Your tax dollars at work
I am a graduate student in general relativity in the Physics Department at Syracuse University.

Research Interests

I am a student of Prof. Rafael Sorkin. I've been developing some computer simulations in order to study aspects of partially-ordered sets (posets). The "posets" serve as discrete models for spacetime, known as "causal sets" (causets), where the elements of a set are akin to "events" in spacetime, and the partial-order is akin to the "causal relations between such events".

In addition, I have been studying aspects of the foundations of quantum mechanics.

I am also interested in curvature tensors, and their physical interpretation.

In general, I am interested in the role of curvature and of causal structure in general relativity.

Teaching Interests

And since the research market is pretty tight, having good (preferably, exceptional) teaching experience is an asset if one is looking to stay in academia. (There are few industrial applications of general relativity.)

In Summer 1997, I was again the instructor of PHY 212, General Physics II. This was my second opportunity to try out some new ideas for teaching calculus-based electrodynamics. In Fall 1995, I was the instructor for a new fall-semester course offering PHY 209, Space and Time in Elementary Physics, for which I was the instructor for the past two summers.

In addition, I have been helping in the development of WWW-materials for a nonscience-major science course: PHY 105/106, Science for the 21st Century.

In Fall 1995, I presented The Light Cone, a module (still under development) to accompany my week-long lecture in the Theory of Relativity for this nonscience-major class. The primary tool was the spacetime-diagram, many examples of which are presented as graphics and animations.

Currently, I am developing some visualizations of electromagnetic fields using vector fields and differential-forms. The VRML Gallery of Electromagnetism. I am also developing some Java applets for teaching relativity Java Applets for Relativity.

In general, I am interested in the innovative use of geometry and of multimedia technologies to present principles of physics.

Rob Salgado
salgado@physics.syr.edu