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To our members and partners,

Due to directives associated with COVID-19, effective Monday, March 23, 2020 and until further notice, IMS physical operations are closed.

With questions/concerns: Customers and industry partners should reach out via email to the faculty member/director who handles their ongoing projects. UConn faculty and scientific staff must adhere to the guidelines posted by the University regarding Research Shut Down, or email IMS Director, Dr. Steven L. Suib, with any remaining concerns.

We are doing all we can to maintain service to our industry partners as well as ensure the safety of our students, faculty, and staff. We appreciate your understanding at this time and will keep you updated as information and timelines become available.

Jun 2 PhD Dissertation Defense10:00am

PhD Dissertation Defense

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2020

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Storrs Campus
Video meeting

Graduate Student Matthew Phelps, Department of Physics,
University of Connecticut

Cosmological Fluctuations in Standard and Conformal Gravity

In the theory of cosmological perturbations, extensive methods of simplifying the equations of motion and eliminating non-physical gauge modes are required in order to construct the perturbative solutions. One approach, standard within modern cosmology, is to decompose the metric perturbation into a basis of scalars, vectors, and tensors defined according to their transformation behavior under three-dimensional rotations (the S.V.T. decomposition). By constructing a projector formalism to define the basis components, we show that such a decomposition is intrinsically non-local and necessarily incorporates spatially asymptotic boundary conditions. We continue application of the S.V.T. decomposition and solve the fluctuation equations exactly within standard cosmologies as applied to both Einstein gravity and conformal gravity, finding that in general the various S.V.T. gauge-invariant combinations only decouple at a higher-derivative level. To match the underlying transformation group of General Relativity and thus provide a manifestly covariant formalism, we introduce an alternate scalar, vector, tensor basis with components defined according to general four-dimensional coordinate transformations. In this basis, the fluctuation equations greatly simplify, where one can again decouple them into separate gauge-invariant sectors at the higher-derivative level. In the context of conformal gravity, we use similar constructions to solve the fluctuation equations exactly within any geometry that is conformal to flat and show that in a radiation era Robertson-Walker cosmology, fluctuations grow as \(t^4\).

Video Meeting URL: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/map14010

Contact Information: Prof. P. Mannheim
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Sep 18 Dr. James Guillochon3:30pm

Dr. James Guillochon

Friday, September 18th, 2020

03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

Storrs Campus
BPB-131

Physics colloquium

Dr. James Guillochon

Contact Information: Prof. Cara Battersby
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EDUCATION
The Institute of Materials Science (IMS) supports over 100 graduate students in three primary fields of study, Materials Science and Engineering, Polymer Science, and Materials Science. In addition, graduate students in affiliated departments use IMS facilities to perform materials-related research.

RESEARCH
IMS provides superior graduate research education in the interdisciplinary fields of materials science and engineering, and provides materials-related technical outreach to Connecticut’s industries. IMS operates and maintains extensive state-of-the-art instrumentation including a wide range of laboratories. Support facilities include an electronics shop and an instrument and machine shop.

Over 100 faculty members from twenty departments including the UConn Health Center are affiliated with IMS, contributing to the Institute’s interdisciplinary research programs. Primary disciplines represented are chemistry, physics, chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, polymer science, pharmacy, molecular and cell biology, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, biomaterials, and biosciences.

OUTREACH
The Institute is also home to the Industrial Affiliates Program, an industry outreach program which assists Connecticut companies in their research and development efforts to improve new and existing products. The Industrial Affiliates Program provides many benefits for member companies, including access to facilities and faculty at UConn, short courses, and other resources that can assist in materials-related problem solving for industry.