Faculty

1. Department of Physics & Astronomy Faculty Dr. Yohannes Abate, Condensed Matter Experiment. Research in my nano-optics group is mainly on apertureless near-field microscopy as a probe of sub-wavelength scale structures and dynamics of surface plasmon polaritons on metals, metamaterials and semiconductors. Email: yohannes.abate@csulb.edu Dr. Alfred Leung, Optics. My research interests are in the field of optics and spectroscopy. My experiments investigate the optics of polarized light and spectroscopy of bio-molecules in the mid-infrared region. Email:alfred.leung@csulb.edu Dr. Paul Hintzen, Astronomy. My research interests are in observational studies of the late stages of stellar evolution, composition of galaxies and the intra-cluster medium in rich galaxy clusters. Email: paul.hintzen@csulb.edu Dr. Zoltan Papp, Theoretical Nuclear Physics. My research is on quantum mechanics of few-body systems, with the focus on exact solution of fundamental integral equations for three-body systems with non-free asymptotics such as Coulomb or confinement asymptotics. This research has relevance in atomic, nuclear and particle physics. Email: zoltan.papp@csulb.edu Dr. Zahur Anwar, Condensed Matter Physics. My research interests are in electrical and thermal properties of semiconductor devices, plasma oscillations and quantum conductance in mesoscopic electronics, which can be the basis for quantum computing in the near future. Email:zahur.anwar@csulb.edu Dr. Zvonimir Hlousek, High Energy Theory. My research interest is elementary particle physics, non-commutative spaces and theories of quantum gravity. I am also interested in education policy issues and I design online learning modules in Physics to help more students reach their educational goals. Email: zvonimir.hlousek@csulb.edu Dr. Andreas Bill, Condensed Matter Theory. I study quantum properties of low-dimensional systems with coexisting phases such as superconductivity and inhomogeneous magnetism. I also investigate the statistical physics of crystallization in solids. Graduate Advisor (HSCI-262)Email: andreas.bill@csulb.edu Dr. Michael Peterson, Condensed Matter Theory. My research interests are in strongly correlated systems and emergent phenomena such as quantum Hall effect, composite fermions and topological quantum phases. I am also interested in quantum phases of cold atoms trapped in optical lattices. Email: michael.peterson@csulb.edu Dr. Prashanth Jaikumar, Nuclear Astrophysics. My research is on the nature of matter at high density and the astrophysics of neutron stars and quark stars. I am particularly interested in their relation to strong magnetic field generation, gravitational waves and nucleosynthesis. Email: prashanth.jaikumar@csulb.edu. Dr. Galen Pickett, Condensed Matter Theory. My research addresses emergent complexity in systems with many constituents that interact simply among themselves, with applications to liquid crystalline phases and fractal geometry. I also work on numerical models of origami patterns. Undergraduate Advisor (HSCI-260) Email:galen.pickett@csulb.edu Dr. Thomas Gredig, Nanotechnology Experiment. My research focuses on the structural, magnetic, and charge transport characteristics of organic thin films with applications to solar cell technology, gas sensors and transistors. Advisor, Society of Physics Students (HSCI-272d) Email: thomas.gredig@csulb.edu Dr. Patrick Kenealy, Physics Education Research. My research interests are in the field of Physics Education, particularly how instructional methods in introductory physics classrooms can help students better learn the unique vocabulary and syntax required to construct their scientific knowledge of the natural world. Email:patrick.kenealyp@csulb.edu Dr. Jiyeong Gu, Condensed Matter Experiment. My research focuses on the investigation of electronic and magnetic properties in hybrid magnetic nanostructures. I fabricate multi-layered thin films with materials having very different characteristics, such as ferromagnet and superconductor, and study the exotic features and unique functionality appearing due to the proximity effect. Email:jiyeong.gu@csulb.edu Dr. Chuhee Kwon, Condensed Matter Experiment. My research investigates the structure-property relationship in various materials including high-temperature superconductors, doped-manganites, and metallic nano-island using multimode scanning probe microscopy. Department Chair (HSCI-220) Email:chuhee.kwon@csulb.edu Dr. Subhash Rajpoot, High Energy Theory. My research interests are in the field of elementary particles and grand unified theories. I work on supersymmetry (SUSY), supergravity and M-theory. Certain predictions of these models are currently being tested at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Email: rajpoot@csulb.edu Society of Physics Students (HSCI-257) The Society of Physics Students (SPS) is a professional association for students interested in Physics. Besides Physics majors, our members include majors in Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, and other fields. Join SPS to meet your peers, plan scientific excursions, avail scholarships, and much more…! Visit http://www.spsnational.org/ and the local chapter http://www.csulb.edu/org/college/sps/ Advisor: Dr. Thomas Gredig (thomas.gredig@csulb.edu) President: Julia Meinen | Vice-President: Stephanie Sodergren | Secretary: Daniel Javier | Treasurer: Stacie Woo