Research: Computational Physics

Computational research at APSU is a multi-disciplinary endeavor involving faculty from several departments including Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, and Chemistry.

In 2007, APSU was awarded $176,177 for a National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation grant entitled " MRI: Acquisition of a Distributed Computing Cluster for Multidisciplinary Research, Research Training, and Education at Austin Peay State University." This grant has funded a 256-core computer cluster available to APSU faculty and students alike. Drs. King, Taylor, and Oelgoetz make up the Computational Physics Research Group at APSU.

Dr. Oelgoetz's primary interests are in the field of computational atomic and molecular physics. His current projects all revolve around predicting the properties of plasmas from first principles (starting with the fundamental quantum mechanics of the electrons and ions in the plasma, solving coupled collisional-radiative atomic rate equations, and finally using those results to calculate the quantity of interest, usually spectra). This work has applications to a number of fields, including astronomy & astrophysics, renewable energy (fusion reactors), laser science, and the lighting industry.