David Rabson, Associate Professor

Ph.D. physics, 1991, Cornell University

office:                     PHY304                 (813) 974-1207

e-mail:                   davidra@ewald.cas.usf.edu

web:                       http://ewald.cas.usf.edu/

research interests: solid state & materials physics; theoretical physics

·          theoretical solid state physics

·          materials science

·          statistical mechanics

research outline:

The Condensed Matter Theory Research Group works in condensed matter theory, with currently-funded projects in mathematical crystallography and in modeling and statistical mechanics of magnetic heterostructures.  In collaboration with Dr. Benji Fisher (Boston College), the group has reformulated Fourier-space crystallography in the language of cohomology of groups and applied the results to a wider class of structures than previously considered.  Continuing work focuses on homological invariants of a new kind and their possible physical implications.  Magnetic tunnel junctions exhibit a large magnetoresistance that shows even greater promise for applications in reading magnetic media than current technology.  Recently, the group has modeled electrical and thermal transport in junctions and has proposed a simple, fast, and inexpensive quality-control protocol for diagnosing and locating defects.  Other current research at the nanometer scale includes a statistical-mechanical model of magnetic order in rare-earth heterostructures and a recent study of the ballistic-to-diffusive crossover in quantum wires.  The latter may have applications in quantum computing.  

Curriculum Vitae

USF Home | USF Search | E-mail Directory | College of Arts and Sciences | E-mail Webmaster