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  1. Home
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Girvan, Michelle

  • Professor
  • 3341 A.V. Williams Building
  • 301.405.1610
  • Website

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Michelle Girvan received her B.S. in 1999 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. in 2003 from Cornell University. Her research combines methods from statistical mechanics, dynamical systems, and graph theory to address interdisciplinary, network-related problems. She is interested in both broad theoretical approaches to complex networks as well as specific applications, especially to information cascades, epidemiology, and genetic regulatory networks.

In a 2019 podcast, she discussed her work in chaos and artificial intelligence.

In 2022, she was named a UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher. 

Research

Research Area:

  • Nonlinear Dynamics & Chaos
  • AI and Physical Sciences

Centers & Institutes: Maryland Biophysics Program; Institute for Research in Electronics & Applied Physics

Teaching

  • Physics 165: Introduction to Programming for the Physical Sciences
  • Physics 272: Introductory Physics: Fields
  • Physics 260: Vibrations, Waves, Heat, Electricity & Magnetism
  • Physics 615: Nonlinear Dynamics of Extended Systems
  • Physics 798N: Data Practicum at the Intersection of the Physical, Computer and Life Sciences

News

  • Michelle Girvan Named Distinguished Scholar-Teacher
  • Understanding and Exploring Network Epidemiology in the Time of Coronavirus
  • A Physics Career Along the Path Less Traveled
  • Promotions Effective July, 2018
  • Machine Learning’s ‘Amazing’ Ability to Predict Chaos
  • Five UMD Physicists Elected APS Fellows
  • Physics Professor Michelle Girvan Receives $3M NSF Grant to Train Graduate Students in Network Biology
  • Mathematical models explain east-west asymmetry of jet lag recovery

 

Gates, Sylvester

  • Clark Leadership Chair in Science, Distinguished University Professor and Regents Professor
  • 1117 John S. Toll Physics Building
  • 301.405.6025

Curriculum Vitae (complete publication list, professional activities, etc. ppg135)

Gravitation Wave Detection
2014 Gravitational Wave Talk (a.) (b.)

Biography

Sylvester James Gates Jr. holds the Clark Leadership Chair in Science. During his decades with the UMD Department of Physics, he was named a Distinguished University Professor, University System of Maryland Regents Professor and John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland. Known for his pioneering work in supersymmetry and supergravity, areas closely related to string theory, Gates was also an affiliate mathematics professor. Gates earned two Bachelor of Science degrees (in physics and mathematics) and his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1984, Gates co-authored Superspace: One Thousand and One Lessons in Supersymmetry, the first comprehensive book on supersymmetry, and joined the UMD faculty as an associate professor. Four years later, he became the first African American to hold an endowed chair in physics at a major U.S. research university.

The author of more than 200 research papers and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Gates has been featured in dozens of video documentaries, including five in 2015. For his contribution to science and research, he received the National Medal of Science from President Obama in 2013. Gates has served on the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, the National Commission on Forensic Science, and the Maryland State Board of Education. He is a strong advocate for science, technology, engineering and mathematics education. He has  served as president of both the National Society of Black Physicists and the American Physical Society.

Recipient of: Election to the:
National Medal of Science (a.), (b.), (c.)
Mendel Medal (a.)(b.)
American Academy of Arts & Sciences
American Philosophical Society
National Academy of Sciences

PCAST Appointment by President Obama
Regents Professor Appointment by Chancellor Kirwan

Research

Adinkra Symbol
Science & Uncertainty Interview
Secret Life of Jim Gates
Mathematical Perspective on Adinkras 
C-SPAN Q & A Interview

Q2C Festival 2009 Talk ("Does Reality Have a Genetic Basis") (a.) 

Selected Publications:

  • I. Chappell II; S. J. Gates, Jr., and T. Hubsch, "Adinkra (In)Equivalence From Coxeter Group Representations: A Case Study," http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.0478
  • S.J. Gates, Jr., and T. Hubsch, "On Dimensional Extension of Supersymmetry: From Worldlines to Worldsheets", http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.0722
  • S.J. Gates, Jr "Symbols of Power", Physics World, Vol. 23, No 6, June 2010, pp. 34 - 39
  • On Being interview: https://onbeing.org/programs/s-james-gates-uncovering-the-codes-for-reality/
    Synopsis:  http://rccommentary2.blogspot.com/2010/07/if-you-knew-susy.html
  • C.F. Doran, M.G. Faux, S.J. Gates, Jr., T. Hubsch, K.M. Iga, G.D. Landweber,
    (a.) http://arxiv.org/abs/0806.0051
    (b.) http://arxiv.or/abs/1108.4124

On The Higgs Boson & On SUSY:

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y44ZG1RioI&feature=youtu.be
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ-V4xz_sZQ
  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00n2vvj
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDXfyWIPtvY&feature=related

Science & Education Policy:

  • Prepare & Inspire Report 
    https://nsf.gov/attachments/117803/public/2a--Prepare_and_Inspire--PCAST.pdf
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V2eP5BiFFY

Non-Scientific Essays:

  • On the Universality of Creativity in the Liberal Arts and in the Sciences
  • Science, Irrationality, and Innovation

