1. Christopher Plumberg
Department of Physics at The Ohio State University
191 W. Woodruff Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
Email: plumberg.1@osu.edu
Current research focus
My current research focuses on a sub-discipline of theoretical high-energy nuclear physics which studies the
properties and description of relativistic heavy-ion collisions, and allows physicists to probe the properties
of atomic nuclei at extremely large densities and temperatures. One way to study heavy-ion collisions is
by probing their spatial and temporal (i.e., space-time) structure, and one way to do this is by means of
two-particle interferometry (also known as “femtoscopy”).
Two-particle interferometry is a technique which uses Bose-Einstein correlations between identical particles
emitted from heavy-ion collisions in momentum-space to extract information about spatial and temporal
properties of heavy-ion collisions. Results with meaningful precision can (presently) only be obtained when
averaging over many heavy-ion collisions, although the techniques of two-particle interferometry can in prin-
ciple be performed for just one such collision. In my research, I am particularly interested in understanding
how the spatio-temporal structure changes (or “fluctuates”) from collision to collision, and in finding ways
to study these fluctuations experimentally. This could potentially give nuclear physicists an additional tool
for looking at the phase diagram of the strong nuclear force, and therefore might prove extremely valuable
for the physics community.
Technical Skills
- Scientific programming: C, C++, Python, PDL (Perl Data Language)
- Scientific/visualization software: Matlab, Mathematica, Gnuplot, Matplotlib
- Computing experience: Unix/Linux, Awk, Shell scripting
- Numerical packages/libraries: HDF5, GSL
- Miscellaneous: LATEX
Publications
- C. Plumberg and U. Heinz, Probing the properties of event-by-event distributions in Hanbury-BrownTwiss
radii, Phys. Rev. C 92, no. 4, 044906 (2015).
- C. Plumberg and U. Heinz, Interferometric signatures of the temperature dependence of the specific
shear viscosity in heavy-ion collisions, Phys. Rev. C 91, 054905 (2015) (Editor’s Suggestion).
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2. - C. J. Plumberg, C. Shen and U. W. Heinz, Hanbury-Brown-Twiss interferometry relative to the trian-
gular flow plane in heavy-ion collisions, Phys. Rev. C 88, 044914 (2013) [Erratum-ibid. C 88, no. 6,
069901 (2013)].
- S. D. Mathur and C. J. Plumberg, Correlations in Hawking radiation and the infall problem, JHEP
1109, 093 (2011).
- T. Mizusawa, J. Merritt, R. L. Ballouz, M. Bonaro, S. Foran, C. Plumberg, H. Stewart and T. Wiley
et al., Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Seven Nova-Like Variables, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 122, 299
(2010).
Conferences, Meetings, and other Presentations
- Nuclear Seminar, Brookhaven National Laboratory (Observable consequences of event-by-event fluc-
tuations of HBT radii), October 2015 (Long Island, NY)
- Selected talk, Quark Matter 2015 (Observable consequences of event-by-event fluctuations of HBT
radii, September 2015 (Kobe, Japan)
- Contributed talk, CAM (Canadian-American-Mexican) Graduate student conference (Event-by-event
fluctuations of HBT radii and the QGP shear viscosity), September 2015 (Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico)
- Contributed talk, APS - Ohio Section (Event-by-event fluctuations of HBT radii and the QGP shear
viscosity), March 2015, Kent State University (Kent, OH)
- Contributed talk, 2014 Midwestern Theory Get-together, Argonne National Laboratory (How to mea-
sure a distribution of HBT radii, and why you might want to), September 2014, Lemont, IL
- Student presentation, JET Summer School (Hanbury-Brown–Twiss interferometry with respect to the
triangular flow plane), June 2014, Davis, CA
- Contributed talk, MADAI 2014 (How to measure a distribution of HBT radii), July 2014, East Lansing,
MI
- Contributed talk, Midwest Critical Mass 2014 (Hanbury-Brown–Twiss interferometry and event-by-
event fluctuations), March 2014, Toledo, OH
- Invited plenary talk, WPCF2013 (Hanbury-BrownTwiss interferometry with respect to the triangular
flow plane), November 2013, Catania, Italy
- Contributed talk, 2013 Midwestern Theory Get-together, Argonne National Laboratory (Hanbury-
Brown–Twiss interferometry with respect to the triangular flow plane), September 2013, Lemont,
IL
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3. - Contributed talk, OSAPS (Hanbury-Brown–Twiss interferometry with respect to the triangular flow
plane), March 2013, Athens, OH
- Contributed talk, SPOCK (Correlations in Hawking Radiation and the Infall Problem), April 2011,
Cincinnati, OH
- Poster, Plumberg, C., & Kankelborg, C. C., Coronal Tomography With STEREO and TRACE (poster),
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts, #407.22. Presented at 216th Meeting of the AAS
in Miami, FL, May 2010.
