Independent Study Program

Independent Study

A course in independent study (PHY 225 or 226) is encouraged for students who plan to enter graduate school in science. Note also that PHY 226 carries an "R" designation .

Accelerated students may enroll in these courses as a junior, but most make their arrangements with a faculty member just prior to the registration period for the fall semester of the senior year. The nature of the project is defined by the faculty member in consultation with the student. A wide variety has been performed in the past. Students are expected to devote at least ten hours per week on the project and a term paper or oral exam is required. Research interests of the faculty can be gleaned from reading the booklet describing the graduate program at Duke; these booklets are available in the Department office and online. The table at the bottom of this page may also be helpful.

Keep in mind that in addition to the research labs in the Physics Building, the faculty have programs underway in the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory and the Free-Electron Laser Laboratory, both of which are located in facilities directly behind the Physics Building. In addition, some members of the physics faculty are also involved in collaborations with professors in the Engineering School, Computer Sciences, Mathematics, Psychology and the Medical School. Occasionally, arrangements have been made wherein a faculty member from another department (in reasonably close consultation with a physics member) has supervised an independent-study project.

Students wishing to enroll in an independent studies course should complete the permission request form and submit it to Florin Damian in room 107A of the physics building during the normal course registration and add/drop periods.  She will give you a permission number when the completed form is received.

Graduation With Latin Honors and Distinction

The Department offers an Honors Program leading to Graduation with Distinction in Physics (there is only one level of distinction). 

To enter the program, a student must be part of the B.S. in Physics, have a Grade Point Average of 3.0 overall and in Physics at the beginning of the spring semester of the Junior Year, and identify a Faculty mentor with whom to conduct an extensive research project that will result in the writing and defense of an honors thesis.  A student planning to do an honors thesis should inform the Director of Undergraduate Studies  of her/his intentions no later than the spring semester of the junior year.

To complete the program, a student must:
  1. finish all of the requirements for the B.S. Degree in Physics,
  2. maintain a Grade Point Average of 3.0 overall and in Physics,
  3. complete an extensive research project supervised by a Faculty mentor,
  4. document the research in the form of a Honors Thesis that in the style of articles in The Physical Review and is of suitable quality to be published on the Physic Department's Web site,
  5. defend the Senior Thesis during an Oral Exam that is administered by a Committee consists of three faculty members and DUS near the end of the Senior Year, and
  6. present a poster on the work at the annual department student poster session, which is held near the end of the spring semester.
Although it is not a requirement, students often complete the research project as part of the PHY 227 Thesis Independent Study course. The extensive research project may be a repetition of previous work, although a project on an original research topic is highly encouraged. It is expected that students will spend an entire year conducting the research project and writing the Honors Thesis with an effort of approximately 12 hours per week. Regular meetings with the faculty mentor should be scheduled (approximately once per week) and an interim progress report should be presented to the faculty mentor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies after the first semester of work. Additional details may be obtained from the Director of Undergrduate Studies.

Seniors wishing to do a thesis project with the aim of graduating with deparment distinction should complete the request form and submit it to Florin Damian in room 107A of the physics building by the end of the add/drop period of the spring semester. If enrolling in PHY 227, you will be given a permission number when the request form is received.

Important links for students who are planning to defend an honors thesis


Faculty Supervisors

The list below is not complete. If you like to work with a professor not listed here, please talk with her/him directly.

Color Key:

Research
Area 		High Energy /
String Theory		 Nuclear / QCD /
Quark-gluon Plasmas		 Optics and Atomic / FEL /
Astronomy		 Condensed Matter /
Nonlinear Dynamics
Theory or
Experiment 		Theory opportunities only Laboratory work available

The colors give a rough indication of the professor's area of research. Use these to identify other professors who are likely to have similar interests, but note that many professors do some work outside their primary area.

