Physics News

Bernard Wittmaack, '11, presents research in Puerto Rico

mtrawick — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:39:52 +0000

Junior Bernard Wittmaack, ‘11, traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico this fall to present a talk on his research at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. Bernard studies halogen bonding in group 14 halomethane analogues with chemistry professor Kelling Donald, using computational chemistry techniques. The two have performed intensive calculations using a supercomputer cluster here at Richmond, and expect to publish their work soon. Bernard is majoring in interdisciplinary physics with a chemistry concentration, allowing him to combine courses from both disciplines.

Research Update: Calina Copos, '10

mtrawick — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:51:54 +0000

Senior physics major Calina Copos, '10, has been active in research with professor Jerry Gilfoyle, using the Richmond Physics Department’s supercomputer to run computationally intensive simulations to better understand the precision of the experiments they are doing at Jefferson National Laboratory. The two are part of a team working to measure the distributions of electric charge and magnetic field within a single proton. Calina traveled to Hawaii this fall to present the results of her work at a national conference of the American Physical Society’s Division of Nuclear Physics.

Jordan Wolfinger, '11, Travels to Australia

mtrawick — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:32:01 +0000

Junior Jordan Wolfinger, ‘11, has spent her fall semester in Sydney, Australia. Besides continuing her physics studies there, she has also taken courses in finance and Australian history and traveled along Australia’s east coast. She also traveled to New Zealand, where she went bungee jumping at the world’s third highest location.

Research Update: Nick Annichiarico, '12

mtrawick — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:00:33 +0000

Sophomore physics major Nick Annichiarico, '12, has been working with Professor Ted Bunn, studying whether the universe has “handedness.” The two have been studying a database of information on the orientation of galaxies, searching for universal symmetry on a cosmological scale. Nick began working with Professor Bunn during the summer after his freshman year.

Research Update: Jack Shaw, '12

mtrawick — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:55:48 +0000

Sophomore physics major Jack Shaw, '12, is currently studying the effects of heat shock on mammalian cells. Jack has been working with Professor Ovidiu Lipan, a biological physicist, since the summer after his freshman year. Their work involves culturing Chinese hamster ovary cells that have been tagged with green fluorescent protein, and is supported in part by a $134,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Ben Pauerstein, '12, and Cain Bonniwell, '11, present research in Hawaii

mtrawick — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:44:06 +0000

Physics majors Ben Pauerstein, ‘12, and Cain Bonniwell, ‘11, traveled to Kona, Hawaii this fall to present their research at the national conference of the American Physical Society’s Division of Nuclear Physics. The two are working with Professor Con Beausang, studying nuclear structure in the isotopes Gadolinium156 and Terbium 155.

New $160,000 supercomputer coming!

Ted Bunn — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:34:04 +0000

Two physics faculty members, Ted Bunn and Jerry Gilfoyle, have just been awarded a $160,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to buy a new supercomputing cluster for their research. Ted and his students will use it to simulate new telescopes that are being designed for observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation. Jerry and his students will use it for simulation and analysis of nuclear physics data from Jefferson Lab.

Both faculty members are excited about the new research directions that this will allow them to explore, and especially about the opportunity for students to be involved with research using cutting-edge supercomputing equipment.

Physics courses for new first-year students

Ted Bunn — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:55:25 +0000

It’s time for incoming first-year students to register for classes for the fall semester. We in the physics department are looking forward to meeting you all in the fall.

Here’s some information about the physics courses available for new students. If anything here isn’t clear, or if you have any questions about which course is for you, ask us!

Physics majors typically start with Physics 131 in the fall and either 132 or 134 in the spring. There are four sections of physics 131 available this fall. Physics 131 is mostly about mechanics but has some other topics as well. It requires either that you’ve had some calculus or that you take Calc. 1 at the same time.

Pre-med students and students in other science majors also take this same sequence of courses, and the course fulfills the science requirement for non-science majors, so even if you’re not sure what you’re majoring in, keep this course in mind.

Students with strong high school physics backgrounds can skip Physics 131 and start right away with Physics 132. There is one section of this course offered in the fall. University policy says that you need a 4 or 5 on the Physics C Mechanics, or departmental permission, to skip Physics 131. If you have a strong physics background but didn’t take the right AP exam, email us or talk to one of the physics faculty when you arrive in town to see if you should be in 132. (This applies especially to international students, who aren’t part of the US AP system.)

If you think you might want to major in physics (even if you’re not sure), and you’re eligible to skip 131, we strongly urge you to sign up for Physics 132 in the fall. Finishing the introductory physics sequence early will give you a lot more scheduling flexibility in future semesters (and remember that even if you end up majoring in another science, you’ll still need to take this course).

Students with very strong physics backgrounds (a 4 or a 5 on the Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism AP exam) are eligible to skip both semesters of the introductory sequence. If you’re in that category, and you think you might want to study physics, the best courses for you are Physics 205 (Modern Physics) and/or Physics 301 (Mathematical Methods). Once again, if you didn’t take the appropriate AP exam but think you might have the right background for this option, ask us.

For students who aren’t planning to major in a science, we offer Physics 125, a survey of conceptual physics. This course fulfills the general-education science requirement, but it does not fulfill prerequisites for more advanced science courses.

New telescope

Ted Bunn — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:58:31 +0000

Our department just took delivery of a new 14″ telescope, to be used for classes, student projects, and public observing nights:

As you can see, it’s not in the best possible observing location at the moment. Plans are in motion to give it a permanent home on the roof of our building.

Thanks a lot to Dean Newcomb for buying us this!

Andrew Hearin, '03

Ted Bunn — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:05:38 +0000

UR Physics alumnus Andrew Hearin, ‘03, went off to graduate school in mathematics, but before too long he saw the light and returned to physics. He’s now a Ph.D. student at the University of Pittsburgh, and he just recently published a paper on a possible novel test of general relativity. (That link is to a publicly-available preprint version of the paper. Here’s the actual published version, but the link may not work unless you’re connecting from a university with a subscription to the journal.)