Teaching

  • Physics 235: The Manhattan Project 
  • Physics 401: Quantum Physics I

News

  • Gates Named Winner of Oersted Medal
  • Sylvester James Gates, Jr. Returns to UMD Faculty as Clark Leadership Chair in Science
  • S. James Gates, Jr. Endows New Summer Research Award

 

Galitski, Victor

  • Professor and Chesapeake Chair
  • 2270 Physical Sciences Complex
  • 301.405.6107
  • Website

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Victor Galitski received his Ph.D. in theoretical condensed matter physics under Prof. A. Larkin at the University of Minnesota after earning a Ph.D. in applied math (in a record 18 months)at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI). He joined UMD as an assistant professor in 2006. He has received a Simons Investigator Award, CMPS Board of Visitors Faculty Award, and an NSF Career Award. He recently finished translating from Russian to English a textbook, “Exploring Quantum Mechanics: A Collection of 700+ Solved Problems for Students, Lecturers, and Researchers" co-written by his grandfather, physicist V.M. Galitskii. He studies several subfields of condensed matter theory.

Research

Research:

  • AI and Physical Sciences
  • Condensed Matter Theory
  • Quantum Science and Technology

Research Projects:

  • Fluctuations in superconductors
  • Statistical mechanics of lower dimensions
  • Cold atom systems
  • Quantum phase transitions

Centers & Institutes: Condensed Matter Theory Center; Joint Quantum Institute 

Teaching

  • Physics 402: Quantum Physics II
  • Physics 405: Advanced Experiments
  • Physics 621
  • Physics 623: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics II
  • Physics 625: Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics

News

  • Repurposing Qubit Tech to Explore Exotic Superconductivity
  • Embracing Uncertainty Helps Bring Order to Quantum Chaos
  • Bilayer Graphene Inspires Two-Universe Cosmological Model
  • Galitski Receives a Simons Foundation Award
  • Victor Galitski Awarded the 2011 Richard A. Ferrell Distinguished Faculty Fellowship
  • Victor Galitski Awarded Board of Visitors Junior Faculty Award
  • Victor Galitski Awarded the NSF CAREER Award

Eno, Sarah

  • Professor
  • 3164 Physical Sciences Complex
  • 301.405.7179
  • Website

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Sarah Eno received her Ph.D. from the University of Rochester and did postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago. She has been a member of the AMY experiment at Tristan, the CDF and D0 experiments at FNAL, and the CMS experiment at the LHC. She is interested in studies of the weak force, studies of QCD using EWK vector bosons, searches for new particles, calorimeters, and radiation resistant scintillators. She is a fellow of the APS, has served on HEPAP and is a UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher.

Research

Research:

  • High Energy Physics

Research Projects:

  • CMS Experiment

 

Teaching

  • Physics 105: Physics for Decision Makers
  • Physics 276: Experimental Physics II
  • Physics 375: Experimental Physics III: Electromagnetic Waves, Optics and Modern Physics
  • Physics 485: Electronic Circuits

News

  • Eno Chosen as Leader of US Future Higgs Factory Effort
  • US Joins FCC Effort: Maryland’s Impact
  • Eno Elected to Leadership Line
  • UMD Leads Quest for Better Detectors
  • Eno Elected AAAS Fellow
  • Sarah Eno Elected Fellow of APS
  • Sarah Eno Named Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

 

Drake, James

  • Distinguished University Professor & Director
  • 3311 A.V. Williams Building
  • 301.405.1471
  • Website

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

James Drake's research focus is on the theory and modeling of plasmas with applications to laboratory, space and astrophysical systems. He has made important contributions to the understanding of laser-plasma interactions, plasma turbulence and magnetic reconnection. On the topic of magnetic reconnection he and his students and colleagues have made key discoveries on the mechanisms that control the rate of reconnection, its explosive onset and the production of energetic particles. Collaborations with scientists with access to laboratory and satellite data have tested his models against reality. He is a UMD Distinguished University Professor.

Research

Research Area:

  • Plasma Theory

Research Projects:

  • magnetic reconnection and associated particle acceleration
  • magnetospheric multiscale mission (MMS)
  • solar probe plus mission (SPP)
  • the FLARE reconnection experiment

Centers & Institutes: Institute for Physical Science & Technology; Institute for Research in Electronics & Applied Physics; Joint Space-Science Institute

Teaching

  • Physics 272: Introductory Physics: Fields
  • Physics 373: Mathematical Methods for Physics II
  • Physics 611: Mathematical Methods and Their Applications 
  • Physics 761: Plasma Physics I: Survey
  • Physics 762: Plasma Physics II

News

  • New Study Identifies Mechanism Driving the Sun’s Fast Wind
  • New Research Reveals How Energy Dissipates Outside Earth’s Magnetic Field
  • Switchbacks Science: Explaining Parker Solar Probe’s Magnetic Puzzle
  • Drake Paper Featured in Astrophysical Journal Letters
  • Professors Drake, Gates named Distinguished University Professors
  • James Drake Elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union
  • James Drake Receives 2010 James Clerk Maxwell Prize
  • James Drake Awarded SPD Popular Writing Award

 

More Articles …

  1. Das Sarma, Sankar
  2. Cohen, Thomas
  3. Chacko, Zackaria
  4. Buonanno, Alessandra

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