HMC Physics Research

The Physics Faculty at Harvey Mudd College are engaged in a variety of original research activities in condensed matter physics, optics, geophysics, astronomy, and general relativity, all of which involve physics majors. Some of the research groups are individual faculty members leading a small team of undergraduates, and others are interdisciplinary efforts involving several faculty members and as many as 10 undergraduate researchers.

Research Interests of the Physics Faculty

• Chih Yung Chen — Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  Solid-state physics, including electromagnetic and optical properties of high-temperature superconductors and semiconductors.

• Tom Donnelly — B.A., Middlebury College (1990) M.A, Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, (1992, 1995)
  Experimental ultrafast-physics, and fluid dynamics.

• James C. Eckert — Ph.D., University of Southern California
  Solid state physics and materials science, including measurement of the electric and thermodynamic properties of novel materials.

• Ann Esin — Ph.D., Harvard University
  Theoretical astrophysics and observational astronomy

• Richard C. Haskell — Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
  Biophysics and Biomedical Optics, including imaging of biological tissue, optical coherence microscopy/tomography, developmental biology of plants and animals

• Thomas M. Helliwell — Ph.D., California Institute of Technology
  Theoretical general relativity, relativistic astrophysics, and cosmology; the foundations of quantum theory

• Gregory A. Lyzenga — B.S., Harvey Mudd College M.S., Ph.D., California Institute of Technology
  Geophysics, including observational study of crustal deformation and earthquakes using geodetic, seismological and gravimetric methods; computer simulation of tectonic processes. Solar system astronomy.

• Daniel C. Petersen — Ph.D., Harvard University
  Biophysics, including physical properties of membranes, optical coherence microscopy; chaos.

• Peter N. Saeta — Ph.D., Harvard University
  Nonlinear optics and semiconductor physics, including surface and buried-interface effects.

• Vatche Sahakian — Ph.D., University of Chicago
  String theory

• Patricia D. Sparks — Ph.D., Cornell University
  Solid state physics, including study of the optical properties of metals and interfaces.

• John S. Townsend — Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
  Theoretical particle physics; quantum field theory.

• Robert P. Wolf — Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Physics, 1963 B.S., , Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Mathematics, 1960
  Energy resources, especially solar energy, environmental effects; Nonlinear phenomena, including chaotic behavior; computer modeling; Solid state physics, especially low-temperature phase transitions.

Current research projects

	The Optical Coherence Microscope. This project is being worked on by Professor Haskell and Professor Petersen of the physics department, along with faculty from the Biology and Engineering departments.
	Geophysics Professor Lyzenga is the professor who works with Geophysics at Harvey Mudd College. In addition to information about his current research, he has his Seismology data available online.
	Semiconductor Nanostructures Professor Saeta studies the optical properties of semiconductor structures with dimensions on the nanometer scale.

Copyright © 2003 Harvey Mudd College Physics Department http://www.physics.hmc.edu/ WebMaster@Physics.hmc.edu This page was last modified on Thu, Jun 22, 2000.