Donald Spector Philip J. Moorad '28 and Margaret N. Moorad Professor of Science Professor of Physics Chair, Department of Physics Coordinator, Engineering Program Eaton Hall 108, x3594

Short Bio
A.B. magna cum laude, Harvard University (1981, Physics; Phi Beta Kappa)
A.M., Harvard University (1983, Physics)
Ph.D., Harvard University (1986, Physics)
      Thesis: Consequences of Supersymmetry
      Adivsor: Howard Georgi
Summer Researcher, IBM Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights (1982)
Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer, Cornell University (1986-1988)
NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Utrecht (1988-1989)
Professor, Physics Department, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (1989-present)
      Currently, I am chair of the Physics Department and coordinator of the Engineering Program at HWS.

Lectures and Presentations
I have a range of lectures, technical and popular, that I am happy to give. Some samples:

• What's So Super about Supersymmetry? (target audience: undergrad physics majors)
• To Dream the Impossible Beam: Does Star Trek Physics Make Sense? (target: popular audience)
• BPS and Duality in Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics (target: physicists)
• The Trouble with Waiting for Godot in Copenhagen (target: popular or science/literature/art/philosophy interdisciplinary)
• Applications of Partial Supersymmetry (target: physicists)
• Analogue Quantum Computing (target: physicists)
• What Makes a Weapon a WMD? - A Systems Approach (target: popular or science/policy interdisciplinary)
• Discovering Quarks (target: middle and high school; interactive classroom activity)
• Whose Line Is It Anyway? How We Know that Space and Time Are Curved (target: popular audience)

The Anacapa Society
I am one of the founding members of the Anacapa Society, a society dedicated to the support of theoretical physics research at primarily undergraduate institutions. If you want to learn more about this society or about theoretical physics at undergraduate colleges, check out the website of the Anacapa Society. You can find out where our name comes from, how to join, and lots of other information.

Courses
I am currently teaching two courses. These are:

• Physics 160 Introductory Physics II, covering optics and electromagnetism, with lectures and labs.
• Physics 380 Contemporary Inquiries in Physics. In my hands, this is a course in advanced topics in theoretical physics, including symmetries, field theory, KdV equation, non-linear systems, supersymmetric quantum mechanics, and Monte Carlo methods.

Over the years, I have taught many other courses, including Physics through Star Trek, Astronomy, Modern Physics, Mathematical Methods, Symbolic Computing, Optics, Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, Thermal Physics, Introductory Physics I, and a first-year seminar entitled Reflecting Science.

Research
My research interests in theoretical physics have focused largely on supersymmetry. Currently, I am interested in supersymmetric quantum mechanics with a central charge, which provides a window into BPS and duality in new contexts, and in number theoretic approaches to the Hagedorn temperature. Other areas of interest of mine include Q-balls, exactly solvable systems, magnetic monopoles and other topological solitons, anyons, sigma models, exact results in supersymmetric field theories, p-adic string theories, the connections between supersymmetry and mathematics, and partial supersymmetry. I am especially interested in the application of supersymmetry to non-supersymmetric models. I have supervised student research on such topics as time-dependent quantum mechanics and simulated annealing.

Outside physics, my research covers many cross-discplinary areas. I am investigating the use of ideas from physics to provide analytical tools to understand evolution and extinction, obstacles to efficiency in economic markets, and the principles underlying computational complexity classes. I have also developed a systems analysis of weapons of mass destruction and an interpretation of Waiting for Godot that is based on the tension between the Copenhagen and Many Worlds Interpretations of quantum mechanics.

Additional Information
Here are some selected links about a few of the other things that I've done:

• I hold the Moorad Professorship in the Sciences at HWS, which is also discussed here. The Capital Campaign would be a good way for new such professorships to be created.
• The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics named me a KITP Scholar in 2005.
• The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science selected me for a visiting fellowship, which saw me visit several Japanese scientific institutes.
• My class Physics through Star Trek has been recognized by Cosmo GIRL! and by the Dallas Morning News.
• I have been regularly funded by the National Science Foundation for my research in supersymmetric physics.
• With colleagues from other liberal arts colleges, I co-organized the first two workshops ever dedicated to theoretical physics at primarily undergraduate institutions.
• For the International Year of Physics, I was the organizer of a symposium entitled Einstein's Legacy. A short summary is here.
• My interdiscipinary work on Waiting for Godot and quantum mechanics has been featured at Subtle Technologies and Beckett's Traces, and will appear in the journal Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd'hui.