Physics & Astronomy Student Research 2005

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. This page describes some of our recent student research projects, grouped by research advisor:

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, physics education research.
Prof. Michael Vineyard: experimental nuclear physics.

Astronomy

Prof. Becky Koopmann: observational structure and evolution of galxies.
Prof. Jon Marr: observational radio astronomy.
Prof. Rebecca Surman: theoretical nuclear astrophysics.

Summer 2005 Research

During the summers, many of our students take part in summer research projects funded by Union College fellowships and faculty grants. The summer of 2005 saw a record 20 students doing research in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Here's what they worked on (including links to the posters they presented in the department on Sept. 15):

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 (left to right):

Fatima Mahmood '06: Comparison Between Simulations and Data for Neutral Meson Photoproduction on the Proton Fatima's poster (959 kB GIF image)
Richie Bonventre '08: Cross Sections for Eta Photoproduction from the Proton
Christian Shultz '08: Cross section for the γ + p → π + n Reaction
Elliot Imler '08: Cross Sections for π⁰ Photoproduction from the Proton

Richie, Chris, and Elliot did a joint poster (758 kB GIF) for the summer student research poster session.

Justin King in Prof. Vineyard&#38;#38;#39;s lab.

Also working with Professor Vineyard this summer was Justin King '06, who worked on developing a Mossbauer spectrometer for use in experiments on nuclear structure. Justin's poster (841 kB GIF image).

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:

Mike Mastroianni with some of the apparatus used for his project.

Mike Mastroianni '07: Construction of an Optically Excited Metastable Krypton Source

"The goal of the summer was to construct an atom source for the generation of metastable Krypton atoms. To get the atoms in the metastable state, we pioneered a two-step process. Using a 123nm lamp, we excited the Krypton atoms into the first excited state. From there, a fine-tuned 819nm laser excited the atoms into the second excited state. The natural de-excitation process naturally decays to the metastable state.

"It was an absolute joy working in the physics department. I got to know new people, worked closer with my friends/peers and professors, learned about something worthwhile..., and got hands-on experience and observation on what goes into assembling a laboratory. The experience was invaluable. I had a great time, and I would do it again in a heartbeat."

Josh Smith '07: Construction and Calibration of a Fabry-Perot Interferometer for Spectroscopy Experiments

Josh Smith worked on developing a lab to be used in Physics 300. He built and assembled two Fabry-Perot interferometers, and tested their performance in a teaching lab setting.

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:

Ian Schaefer '06: Characterization of Laponite Based Nanomaterials for LED's and Photovoltaics (in collaboration with Prof. Michael Hagerman in Chemistry. Ian's poster (1000 kB PDF file).

Rob Katuska '06: Optical characterization of diffraction gratings on a micro chip

Matt Lockwood '07: Optical characterization of diffraction gratings on a micro chip

Matt Martin '06: Two photon fluorescence in biological tagging (in collaboration with Prof. Cohen in Biology).

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:

Amy Serfis and Emily Ulanski in Prof. Newman&#38;#38;#39;s lab

Amy Serfis '06: Structure of Filamentous Bacteriophages. Amy's poster.

"I used dynamic light scattering to determine the diffusion coefficient, as well as other parameters, of Phage X (one type of many filamentous bacteriophages). In order to study the phenomenon known as curling (when the backbone of the bacteriophage spirals), we made solutions of Phage X with and without silver. By recording and analyzing the data, we were able to observe differences in these solutions and as a result, hypothesized that the addition of silver increases the pitch of the DNA. The increase in pitch would result in an overall increase in the bacteriophage's length. I will continue to experiment this fall as well as into the winter with the hopes that I can learn more about curling as well as filamentous bacteriophages in general."
Emily Ulanski '06: Dynamic Light Scattering from Beta Amyloid. Emily's poster (878 kB PDF file).

Reich Lab

Professor Gary Reich studies theoretical statistical mechanics, using computer simulations to study the physics of phase transitions in magnetic materials. This summer, he worked with Luther Vucic '07 on the testing and development of a random number generation for use in computer simulations. Luther's poster (117 kB PDF).

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 had three students in the summer of 2005:

Michael Gillin '08: Examining Star Formation in Nearby Spiral Galaxies. Michael's poster (1.7 MB PDF).

Bilal Mahmood '08: Using the ALFALFA Survey for Structural Studies of the Virgo Cluster.Bilal's poster (1373 kB PDF).

Jay Read '07: ALFALFA: An Extragalactic Survey for HI.

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. In the summer of 2005, he worked with Charlie McCaleb '06 to develop a spectrometer for use in the Union College observatory.

Aaron Morris working at the computer in Prof. Marr&#38;#38;#39;s lab.

In the summers of 2003 and 2004, Prof. Marr also worked with Aaron Morris '06, on the analysis of radio images of young galaxies (Aaron's summer research seminar talk (1233 kB PDF)).

Surman Lab

Prof. Rebecca Surman studies theoretical nuclear astrophysics and the formation of heavy elements in supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. Her students this summer:

Nicole Sabbatino in front of her poster.

Nicole Sabbatino '06: Mathematically Modelling an Accretion Disc Around a Black Hole Formed in Stellar Collapse. Nicole's Poster (446 kB GIF)

Sean Kane '07: Determining Element Formation in Outflows of Gamma-Ray Burst Accretion Disks

(More to come!)