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Collaboration

Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations

Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations

The Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) is a NASA Pioneers Mission planned to fly on a long-duration balloon launched from McMurdo in 2024. PUEO is designed to have world-leading sensitivity to ultrahigh energy neutrinos at energies above 1 EeV.

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Name Role Affiliations Email Phone Office Centers Research topics
Julien Alfaro Julien Alfaro Graduate Student Physics jpa5771@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 204 Osmond Laboratory CMA, IGC Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Yuchieh Ku Yuchieh Ku Graduate Student Physics yuchieh@psu.edu 8148628153 204 Osmond Laboratory IGC Neutrinos
James Tutt James Tutt Faculty Astronomy jht12@psu.edu +1 814 865 6338 128A Davey Laboratory IGC Neutrinos
Christoph Welling Christoph Welling Postdoc Astronomy cjw7007@psu.edu 206 D Whitmore Laboratory IGC Multimessenger Astrophysics
Andrew Zeolla Andrew Zeolla Graduate Student Physics avz5228@psu.edu 7138709006 204 Osmond Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Name Role Affiliations Email Phone Office Centers Research topics
Valentin Decoene Valentin Decoene Postdoc Physics vxd5110@psu.edu +1 814 865 7533 320L Osmond Laboratory CMA, IGC Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
Kaeli Hughes Kaeli Hughes Postdoc Astronomy, Physics kaeli@psu.edu +1 6142906343 N/A Davey Laboratory CMA Cosmic Rays, Multimessenger Astrophysics, Neutrinos
About our wordmark
Monica Rincon Ramirez

The IGC wordmark was created by Monica Rincon Ramirez while she was a graduate student at the Institute. Monica enjoys drawing new connections between fundamental theory and observations. Her graduate work included general relativity, loop quantum gravity, and quantum fields in cosmological backgrounds; her thesis focused on effective quantum corrections to gravitational phenomena from spinfoams and applications to cosmology. She received her PhD in 2024.

The wordmark symbolizes the scope of research at the IGC. The base represents quantum gravity, evoking the quantum geometrical picture from spinfoams and loop quantum gravity — approaches studied at the Center for Fundamental Theory. The middle shows galaxies embedded in a smooth surface characteristic of spacetime in general relativity and the larger physical scales studied at the Center for Theoretical and Observational Cosmology. The top curves to an extreme representing a supermassive black hole accompanied by an energetic jet, with a binary black hole pair nearby — the high-energy phenomena studied at the Center for Multimessenger Astrophysics.