Department of Physics & Astronomy
Research & Fieldwork
There are three active research programs in the Whittier Physics Department, under the direction of Drs. Piner, Zorba, and Lagan; opportunities exist in each for extensive student participation. From these programs have come numerous papers co-authored by students and published in international journals; the creation of related student projects; and professional presentations at international as well as undergraduate research conferences. Typically, students involved in the programs will work in one of the Whittier physics laboratories during their sophomore, junior, and senior years, and then complete paid research internships at Whittier or elsewhere during the summer months. In addition, a project involving the study of atomic clocks, directed by adjunct professor James Camparo, has afforded select students the opportunity for a summer internship with The Aerospace Corporation.
Dr. Glenn Piner, "Imaging of Quasars"
Dr. Piner uses worldwide networks of radio telescopes to study quasars among the most powerful and most distant objects in the universe. Quasars consist of the energetic region surrounding a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy, that can accelerate jets of plasma up to speeds very close to the speed of light. By using a network of radio telescopes known as an interferometer, much sharper views are obtained of these distant objects. The goals of the research are to measure the physical conditions near the supermassive black hole and to understand the physical processes at work in these extreme environments. Dr. Piner collaborates closely with colleagues at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, and his research is currently supported by a National Science Foundation grant.
Recent Whittier alumni Mehreen Mahmud '05, Kalina Gospidinova '04, Ghalib Bello '04, Dipesh Bhattarai '05, Niraj Pant '07, and Corey Nichols '07 all worked with Dr. Piner on his research while undergraduates. Several of these students were co-authors on journal publications, and two have gone on to Ph.D. programs in astronomy. Publications, Recent Results. Contact: gpiner@whittier.edu.
Dr. Serkan Zorba, "Organic Semiconductors"
Dr. Zorba's research interests involve investigating the morphological and electrical properties of organic semiconductors (such as pentacene and perylene) at the nanoscale. Organic semiconductor materials are utilized in optoelectronic devices due to their low-cost, mechanical flexibility, lower power consumption, and large-area applications. These novel materials are already being used as active elements in various commercially available devices such as displays in cars stereos,cell phones, and digital cameras. Since organic materials are plastics, one can build flexible displays using them. However, organic or "plastic" electronics is still in its infancy. Before the "plastic electronics" becomes commonplace, more research needs to be done. Dr. Zorba employs both experimental techniques such as (conducting) atomic force and scanning tunneling microscopies,(AFM, STM),as well as computer simulations to understand the underlying physics of organic semiconductor materials. Undergraduate student participation and collaboration with distinguished research universities such as the University of Rochester are essential and important aspects of Dr. Zorba's research efforts. He has worked with numerous undergraduate students at the University of Rochester. His future research plans include investigating optical properties of organic semiconductors using a nitrogen-gas/dye laser system, as well as their electrical and magnetic behaviors at low temperature using the departments' cryogenic/NMR system. Publications. Contact: szorba@whittier.edu.
Dr. Seamus Lagan, "Complexity, Chaos and Non-Linear Dynamics"
Dr. Lagan uses computer simulations to study systems in which non-linear behavior has the potential to result in complex and/or chaotic behavior. Students have written computer code to solve differential equations and look for chaotic solutions. They have also investigated spatio-temporal systems (e.g. forest-fire models, sand-piles) looking for evidence of self-organized criticality. Currently students are writing programs to look at the behavior of bubbles interacting on a fluid surface. Some of this work has been presented by students at meetings of the Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research (SCCUR). Contact: slagan@whittier.edu.
