Physics Program Research | Colorado Mesa University

The Physics program offers numerous research opportunities in theoretical physics, experimental physics and observational astronomy for undergraduate students. Physics majors at Colorado Mesa University are required to take a total of four credit hours of senior research and senior seminar courses as well as possibilities for independent study and informal individual mentorship. This offers students opportunities for learning beyond the classroom, exposure to currently exciting developments in physics and development of research techniques and skills.

The CMU physics faculty are actively involved in research in a variety of fields and each has several publications in prominent journals and conference proceedings.

Research Areas

The first exoplanet, a planet orbiting a star outside our solar system, was discovered quite recently in the early 1990’s. Since then, space based telescopes like Kepler and TESS have been discovering thousands of new exoplanets using the transit method, which measures the dip in brightness of a star when a planet passes in front of it. With an abundance of data, there are many candidate planets whose existence need to be confirmed with follow up observations. CMU students have access to the Falcon Telescope Network, owned and operated by the US Air Force Academy, and the Science Dome telescope located at the Grand Mesa Observatory. These telescopes are well suited to performing observations that will confirm the existence of exoplanets and can measure properties of these planets.

Research in the area of Astronomy at CMU is conducted by the CMU Exoplanet Reseach Team led by Dr. Catherine Whiting.

Einstein's theory of General Relativity (GR) describes gravitation as the curvature of space and time due to the presence of matter and energy. This theoretical construct has been heralded as one of the greatest achievements of the human mind whose validity has been confirmed through countless experiments and astronomical observations. In addition to predicting the now-measured bending of starlight by the Sun and to accurately accounting for the perihelion precession of Mercury, GR has given birth to several exotic creatures including black holes and neutron stars and to modern cosmology.

At CMU, research in GR has focused on gravitational scenarios involving space times with more than four dimensions. Recent work has included finding the exact solution to the D=d+4 dimensional Einstein field equations subjected to a flat Robertson-Walker metric where the 3D and higher dimensional scale factors are allowed to event at different rates. Additional projects have included applications of a new model of gravity called Thomas Whitehead gravity, which is an extension of GR to include projective geometry. This model is suitable to explain dark energy, dark matter, inflation of the early universe, and the source of black holes from a fundamental perspective.

Research in the areas of general relativity, gravitation, and cosmology at CMU is conducted by Dr. Chad Middleton and also by Dr. Catherine Whiting.

Materials science pulls theory and experimental techniques from physics and chemistry to develop novel materials, as well as study and determine their properties, including, but not limited to, structural, vibrational, electric, and magnetic characteristics. Nanotechnology involves the study of materials smaller than 100 nanometers. Nanomaterials very often have dramatically different properties than their bulk counterparts.

Reseach in this area at CMU focuses on ferroelectrics and metal oxides, bulk and nano-sized, having applications to nuclear and renewable energy, such as lithium manganese spine oxides, nickel ferrites, and barium titanate. Facilities for characterization include X-ray diffraction and temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy. The flexibility of this equipment allows for investigation on a near limitless range of materials.

Materials science research at CMU is conducted by Dr. Brian Hosterman.

Quantum information encompasses the study of how quantum systems can be used for information processing and also how ideas from information theory can be adapted to understand quantum systems and their behavior. Quantum information procedures include cryptography schemes, teleportation, quantum computing, quantum algorithms and metrology. In these, information is stored in the states of quantum mechanical systems and processed via a controlled evolution of such systems. Judicious use of characteristic features of quantum mechanics such as superposition and entanglement can, in principle, result in quantifiable information processing advantages over any competing classical protocol.

At CMU, research in this area currently focuses on theoretical quantum parameter estimation and metrology. These consider the use of quantum systems in physical schemes for determining the values of parameters such as magnetic fields or optical phase shifts. In some cases, using characteristic features of quantum physics such as entangled states can result in potential methods that determine a parameter with greater statistical accuracy than is possible with typical classical schemes. Research in this area at CMU considers theoretical evaluations of various schemes that include noise and how this affects accuracy enhancements.

Previous research in quantum information at CMU considered quantum algorithms particularly when applied to ensembles of quantum systems.

Research in these areas at CMU is conducted by Dr. David Collins.

Physics students at CMU sometimes participate in summer research programs at other institutions, typically via the NSF REU program.

CMU is a partner in the Falcon Telescope Network with the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Students at CMU will have access to several 20" research grade Ritchey Chretien Telescopes with one being located right near Grand Junction at the Grand Mesa Observatory.

