Undergraduate research is a key component of our physics curriculum. All of our students gain research experience either by working closely with a faculty member on an original project here at IU South Bend or by participating in an NSF REU program at another university. Students present their work in a variety of venues, such as our Contemporary Physics Seminar (PHYS-S 106), the IU South Bend Undergraduate Research Conference, or professional conferences, and in some cases students become coauthors on peer-reviewed journal articles. Below are brief descriptions of the active research programs available to students at IU South Bend.
Astroparticle Physics
IU South Bend’s Astroparticle group is focused mainly on the experimental search for dark matter. The two experiments (PICASSO & COUPP) we collaborate on have now merged into the PICO collaboration, which is using the bubble chamber technique to search for evidence of these elusive particles. IU South Bend has designed and fabricated hundreds of ultrasonic transducers, which have been able to distinguish radioactive background from the signal being searched for. We have also had students make numerous contributions to the bubble chamber experiments on aspects of the chemistry of the detector, installation and commissioning of detectors at Fermilab and the deep underground site at SNOLAB (in Ontario, Canada), as well as analyzing the dark matter search data itself. Our group has also aided other experiments such as an astrophysics experiment studying massive stars, the new muon accelerator (MICE) at Fermilab, a competing dark matter experiment, as well as a cold neutron experiment.
High-Pressure Condensed Matter Physics
IU South Bend is a member institution of COMPRES: COnsortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences, and we are actively involved in experimental research at high pressure. Our mineral physics laboratory uses Diamond Anvil Cells (DACs) coupled with laser and synchrotron radiation to generate and investigate the pressure and temperature conditions found deep inside the Earth and other planets. We are also interested in the role of pressure, as a thermodynamic variable, for basic physics, chemistry and materials science.
Nuclear Physics
Nuclear physics research at IU South Bend is carried out primarily at Notre Dame’s Nuclear Structure Laboratory, with its three electrostatic accelerators and St. George recoil mass separator, and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University. Our research focuses on reactions induced by radioactive beams and reactions of astrophysical interest. The St. George device at Notre Dame is a large-acceptance recoil mass separator that allows measurements of alpha-capture reactions of importance in understanding the helium-burning phase of massive stars. IUSB developed a state-of-the-art detection system for St. George with funding from the National Science Foundation. IUSB is also a member of the MoNA Collaboration, a consortium of Michigan State University and several primarily undergraduate institutions that utilize the MoNA-LISA neutron detectors to study very neutron-rich nuclei at FRIB.
String Theory
Research in String Theory at IU South Bend focuses on Calabi-Yau compactification and mirror symmetry. We use methods from arithmetic geometry to investigate the relationship between Calabi-Yau manifolds and exactly solvable models.
Astronomy
The IUSB Observatory on the roof of Northside Hall is equipped with a Meade 16″ LX200-ACF telescope on a Paramount ME robotic mount, a low resolution spectroscope (Alpy 600 from Shelyak Instruments), and a number of CCD and CMOS astronomical cameras. Research projects have included spectroscopy of eruptive stars and detection of exoplanets using differential photometry. A filter wheel and filters are also available for high-quality astronomical photography.