Professor Coursework Topics (PHY 225) Research Topics (PHY 226/227) Availability (2007 Academic Year)
Baranger, Harold N/A Nanoscale physics; Quantum interference in nanostructures; Molecular electronics; Quantum computing. Yes
Bass, Steffen Heavy ion physics; Quark-gluon plasma; Numerical modeling of complex systems in nuclear physics. Phenomenology and signatures of the quark-gluon plasma; Transport theory of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. No
Brown, Robert Dynamical critical phenomena; Multiple scattering theory; Computational statistical mechanics; Neural networks; Genetic algorithms for optimization; Critical scaling of the helicity modulus; Computational multiple scattering band theory. No
Chandrasekharan, Shailesh Quantum field theory; QCD; Statistical Mechanics, Monte-Carlo methods, correlated fermionic systems. Cluster Algorithms and Sign Problems; Phases transitions and critical phenomena; Lattice QCD. Yes
Edwards, Glenn Biological physics and applications of Free-Electron Lasers. Spectroscopy of dynamical processes in biological molecules; Laser modification of biological processes in cells. Yes
Everitt, Henry N/A Observational astronomy; Novel astronomical instruments; Optical studies of semiconductors; Photonic crystals. No
Finkelstein, Gleb Nanoscale physics. Nanoscale physics; Low temperature and scanning probe measurements of carbon nanotubes; Self assembled DNA nanostructures. No
Gao, Haiyan Experimental medium energy (nuclear and particle) physics QCD structure of nucleon; Transition between nucleon-meson and quark-gluon degrees of freedom in exclusive processes; Search for QCD exotics; Fundamental symmetry studies and the search for the neutron electric dipole moment; Development of a high-pressure polarized 3He target. Yes
Gauthier, Daniel N/A Quantum and nonlinear optics; Single-photon generation and detection; Atom trapping; Faster than light pulse propagation; Controlling and synchronizing chaos; Spatiotemporal chaos in optical systems; Dynamics and electrophysiology of the heart. Yes
Goshaw, Alfred The standard model of elementary particles; Applied relativistic mechanics. Multivariant statistical methods for identifying small signals in large backgrounds; Carriers of the electroweak force. Yes
Greenside, Henry Pattern formation; Spatiotemporal chaos; Theoretical neurobiology; multivariate time series analysis; Computational physics. Pattern formation, transport, and forecasting of spatiotemporal fluid and chemical systems; Modeling of neural tissue, especially in the mammalian olfactory system. Yes
Guenther, Robert Modern optics; Introduction to photonics; Capstone design (PHY 193). Imaging; Optical coherence tomography; Ultrashort phenomena; Biodetection. Yes
Kotwal, Ashutosh Elementary particle physics; Electronics. Analysis of experimental data at highest energies - investigating the origin of mass of fundamental particles, new forces and additional dimensions of space; Development of analysis techniques; Designing electronics for particle physics experiments. Yes
Kruse, Mark Experimental elementary particle physics Data analysis from high energy proton-antiproton collisons (looking for Higgs and other new particles, measuring top quark properties); Statistical techniques for new particle searches; Characterising silicon vertex detector resolution using cosmic rays. Yes
Mehen, Thomas Effective field theory; Heavy quark physics; Quantum chromodynamics Two- and three- body nuclear systems at low energies; Heavy particle production at colliders; Heavy quark phyiscs, Application of EFT to hadronic physics. Yes
Mueller, Berndt N/A Field Theory; Quantum Chromodynamics; Relativistic Nuclear Physics; Quark-Gluon PlasmaProbes of the quark-gluon plasma; Nonequilibrium processes; Relativistic heaby ion collisions; Chaos in field theory. Yes
Oh, Seog Experimental elementary particle physics Analysis of experimental data from CDF and ATLAS - Search for Higgs and particles beyond the Standard Model; Detector development for particle physics experiments. Yes
Palmer, Richard Statistical mechanics; Monte-Carlo methods; Genetic algorithms; Neural networks. Network algorithms for spin glasses and graphical networks; Glasses with constrained dynamics and jamming. No
Plesser, Ronen String Theory No
Scholberg, Kate Experimental Elementary Particle Physics Topics in neutrino physics: data analysis and detector studies. Neutrino oscillation physics with atmospheric, beam and supernova neutrinos; non-standard interaction searches; detection of supernova neutrinos. Yes
Socolar, Joshua Soft condensed matter; Statistical mechanics; Chaos and control; Complex networks. Stress patterns and flow of dense granular materials; Large networks and gene expression. No
Springer, Roxanne Effective Field Theory, Heavy Quark Physics No
Wu, Ying Charged particle optics; Nonlinear beam dynamics; Lie Algebra and Differentiation Algebra. Designing next generation electron microscope optics; Study of ultrafast electron and laser pulses; Advanced computer control and feedback systems; Development of Free Electron Lasers and novel light sources. Yes