Student Research Highlights

Recent and past highlights of research involving Colorado Mesa University physics undergraduate students include:

Matt Keaney won an an award for the best physics poster presentation at the 2023 CMU Student Showcase for "Determining NanoDot™️ Imaging Dose Values in External Beam Radiotherapy".
Jonas Flann presented his senior research at the American Physical Society (APS) March Meeting 2023 in Las Vegas, NV.
Calvin Bavor was nominated for the 2022 national American Physical Society LeRoy Apker Award for undergraduate physics achievement.
Calvin Bavor won an award for the best physics poster presentation at the 2022 CMU Student Showcase for “Applying Projective Geometry to Cosmological Inflation”.
Bret Brouse, Scott Jackson, and Prof. Chad Middleton published their work "Anisotropic evolution of D-dimensional FRW spacetime" Eur. Phys. J. C (2019) 79: 982.
Abraham Selenke won an award for the best physics poster presentation at the 2019 CMU Student Showcase for "Applications of a Termperature-Controlled Heating Stage for Raman Spectroscopy".
Nick Wright won an award for best Physics and Environmental Sciences oral presentation at the 2019 CMU Student Showcase for "Synthesis and Characterization of Ba_(1-x)Sr_xTiO₃ Ceramics".
Scott Jackson won the best oral presentation in physical and environmental sciences for the 2018 CMU Student Showcase for this talk "Examining The Vacuum Regime in the D-Dimensional Friedmann-Walker-Robertson Model of Cosmology"
Bret Brouse won the best poster presentation in mathematics for the 2018 CMU Student Showcase for his work "An investigation of physics using model theory and first order logic".
Brandon Gracey and Prof. Jared Workman published their work "G2 and Sgr A* A Cosmic Fizzle at Galactic Center", ApJ 843, (2017)
Jaimie Stephens and Prof. David Collins published their work "Depolarizing Parameter Channel Estimation Using Noisy Initial States", Phys. Rev. A, 92, 032324 (2015).
Jeremiah Moskal ported the Sedov Taylor code written in Fortan 77 by F. X. Timmes and J. R. Kamm to Python and has contributed the code the astrophysical community. This code will allow for new hydrocdes to validate their own Sedov Taylor simulations very quickly and efficiently see here - Sedov Taylor Code
Brandon Gracey won an award for the best poster presentation at the 2015 CMU Student Showcase for work done on the simulation of the encounter of the gas cloud G2 and the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy SGR A*.
Danny Weller and Prof. Chad Middleton published their work "Elliptical Like Orbits on a Warped Spandex Fabric: A Theoretical/Experimental Undergraduate Research Project", Am. J. Phys. 84, 284 (2016)
Danny Weller presented his senior research at the 2014 APS Four Corners Meeting at Utah Valley University.
Tom Morrison won an award for the best poster presentation at the 2014 CMU Student Showcase for work done on the simulation of the emitted spectrum from accretion disks at various inclination angles.
Caitlin Heath published her work with Prof. Jared Workman on initial mass functions of stellar populations in galactic clusters in the Monthly Notices of The Royal Astronomical Society. See: "Modeling Increased Metal Production In Galaxy Clusters With Pair-Instability Supernovae", Brian Morsony, Caitlin Heath, and Jared Workman, accepted in MNRAS.
Michael Langston and Prof. Chad Middleton published their work on orbits on a spandex fabric in the American Journal of Physics. See: "Circular orbits on a warped spandex fabric", C. Middleton and M. Langston, Am. J. Phys. 82, 287 (2014)
Jaimie Stephens placed as "runner-up" for the undergraduate poster presentation at the Spring 2014 SPS Zone 14 Regional Meeting.
Garry Stewart won an award for the best poster presentation at the 2013 CMU Student Showcase. Garry presented results of his senior research project which investigated the oscillations of a magnet levitated above a superconductor.
Caitlin Heath won a Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award for her poster at the 220th AAS meeting in Anchorage, AK. Only four undergraduate students received Chambliss medals at this meeting. Her poster described her senior research project, "The Importance of High-Mass Stars for Metal Enrichment in Galaxy Clusters."
Ethan Stanley and Prof. Chad Middleton published their work "Anisotropic Evolution Of 5D Friedmann-Robertson-Walker Space Time", Phys. Rev. D, 84, 085013 (2011)".
Peter Schulze won the 2011 award for Outstanding Performance in Physics at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Student Symposium. This was open to graduate and undergraduate students doing research at Los Alamos during the summer of 2011.
Casey Brown won the award for the best oral presentation at the 2011 Mesa State College Student Showcase. Casey presented results of his senior research project which investigated the dynamics of various football throwing motions.
Jacob Cady won the award for the best presentation by an undergraduate student at the annual APS 4Corners Section meeting held at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado in October 2009.
Jacob Cady published his analysis of the high road/low road classical dynamics problem in the Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics. See: Jacob Cady and Chad A. Middleton, "The High/Low Road Demonstration, Or Birds On A Wire," J. Undergraduate Research in Physics, 22, Dec 2009.
Dan Rottinghaus published his work on the tipping of a kayak in the Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics. See: Daniel R. Rottinghaus and Chad A. Middleton, "Kayaking Physics: The Tipping Angle," J. Undergraduate Research in Physics, 22, Aug 2009.