Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research
Dr. Charles Lane
Dr. Lane studies fundamental symmetries and how they may be broken. His work overlaps with such diverse fields as high-energy physics and atomic physics. Recently his work has focused on tests of Lorentz symmetry, which is the fundamental symmetry of Special Relativity and one of the basic tenets of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. Dr. Lane and his co-workers have proposed experiments using atomic clocks in space that might provide evidence for the violation of Lorentz symmetry. This work has garnered national attention.
Dr. Todd Timberlake
Dr. Timberlake carries out computational studies of simple quantum and classical systems in order to find ways in which quantum and classical mechanics correspond. Specifically, he is interested in finding features of quantum dynamics that correspond to chaos in classical dynamics, an area of research that has come to be known as
quantum chaos. To carry out his computational work, Dr. Timberlake has developed a
parallel computing cluster at Berry. Dr. Timberlake is also very interested in the history and philosophy of physics. He is particularly interested in reproducing experiments that were historically important in the development of physics.
Dr. Dan Robb
More info soon!
The following student projects are available for any intersted physics major:
- Transition to Chaos in Quantum Eigenstates (with Timberlake): Examine how the phase space distribution (Husimi distribution) of the eigenstates of the quantum standard map changes as the nonlinearity parameter in the model is increased. Classically the model makes a transition from regular motion to chaos, and it is expected that the eigenstates also change character in parallel with this classical transition to chaos. The student would be involved in developing Mathematica code to carry out the necessary computations, as well as examining many plots of Husimi distributions to characterize the way the eigenstates change.
- The Effect of a Weak Driving Field on Statistics of Eigenvalue Spectra (with Timberlake): Conduct a detailed study of the changes in eigenvalue statistics of the driven particle in an infinite square well and the quantum standard map at low driving/kick strengths. With no external field these systems are integrable but display non-standard statistics. For weak (but nonzero) driving fields these systems are near-integrable and their eigenvalues very nearly follow the Poisson statistics that is typical of integrable systems. The goal would be to determine how the degeneracies that lead to nonstandard statistics are broken as the field strength increases from zero. The work would involve running computer computations and analyzing the results.
- Eigenvalue statistics and wave packet revivals in asymmetric quantum wells (with Timberlake): Conduct a study of eigenvalue statistics in simple asymmetric quantum wells (such as an infinite square well with two steps or a harmonic oscillator potential joined to a quartic potential). Work involves some theoretical derivations as well as extensive numerical calculations.
- Reproducing historical experiments in physics (with Timberlake): Reproduce important experiments from the history of physics. Focus is on experiments from the 17th and 18th centuries (although 19th century experiments may be possible in some cases). Experiments may relate to dynamics, optics, fluid mechanics, or studies of electricity. This project is particularly suited to students who plan to become high school physics teachers.
The links below will take you to lists of publications and presentations by Berry physics & astronomy
faculty, organized by year.
