Welcome to the Department of Physics

at the Rochester Institute of

Technology

What is Physics?

• A mathematical approach which combines theory and experiment to answer a wide range of questions:– How can I store lots of information in a very

small space?– What causes human vision to deteriorate? Can

one prevent it from happening?– How far is it to Seneca Falls. and which way

should I go to get there?

Physics of CDs and DVDs

Physics of Cataracts

• (George should provide this info)

Physics of GPS

The Physics Major at RIT

• Foundations: Years 1, 2– Basic calculus, chemistry, physics– Liberal arts electives

• Applications: Years 3, 4, 5– Mechanics, Thermal, Quantum– Electricity and Magnetism, Electronics– Advanced Laboratories– Independent work and research

The Co-op Program

• Students may do up to 6 blocks of co-op

• Physics program arranged to fit double blocks in the spring and summer quarters

• Recent co-op employers: Kodak, Intel, NIST, Lab for Laser Energetics at UR

• Students may finish the physics program in 4 years by skipping co-ops

Research in the Physics Department at RIT

Laser-lightScattering

ObservationalAstronomy

GranularMaterials

PER NanopowerDevices

Thin Films

MagneticMaterials

Solid StateTheory

Astronomy at RIT

• Observatory on campus (bright, but convenient)

• 16-inch and 10-inch telescopes

• Electronic CCD cameras• TASS Mark IV dual

wide-field camera system

Campaign on variable star WZ SgeDuring the summer of 2001, we monitored the variable star WZ Sge during its first outburst in over two decades. Matter from one component of this binary star flows into a disk around its companion. Instabilities in the flow caused the star to fluctuate on timescales shorter than the 81-minute orbital period, as our measurements over seven hours on July 27 show ….

The data we gathered was combined with that collected at several other observatories to create a round-the-clock record of the star’s brightness. Theorists were able to use this nearly seamless record to improve our understanding of mass transfer between stars. Our work appeared in two technical journals; the article shown below, from volume 381 of Astronomy and Astrophysics, includes three RIT undergraduates (in red) and four RIT Physics professors (in blue) among the authors.

We also discovered serendipitously that one of the stars in the field (the one labelled “U” in the chart) happened to be a previously unknown eclipsing binary star.

Granular materials

• (Franklin)

Nanopower

• (Raffaelle)

After graduation

• Industry– IBM

– Kodak

– Xerox

– NASA

– Lockheed Martin

– Cyprus Semiconductors

– Armed forces

• Graduate school– University of Virginia

– Penn State

– University of Arkansas

– MIT

– West Virginia University

– Cornell

– Michigan State

– Columbia