Shohini Bhattacharya, a physicist in Brookhaven Lab's nuclear theory group and the RIKEN BNL Research Center (RBRC), helped to develop a new formalism that gives access to the distribution of quarks and gluons within a proton. The group used this approach to predict the spatial distributions of charges, momentum, and other properties of "up" and "down" quarks within protons.
Welcome to the Bhattacharya group
I aim to explore the multi-dimensional partonic structure of hadrons, driven by a deep understanding of the scientific objectives of the EIC (Electron–Ion Collider). My research focuses on perturbative QCD (Quantum Chromodynamics), which helps establish the theoretical framework of scattering processes, and its impact on phenomenology, which connects theory and experimental data by making testable predictions, thereby bridging the two. In simpler terms, I help build the theoretical ‘blueprints’ that experiments rely on to make sense of the complex data they collect. Moreover, my work involves collaboration with experts in lattice QCD – a numerical method used to study quarks and gluons within a discretized spacetime framework – and experimental physics, emphasizing the importance of a strong connection between both analytical and numerical theories and experiments.
Latest News
May 2026
Undergraduate student Alex awarded the Mark Miller Summer Research Fellowship
I am pleased to announce that my undergraduate student Alex Yi has been awarded the highly competitive and prestigious Mark Miller Summer Research Fellowship in Physics at UConn.
The Mark Miller Award provides a stipend that allows selected students to remain in Storrs over the summer to conduct full-time research under the supervision of a Physics faculty member. Recipients are chosen through a highly competitive selection process that recognizes both academic excellence and strong research potential. Alex will use this opportunity to continue his research in theoretical nuclear physics, preparing toward his first research publication. This award will provide an excellent foundation for his continued growth as a young researcher.
Congratulations to David and Angelo!
Congratulations to my PhD students, David DeAngelo and Angelo Patrizi, on successfully passing their general examinations and advancing to PhD candidacy. This marks an important milestone as they transition to full-time research toward their doctoral dissertations.
January 2026
We are excited to announce that David’s first research paper is out!
In this work, David identifies a new class of observables that are sensitive to gluon orbital angular momentum and spin–orbit correlations, providing powerful tools for future measurements at the upcoming Electron–Ion Collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This result opens a promising pathway toward unraveling the role of gluons in the proton’s spin structure.