pennsylvania Research institutes established in 1924