Welcome to the Lynchburg College Physics Department!
What we do:
The physics major is intended for those interested in careers as physicists, engineers, or in any other profession in which analytical thinking plays an important role. Our 3/2 engineering program allows students to complete a physics major at LC and pursue an engineering degree at another school.
We offer a rigorous physics major and minor with courses that fuse theoretical, experimental, and computational techniques. Computational Physics is the fastest developing member of that triumvirate. In addition to offering a full course called Computational Physics, we incorporate computational techniques in most of our other courses.
Our research:
We are committed to a strong research presence at Lynchburg College. All of our majors complete research projects before they graduate. Some of our students have published papers with us in internationally respected peer-reviewed journals. Below is a summary of our current research activities.
- John Eric Goff performs theoretical and computational investigations in a few different areas. Some of the projects Eric has guided students through include computational statistical mechanics, chaotic orbits, fluid flows around barriers, coupled oscillators, and quantum wave-packet propagation. Eric has also researched with students in the area of sports physics, including Tour de France modeling and aerodynamic studies of soccer balls. Eric spent the 2008-09 academic year at the University of Sheffield in England carrying out experimental and theoretical investigations into soccer physics. Click here for a write-up describing some of Eric's soccer research in the November 2009 issue of Physics World. In December of 2009, Eric's book, Gold Medal Physics: The Science of Sports, will be released by The Johns Hopkins University Press (click on cover to the right).
- Chinthaka Liyanage performs experimental investigations into the electrical and optical properties of solids, with special attention paid to those materials that have applications in device technology (solar cells, LED's, etc.). Chin's work involves photosensitivity measurements of thin-film semiconductors in both amorphous and polycrystalline forms; that work includes studies of their photoluminescence properties with laser illumination. Chin has imbued our optics course with several aspects of his research.
- Neal Sumerlin has been the vanguard for bringing astronomical research to Lynchburg College. At the Belk Observatory, Neal is developing research projects that will use CCD imaging capabilities -- a back-illuminated, thermoelectrically cooled megapixel 13-micron camera with a full set of Astrodon filters. Combined with a newly purchased fiber-optic spectrometer, a wide range of galactic and extra-galactic objects will be able to be studied. In the long term, Neal plans to include optical studies of gamma-ray bursters.
The Lynchburg College Physics Department is located on the fourth floor of Hobbs Hall (pictured on the right -- click on the image and look for building 17).
More information:
Click on the links on the left side of this page for more details about what we offer and what we do. Please also drop us an e-mail or call 434/544-8856 if you have any questions.