-
New breakthroughsDrawing on our expertise and research, we serve the diverse needs of the community, Nebraska and beyond. Our faculty is dedicated to enabling students to use scientific approaches to discovery and understanding.
Drawing on our expertise and research, we serve the diverse needs of the community, Nebraska and beyond. Our faculty is dedicated to enabling students to use scientific approaches to discovery and understanding.
Office: DSCH 333 | Phone: (308) 865-8283 | Email: armstrongjr@unk.edu
Dr. Armstrong earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Chemistry from Santa Clara University in California and then completed his PhD in Physics at Michigan State University. His doctoral thesis focused on the theoretical study of light nuclei.
After earning his doctorate, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher at Lund University in Sweden and Aarhus University in Denmark. Dr. Armstrong then taught at Winona State University in Minnesota before coming to UNK.
Ph.D., Physics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 2007.
B.S., Chemistry and Physics, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, 2001.
Dr. Armstrong's PhD research involved theoretical nuclear physics, but he has since moved on to research other systems -- in particular, cold atomic systems, usually in the harmonic approximation.
In this approximation, the particles can be viewed as coupled harmonic oscillators. A particular system he finds of interest is a system of cold, dipolar molecules that have been confined to stacked layers of either two-dimensional pancakes or one-dimensional tubes. The dipole-dipole interaction is anisotropic so that the interaction within the layer is dramatically different than the interaction between the layers.
The system is being modelled as a combination of the exact interaction and a harmonic interaction. This is possible because the Hamiltonian representing the system decouples into an intralayer part and interlayer part. Properties such as binding and system size are investigated to see what kind of structures can result in such a system.
At UNK Dr. Armstrong has taught algebra-based general physics and earth science. In previous positions, he has taught thermodynamics and statistical physics, quantum mechanics, and nuclear physics.
