- Graduate Study Overview
- About Us
- Facilities
- Research Areas
Particle Physics & Nuclear Physics
Klink, Mallik, Meurice, Nachtman, Newsom, Norbeck, Onel, Payne, Polyzou, Reno, Rodgers
Nuclear and particle physics is the study of particles and interactions, at the level of nucleons and their quark structure, and at the level of fundamental particles. Our program includes both experiment and theory. Graduate students perform experimental thesis projects at major accelerators, or they perform theory on campus. Our experimenters design and build detector components and perform data analysis, as part of large experiments with multi-institution teams of experimenters. We have weekly seminars on campus, where visitors, faculty and students in nuclear and particle physics present their work.
We have five fellows of the American Physical Society. Group members publish in the leading journals and present their work at international conferences. Our experiments are performed at the world's leading accelerator facilities such as Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Fermi National Laboratory, and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Our experimental students often reside at these labs, and enjoy all the resources and learning opportunities of these major facilities, after completing their courses at Iowa. Theory students have opportunities to collaborate with scientists from other institutions and to present their research at national and international meetings.
William Klink, Theoretical nuclear and particle physics
- Quark models of nucleons and nuclei, relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum field theory
- Topics include: representation theory of groups, applied to relativistic nuclear theory and quantum field theory
- Theory is relevant to ongoing experimental programs at several national and international accelerators
- Emeritus professor
Usha Mallik, Experimental particle physics
- Physics immediately following the Big Bang
- Physics projects at LHC (ATLAS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
- Detector R&D projects at Fermilab and Iowa
- Students start with courses and initial research at Iowa, then move to a major lab to complete their thesis research
- Students develop skills in fast electronics, real-time data processing, and software
- Employment opportunities in academia, major labs, industry
Yannick Meurice, Theoretical particle physics
- Renormalization group, lattice gauge, numerical simulations, Feynman diagrams, strong-coupling expansion, large-N approximations, supersymmetry, hierarchy problem
- Employment of former students: postdocs at major universities in the US and Ireland; senior research scientist in driving simulation project; software engineer in industry; college instructor
- Students are involved weekly in two seminars
- Students travel to summer schools and conferences
Jane Nachtman, Experimental particle physics
- Searches for new phenomena, including Supersymmetry
- Recent projects at Fermilab's Tevatron (CDF experiment) and CERN's LHC (CMS experiment)
- On-campus facilities: hardware lab with VME-based electronics teststand
- Students perform projects at accelerators, living and working there for one year or longer
- Students learn to design and build mechanical and electronic components of detectors and to write code
Charles Newsom, Experimental particle physics
- Baryon physics: charm and beauty
- Recent projects at CERN's CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) and at Fermilab
- On-campus facilities: two laboratories
- Students perform projects at accelerators, living and working there for one year or longer
- Students learn to design and build mechanical and electronic components of detectors and to write code
Edwin Norbeck, Experimental nuclear physics
- Projects at the LHC include heavy-ion collision, such as Pb + Pb at 1144 TeV, and detector development for forward angle studies
- Studies of high temperature nuclear matter, the liquid-gas transition
- Emeritus professor
Yasar Onel, Experimental particle physics
- Search for Higgs and super-symmetric (SUSY) particles
- Heavy ion collision research with the CMS detector (Compact Muon Selonoid Experiment on LHC) and construction of the ZDC (Zero Degree Calorimeter)
- Recent projects at Fermilab and CERN include construction of Forward Calorimeter for CMS, and development of parts of future detectors in proposed accelerators
- On-campus facilities: hardware lab with computer-controlled photomultiplier (PMT) test station with CAMAC, NIM electronics, and LabView data acquisition
- Students perform projects at accelerators, living and working there for one year or longer
- Students learn to design and build mechanical and electronic components of detectors and to write code
- Employment of previous PhD students: professors, staff scientists in national or university labs, and industry
Gerald Payne, Theoretical and computational nuclear physics
- The three-nucleon system as a tool to learn about the nuclear force and nuclear degrees of freedom
- Large-scale computer calculations to test models of few-nucleon systems
- Emeritus professor
Wayne Polyzou, Theoretical nuclear and particle physics
- Few-quark and few-nucleon models of light nuclei and nucleons, relativistic quantum mechanics for few-nucleon and few-quark systems, leptonic probes of strongly interacting systems
- Theory is relevant to ongoing experimental programs at several national and international accelerators
- Students develop computational and analytical skills, including proficiency in computer languages
- Students have opportunities to present research at national and international meetings
- PhD students have been successful in securing postdoctoral positions after completing their degree
Mary Hall Reno, Theoretical particle physics
- Phenomenology: calculations support accelerator and cosmic-ray experiments
- Applying the standard model in neutrino physics theory; applying perturbative QCD corrections to particle interactions
- Students gain skills with computer symbolic and numerical methods; programming in Fortran and other languages
- Students participate in weekly seminar on particle and nuclear physics
Vincent Rodgers, Theoretical particle physics
- Topics include string theory with applications in gravitation, cosmology, superstring theories as unified theory, gauge/gravity correspondence
- Numerical techniques developed for solutions in quantum chromodynamics (QCD), string theory
- Students also: interact with students at other universities; participate in interdisciplinary work with mathematics department
- Students develop mathematical skills including analytical, numerical, and symbolic methods