Hamilton College Physics Department

Congratulations to Emma Wilson '27 and Sara Conti '27, who were both awarded Goldwater fellowships!

Conti ’27, Wilson ’27 Awarded Goldwater Scholarships for Sciences, Math, Engineering Emma Wilson ’27 and Sara Conti ’27 are recipients of the prestigious 2026 Barry Goldwater scholarship, a national award that supports students intending to pursue research careers in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering. For both Wilson and Conti, t

Congratulations to Prof. Seth Major, Ryley McGovern '25, Trevor Scheuing '23, and Thomas (TJ) Takis '26, who have published the paper, "Condensation of area quanta ensembles with quantum statistics in Schwarzschild spacetimes" in Physical Review D!

https://journals.aps.org/prd/pdf/10.1103/tkl8-lfmf?casa_token=dC3fFlxmvUoAAAAA%3AH45P-e-Jg8kmISvPvJ3vLuJuYUv2dP7jaNNbmXOGu28DdczmhNqNXpSVrooOS_iWjReM8Ehl1i0PhzSM

The paper responds to the question “Is spacetime geometry granular?” Major said the paper reports on calculations of black hole entropy - roughly, the logarithm of the number of states required to assemble the black hole - in a framework in which the grains of geometry behave like quantum particles. The calculations demonstrate that when the particles have these quantum properties there are too few states; the entropy is too low. However, when the geometry is in the most likely state, it has quantized areas.

The consequences of these quantized areas are explored in a second paper on the preprint arXiv that Takis worked on, showing the black hole entropy may be sourced from fluctuations of geometry just outside the black hole.

Takis is a physics and mathematics major.

https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/major-publishes-paper-with-takics-26-mcgovern-25-and-scheuing-24

Major Publishes Paper with Takics ’26, McGovern ’25, and Scheuing ’24 Thomas (TJ) Takis ’26, Ryley McGovern ’25, Trevor Scheuing ’24, and Litchfield Professor of Astronomy Seth Major recently published a paper on black hole entropy in Physical Review D.

A Bridge Back Home:
Hamilton Physics alum Erich Baumgartner ’93 is an engineer who redesign the pedestrian bridge on campus at Hamilton.

A Bridge Back Home The pedestrian bridge between Kirner-Johnson Building and the Beinecke Student Activities Village has served as both a practical path and a quiet symbol of connection for Hamiltonians throughout the last three decades. For Erich Baumgartner ’93, that conn

Congratulations to Prof Emeritus Phil Pearle! Prof. Pearle published the latest article on his model of quantum collapse in Physical Review A.

https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/relativistic-collapse-model-philip-pearle
Relativistic collapse model with quantized time variables
https://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/j4lc-s4pw

Pearle Publishes Paper Extending an Old Theory “Relativistic collapse model with quantized time variables,” co-authored by Professor of Physics Emeritus Philip Pearle, was recently published in Physical Review A 112.

Horowitz Presents "Good Vibes" at Smith College

Horowitz Presents “Good Vibes” at Smith College Associate Professor of Physics Viva Horowitz recently presented “Good Vibes: How to Take Apart a Resonator System Without Dismantling It” for the physics colloquium at Smith College.

In memory of Hamilton physics alum, Brandon Collings '94
https://www.hamilton.edu/alumni/necrology?action=profile&id=575EEC9E-B812-4584-946987503E91D1E4&search=0

Hamilton to launch Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) program

Hamilton to Launch Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program The College will receive a $464,145 grant from the New York State Education Department over the course of five years that will support up to 37 students annually who are interested in STEM or health-related professions.