Physics & Astronomy Student Research

The Department of Physics and Astronomy has a very active student research program. All of our students are required to complete at least one term of independent research before graduation, and many of our students elect to spend one or more summers on campus doing research with a faculty member.

Summer 2007 Research

During the summers, many of our students take part in summer research projects funded by Union College fellowships and faculty grants, endowed funds from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and alumni donations. The summer of 2007 saw 19 students doing research in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Here's what they worked on (eventually including links to the posters they presented in the department on Sept. 13), grouped by research advisor:

Physics

• Prof. Samuel Amanuel: experimental materials science, phase transitions in polymers.
• Prof. Scott LaBrake: experimental nuclear physics, environmental physics, accelerator physics.
• Prof. Seyffie Maleki: experimental atomic physics, laser physics, nanotechnology and nanomaterials.
• Prof. Jay Newman: experimental biophysics.
• Prof. Chad Orzel: experimental atomic physics, laser cooling and atom trapping.
• Prof. Gary Reich: theoretical statistical mechanics, phase transitions in magnetic systems.
• Prof. Rebecca Surman: theoretical nuclear astrophysics.
• Prof. Michael Vineyard: experimental nuclear physics.

Astronomy

• Prof. Becky Koopmann: observational structure and evolution of galxies.
• Prof. Jon Marr: observational radio astronomy.
• Prof. Francis Wilkin: observational astronomy.

Vineyard Lab

Prof. Michael Vineyard is a member of the CLAS collaboration at the Thomas Jefferson Laboratory in Virginia, using the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) to study the quark structure of neutrons and protons. Prof. Vineyard's students this summer:

• Richie Bonventre '08: "Extraction of Yields for Neutral Meson Photoproduction from the Proton and ³He with the CLAS Detector at Jefferson Lab (629 kB GIF)."
• Christian Shultz '08: "Fiducial Volumes for Photons Detected in the Forward Calorimeter of the CLAS Detector at JLAB (908 kB GIF)."
• Peter Bonventre '11: "Simulation of the CLAS12 Detector at Jefferson Lab (859 kB GIF)."

Orzel Lab

Prof. Orzel studies laser-cooled rare gases, and is working on a project to measure krypton contamination by counting single atoms. Prof. Orzel's students this summer:

• Ben Miles '10: "Grating Stabilization of a High-Power Diode Laser." Ben worked on improving the spectral characteristics of a high-power infrared diode laser using feedback from a diffraction grating.
• David Ludwig '09: "Anti-Reflection Coating of a Diode Laser (431 kB PDF)." David worked on improving the performance of diode lasers by applying a thin coating of quartz to lower the reflectivity of the diode laser.
• Adam Wolf '08: "Development of Coincidence Counting Experiments." Adam worked on developing laboratory experiments using the coincdence counting technique for Physics 122 and Physics 300.

Amanuel Lab

Prof. Samuel Amanuel conducts experimental studies of phase transitions in polymer materials. The student projects supervised by Prof. Amanuel include:

• Anna Gaudette '09: Enthalpic Relaxation of Polymer Nanocomposites (135 kB GIF).
• Dana Lasher '08: First Order Phase Transitions of Physically Restricted Molecules (564 kB PDF)
• Otto Jakutowicz '08: Temperature Dependent FT-IR Measurements of PVAc Below and Above its Glass Transition (682 kB GIF).

Newman Lab

Professor Jay Newman uses the technique of dynamic light scattering to study the behavior of biological molecules. Prof. Newman's two students this summer:

• Bilal Mahmood '08
• Shivani Pathak '10

Bilal and Shivani produced a joint poster, "Dynamic Light Scattering of Bovine Insulin (460 kB GIF).

Reich Lab

Professor Gary Reich studies theoretical statistical mechanics, using computer simulations to study the physics of phase transitions in magnetic materials.

• Isaac Rogers '10

Maleki Lab

Professor Seyffie Maleki does research in a wide variety of areas, and in collaboration with faculty from several other departments. Some of the student projects supervised by Prof. Maleki this summer include:

• Caleb Bower '08
• Justin Blau '08

Koopmann Lab

Prof. Becky Koopmann is an observational astronomer, using both visible and radio observations to study star formation and the evolution of galaxies. She was on sabbatical at Cornell University for the 2006-7 academic year, and did not have any students.

Marr Lab

Prof. Jon Marr is a radio astronomer, using data from the Very Large Baseline Array to study the properties of active galactic nuclei.

• Michael Gillin '08: "Terraforming Mars (902 kB PDF)." Michael worked with Prof. George Shaw in Geology to study the feasibility of changing the climate of the planet Mars to make it more habitable for humans.

Surman Lab

Prof. Rebecca Surman studies theoretical nuclear astrophysics and the formation of heavy elements in supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. She had one student this summer working on calculating and analyzing the abundances of elements produced in winds from the black hole accretion disks thought to accompany gamma-ray bursts:

• Crystal Smith '08: "The Analysis of Proton-Rich Elemental Abundances Created in Outflows from Gamma-Ray Burst Accretion Disks (389 kB GIF)."

LaBrake Lab

Prof. Scott LaBrake is the Accelerator Manager for Union's 1 MV Pelletron particle accelerator. The accelerator is used for a number of laboratories, and a variety of student research projects:

• Steve Po-Chedley '08: Steve worked on using the Union College accelerator to measure the concentration of mercury in trees near polluting power plants.
• Brandon Bartell '10: "Studying Mercury in Adirondack Predatory Fish." Brandon worked on using the Union College accelerator to measure the mercury concentration in fish caught in the Mohawk River.
  

Wilkin Lab

Prof. Francis Wilkin is the Obervatory Manager for Union’s on-campus observatory, which houses a 20-inch Cassegrain reflecting telescope, and a 1.5-meter radio telescope. The observatory is used for a variety of student research projects:

• Paul Amy '08: "Observing the Spectra of Nearby Galaxies."

(More to come!)

Past summer research pages: Summer 2005, Summer 2006

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