Dr. Roby Austin's Home Page
I am a physicist interested in problems in nuclear structure. Nuclei have internal structures just like atoms or molecules. They can be in excited states and release excess energy via the emission of a gamma ray (which is a form of electromagnetic radiation like light or radio waves, but with much greater energy). I am a gamma-ray spectroscopist. I enjoy learning about nuclei from the gamma rays that they emit. I also sometimes learn about them from the particles that they emit.
I have a gamma detector in my lab here at Saint Mary's. Most of my research just now involves experiments that use accelerated atoms. Those experiments happen off-campus at places like TRIUMF, Texas A&M, or GANIL. Some of my research includes the recent M.Sc. thesis work of Andrew Valencik; that's another kettle of fish again, exploring a big dataset.