Collaborative Research at Skidmore (continued)

Collaborative Research (continued)

Skidmore students and their professors have worked together on numerous research projects. This kind of high-level scholarship does more than enhances a student's understanding in a given disipline; the practical, hands-on experience and "real-world" accomplishment also instill a sense of confidence that will benefit a graduate in any career. Projects from recent years appear below, arranged by academic area.

Physics

Project: Development of a Mathematica Package for Numerical Evaluation of Feynman Path Integrals in Multiple Dimensions
Participants: Associate Professor David Atkatz and Holly Janes '98
Plan: We seek to develop a Mathematica package-a self-contained and fully transparent piece of software for the numerical evaluation of Feynman path integrals in both one and three dimensions. This will entail the application of iterative technique, originally introduced for the one-dimensional case by Thirumalai et al., in order to obtain the ground-state wave functions of various one-dimensional physical systems. The ultimate goal of the project is the extension of the iterative technique to the numerical evaluation of path integrals in more than one dimension.

Project: Star Formation in Dwarf Galaxies: The BCD-DIrr Connection
Participants: Assistant Professor Mary Crone and David Kahler '02
Plan: The hypothesis that two traditionally distinct categories of galaxies, "Blue Compact Dwarf" and "Dwarf Irregular," are in fact not distinct populations at all, but merely overlapping regions of a continuum, will be tested. While Dwarf Irregulars are quite common, Blue Compact Dwarfs are rather rare and mysterious. The recent discovery of a galaxy that straddles these two categories suggests that their apparent dichotomy might be a mistake caused by the paucity of information about these relatively tiny systems. We propose to investigate the properties of four other galaxies that are likely to be "transition" galaxies as well. If these are indeed transition galaxies, we will contribute significantly to understanding the "Blue Compact Dwarf" designation, and to the evolution of galaxies in general.

Project: Infrared Spectroscopic Investigation of Phase Transitions in Marine Aerosols
Participants: Assistant Professor David D. Weis and Christopher Tom '03
Plan: The principal research goal of this project is to determine the efflorescence and deliquescence points of sea salt particles of different compositions. If the project is successful, the results could be published in either the Journal of Physical Chemistry or the Journal of Geophysical Research, two premier journals for reporting on new research in the field of atmospheric aerosols.

Creative Thought Matters.