James Overduin

Professor

James Overduin

Contact Info

Phone:
Office:
Science Complex, Room 4150H

Education

Ph.D., Physics
University of Victoria
BSc, MSc, Physics
University of Waterloo

Areas of Expertise

Gravitation, theoretical extensions of general relativity and experimental tests of those theories

Astroparticle physics, cosmic background radiation, Olbers' paradox and dark matter

Cosmology, dark energy, Einstein's cosmological "constant", Mach's principle

Biography

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Dr. Overduin and student Anjalee Rutah testing a magnetohydrodynamic boat during a summer 2015 research internship at Towson University.


James Overduin is a theorist in the areas of gravitation, cosmology, astronomy and high-energy physics. He is particularly interested in extensions of General Relativity, attempts to incorporate gravity into the Standard Model of particle physics, and in ways to test those attempts through observation and experiment. He has also worked extensively on cosmic background radiation at all wavelengths, focusing on its implications for cosmic evolution (Olbers' paradox and the intergalactic medium) as well as its potential as a dark-matter detector. Dr. Overduin is also a specialist in dark energy (a.k.a. Einstein's cosmological constant), on which he has co-authored a book with Helge Kragh (The Weight of the Vacuum, Springer Briefs in Physics, 2014). Most recently, he has begun to investigate ways to improve the effectiveness of undergraduate physics education through innovative teaching demonstrations. Much of his research is carried out with undergraduate students (see ).