The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Iowa State University offers graduate studies in nuclear physics leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. A full complement of courses in elementary and advanced nuclear physics is offered.
The primary emphasis in graduate study is on creative research in the area of relativistic heavy ion physics. Facilities at the Department of Physics and Astronomy include Ge detectors for g-ray spectroscopy and an optically linked system consisting of a large number of Decstation computers.
The major program for the nuclear physics group is to study the properties of nuclear matter at extreme densities and temperatures and under the influence of extreme electromagnetic fields. This program is carried out by studying the collisions of relativistic and ultrarelativistic very heavy nuclei. The experiments are carried out at the AGS accelerator at Brookhaven and the SPS accelerator at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland.
In a major new initiative our group has joined the collaboration to build the PHENIX detector on-line to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven. The main motivation is to create and study the properties of the quark-gluon plasma produced in the collision of 100 GeV/nucleon gold beams. Our responsibility is to design and build the first-level trigger for PHENIX.
We have recently joined experiment E864 at Brookhaven. The purpose is to search for antinuclei and strange nuclear matter produced in the collision of gold nuclei with various stationary targets. We are designing and building the "late energy" trigger for this experiment.
Experiments to study "electromagnetic dissociation" ED were pioneered by our group in experiments at the Bevalac at Berkeley. We are continuing the experiments at the AGS and SPS accelerators using 11 GeV/nucleon gold and 160 GeV/nucleon lead beams, respectively. These targets are shipped to Iowa State for gamma-ray counting. In the ED process both the giant electric dipole and quadrupole resonances are excited. In addition some studies are carried out on superdeformation in heavy nuclei using the 88 cyclotron at Berkeley.
The experimental nuclear physics group consists of John C. Hill (Ph.D., Purdue University), Fred K. Wohn (Ph.D., Indiana University), and William H. Kelly (Ph.D., University of Michigan), and associated visitors, postdoctoral associates, and graduate students.
Research and teaching assistantships are available and inquires are welcome from chemistry as well as physics majors.
For additional information about graduate studies in experimental nuclear physics contact:
Prof. John C. Hill, (515) 294-6580
Prof. Fred K. Wohn, (515) 294-3545, or
Prof. William H. Kelly, (515) 294-3940
Department of Physics
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-3020
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