Physics is the study of how the universe works - a quest for the framework that underlies all the glorious complexity we see around us. The Hamilton undergraduate physics program provides students with both the theoretical background to understand this framework and the experimental methods used to test it.

One ideal route to a physics education is to work closely with experienced physicists. There are six full-time faculty and one instructor in our department and the faculty/student ratio and excellent facilities at Hamilton allow our students to do just that. The close student-faculty collaboration that is at the heart of Hamilton's physics program means that every major completes at least one substantial research project before graduation. Student projects often lead to papers that are presented at professional conferences and published in scholarly journals. All senior physics students work collaboratively with faculty members on research projects as part of the Senior Program.

This web site is a guide to the department. We invite you to explore what the study of physics at Hamilton has to offer.

Student Summer Research Activities

Nguyen is an Apker Award Finalist

Nguyen Thi Thao Nguyen, Hamilton College 2008 Salutatorian and double major in physics and math, has been named a finalist for the LeRoy Apker Award. The award is given annually by the American Physical Society for outstanding research accomplishments in physics by an undergraduate.

Her research was performed in the lab of Professor Ann Silversmith. She spent two summers working on the project and continued the investigation for her senior project. The title of her senior thesis was "The role of Aluminum in Rare-Earth Doped Sol-Gel Silicate Glasses." Some of the work was presented at the Dynamic Processes Conference in Spain during the summer of 2007, and Nguyen has co-authored three publications which have appeared in the Journal of Luminescence and the Journal of Noncrystalline Solids.

In September Nguyen will travel to Washington, DC to give a presentation about her research. Apker Award winners will be chosen in College and University categories by a panel of physicists.

Professor Silversmith studies the field of laser spectrocopy of solids. Her current emphasis is on the synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of rare-earth based sol-gel glasses. She supervised Nguyen's work on the use of aluminum as a doping agent that enhances the fluorescence yield of rare- earth doped sol-gels.