Associate Professor of Physics
Use observational tools to measure the expansion history of the universe. Trying to answer big questions like 'what is dark energy?'.
Appointments and Affiliations
- Associate Professor of Physics
Contact Information
- Office Location: 120 Science Drive, Box 90305, Durham, NC 27708
- Email Address: daniel.scolnic@duke.edu
- Websites:
Education
- B.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007
- Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University, 2013
Research Interests
Cosmology, Supernova.
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions
- Defense Science Study Group (DSSG). Institute for Defense Analysis. 2023
- Clarivate Most Highly Cited Scientists. Clarivate. 2023
- Fred Kavli Plenary Lectureship. American Astronomical Society. 2023
- Sloan Research Fellowship-Physics. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 2022
- Department of Energy Early Career Award. Department of Energy. 2021
- Packard Fellowship. The David and Lucille Packard Foundation. 2019
Courses Taught
- PHYSICS 791: Special Readings
- PHYSICS 556: Stellar Astrophysics
- PHYSICS 495: Thesis Independent Study
- PHYSICS 493: Research Independent Study
- PHYSICS 151L9D: Introductory Mechanics (Discussion Component)
- PHYSICS 142L9D: General Physics II (Discussion)
- PHYSICS 134: Introduction to Astronomy
- HOUSECS 59: House Course
In the News
- The Universe is Expanding More Quickly Than We Thought (Jan 27, 2025 | Trinity …
- Duke Cosmic Explorers Are Mapping Space’s Invisible Secrets (Jun 20, 2024 | Pra…
- Which Duke Scholars Made the Most Cited List? (Nov 16, 2023 | Duke Research Blo…
- Taking a Larger View of the Universe (Oct 17, 2023 | Duke Today)
- Two Duke Researchers Named Sloan Fellows (Feb 15, 2022)
- The universe is expanding faster than it should be (Dec 17, 2021 | National Geo…
- Prof. Scolnic Receives DOE Early Career Award (May 28, 2021)
- Prestigious Packard Fellowship Supports Duke Cosmologist in Answering Questions…
Representative Publications
- Dixon, M., J. Mould, C. Lidman, E. N. Taylor, C. Flynn, A. R. Duffy, L. Galbany, et al. “Calibrating the absolute magnitude of type Ia supernovae in nearby galaxies using [O ii] and implications for H0.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 538, no. 2 (April 1, 2025): 782–96. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf266.
- Toy, M., P. Wiseman, M. Sullivan, D. Scolnic, M. Vincenzi, D. Brout, T. M. Davis, et al. “Reduction of the type Ia supernova host galaxy step in the outer regions of galaxies.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 538, no. 1 (March 1, 2025): 181–97. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf248.
- Fernandes, Maryann Benny, Daniel Scolnic, Erik Peterson, Chengxing Zhai, Tyler Linder, Maria Acevedo, and Daniel Reichart. “Measuring the Distances to Asteroids from One Observatory in One Night with Upcoming All-Sky Telescopes.” Qeios Ltd, February 19, 2025. https://doi.org/10.32388/g78p0g.
- Peterson, E. R., B. Carreres, A. Carr, D. Scolnic, A. Bailey, T. M. Davis, D. Brout, et al. “Improving the Determination of Supernova Cosmological Redshifts by Using Galaxy Groups.” Astrophysical Journal 980, no. 1 (February 10, 2025). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada285.
- Camilleri, R., T. M. Davis, S. R. Hinton, P. Armstrong, D. Brout, L. Galbany, K. Glazebrook, et al. “The Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program: an updated measurement of the Hubble constant using the inverse distance ladder.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 537, no. 2 (February 1, 2025): 1818–25. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf122.