- Poster, Bradstreet, D. H., Sanders, S. J., Wiley, T. B., Plumberg, C. J., Grau, D. M., Light Curves and
Analyses of the Eclipsing Overcontact Binaries V1033 Her and V1044 Her, Bulletin of the American
Astronomical Society, 41, #410.12.
Work Experience
- Graduate Research Assistant: 2012 - present
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
– Employer: The Ohio State University
– Responsibilities: teaching recitations/labs, grading
– Dates: Autumn 2009 - Autumn 2012
– Classes: Introductory physics, Intermediate mechanics I and II
- REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates)/NSF Summer Program
– Employer: Montana State University-Bozeman
– Position: Researcher/Programmer
– Project description:
∗ Summer 2008: Numerical modeling of magnetohydrodynamic phenomena on solar corona
and photosphere using extensive coding in PDL
∗ Summer 2009: Development of software (in PDL) to analyze STEREO and TRACE data,
providing first 3D tomographic reconstruction of phenomena and structures in the low solar
corona
– Advisor: Dr. Charles Kankelborg
- Summer employment with ABC Supply Co., Inc.
– Employer: ABC Supply Co., Inc.
– Position: Warehouse staff
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4. – Responsibilities: distribution of exterior building products, filling customer orders, organization
– Dates: Summers 2005-2007
Academic Honors, Awards and Scholarships
- APS membership (2014 - present)
- OSU Physics department teaching award (2011)
- Society of Physics Students membership (2008-present)
- Sigma Pi Sigma membership (2008-2009)
- Templeton Honors College Student at Eastern University (2005-2009)
- Dean’s List for 7 out of 8 semesters at Eastern University (GPA, 3.75 or higher; 2005-2009)
- Jerry Goff Scholarship Recipient (2006)
- National Merits Scholar (2005)
- Valedictorian of 2005 High School Graduating Class, CHALC (Coalition of Homeschoolers Across
Lancaster County)
Extracurriculars
- Community service:
– Youth group leader (Darby Creek Community Church and Harvest Bible Chapel, 2010 - 2014)
– Pregnancy Decision Health Center Volunteer (June 9, 2014)
- Foreign languages:
– Classical Greek (Skill level: moderate)
– Latin (Skill level: moderate)
– German (Skill level: basic conversational)
- Music:
– Piano (Skill level: accomplished)
– Guitar (Skill level: basic)
– Voice (Skill level: moderate)
- Miscellaneous:
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5. – Guest blogger for ”A day in the life...” (OSU Women In Physics), Atom-smashing and femtoscopy
Education
- The Ohio State University (2012 - Present)
– PhD Student, Theoretical nuclear physics and relativistic heavy-ion collisions group
– Thesis topic: Azimuthally sensitive and event-by-event HBT analyses
– Advisor: Prof. Ulrich Heinz
- The Ohio State University (2009 - 2012)
– Master of Science, Physics
– PhD candidacy topic: Constraints on Supersymmetry from Bs → µ+µ−
– GPA: 3.92/4.00
- Eastern University (2005 - 2009)
– Bachelor of Arts, Astronomy and Astrophysics (in conjunction with Villanova University, Bachelor
of Science program)
– GPA: 3.86/4.00
– Thesis topic: Light Curves and Analyses of the Eclipsing Overcontact Binaries V1033 Her and
V1044 Her
– Advisor: Prof. David Bradstreet
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