I also hope to get to know many of you here in class and outside if you take time to come by and visit me in my office. My name is Collin Broholm, I am a Professor in the department of Physics and Astronomy here at the University. I was born and educated in Copenhagen Denmark. Best known perhaps for Tivoli gardens but also the home of poet H. C. Andersen and Physicist Niels Bohr. My field of interest is Solid State Physics. Approximately one third of professional physicist work in this area. Loosely speaking we explore how solids work. Our proudest accomplishments are the invention of the transistor and the laser and coming a long way towards understanding superconductivity and magnetism.
I myself am an experimental physicist. If you can't find me in my office I am probably to be found at one of the research reactors or proton accelerators that we have around the country. At these facilities I use neutron beams produced by nuclear fission or spallation. Basically we bounce neutrons off atoms within solids in order to learn how the atoms are located and how they move with respect to one another. We use the technique to explore exotic magnets and superconductors produced here in the department and elsewhere. If you'd like to learn more about this come see me or visit the course Web page.