Condensed Matter Physics
Overview
Condensed Matter Physics is a vibrant, exciting, and robust sub-discipline of Physics. New discoveries are frequent,
many with applications to technology and direct benefit to society. At the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the
Condensed Matter Physics program is thriving, with thirteen faculty members and two faculty additions anticipated within the
next year or two. In addition, active emeritus faculty members continue to be
associated with the program. There are a number of interconnected research programs which provide graduate students and postdoctoral
research associates with opportunities to engage nature at the frontiers condensed matter, including the The Laboratory for Low Temperature Physics, and the Theoretical Quantum Fluids Group.
The experimental opportunities span a broad spectrum of the disciplines
with work in porous media, granular systems, multiphase flow phenomena,
complex fluids, colloids, polymer physics, nanostructure technology,
device physics, microfabrication, superfluidity, superconductivity,
network analysis, thin film physics, and the physics of restricted
geometries. And, a major new direction for the department, Biological Physics,
is being developed with close conections to the Condensed Matter Physics Group.
Theoretical work is often done in association with the experimental
program, but there is active independent theoretical work including
computational techniques applied to the study of critical points and
phase transitions, computational complexity, porous materials,
hysteresis in various physical systems, spin polarized quantum systems,
and Bose Einstein Condensation.
Listed below are the major research programs in Condensed Matter
Physics offered by the department. Additional information may be
obtained about individual programs or faculty members by clicking on
highlighted key words. Information for those interested in visiting the
Condensed Matter Group is given at the end of this page.
Research Programs
The experimental and theoretical programs are focused on six broad
directions: (1) Low Temperature Physics including restricted
geometries, (2) soft Condensed Matter Physics, including colloids,
polymers, porous media and granular materials, (3) nanoscience, (4)
Computational Physics, (5) Biological Physics and (6) other aspects of Condensed Matter and
Statistical Physics. The major research programs are directed by
individual faculty members and these are described in alphabetical
order separately for each faculty member for experiment and theory.
Several of the faculty are involved in more than one of the broad
research areas. The programs described below provide opportunities for
graduate student research and are typically funded by the National
Science Foundation or other federal agencies or industry.
The programs are grouped into three categories:
Donald Candela: (e-mail)
Professor Candela's research activity is roughly divided between two
areas of condensed-matter physics: (a) Quantum fluids and solids at
very low temperatures, and (b) Classical statistical systems at ambient
temperature.
The low-temperature work uses
high-field NMR to study 3He fluids as prototypical many-body Fermi
systems. The overall goal is to observe the quantum effects that occur
in condensed-matter systems at extreme conditions of low temperature
and high magnetic field. One direction is the study of these Fermi
fluids in random environments such as aerogel. It is carried out at
UMass, at typical fields and temperatures of 8 T and 4.5 mK,
respectively. A second direction is the study spin transport in Fermi
fluids at even more extreme field and temperature conditions (20 T, 1
mK). This is a collaborative project with investigators at the NHMFL
High B/T facility in Florida.
The ambient-temperature work uses the technique of
Pulsed-Field-Gradient NMR (PFG-NMR) to study the small-scale motions in
classical statistical systems such as fluid flowing in porous media and
granular flows. The PFG-NMR technique is similar to the more familiar
technique of magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI), but it can probe motion
over much smaller distance and time scales. Present projects are aimed
at studying oscillating fluid flows in porous media and the fluctuating
velocities in steady and oscillating granular flows.
Anthony Dinsmore: (e-mail)
Professor Dinsmore's group studies the statistical mechanics of "soft condensed
matter:" colloids, emulsions, lipid membranes, nanoparticle
suspensions and other squishy things. Our experiments probe
the relationships among inter-particle forces, structure,
and dynamics of many-bodied systems -- relationships that
are central to condensed-matter
physics. Current experiments focus on the kinetics
of freezing and melting colloidal crystals, on
the distribution of stresses in jammed emulsions,
on interactions among particles adsorbed at liquid
interfaces, and on interactions among membrane proteins. We study these problems chiefly using optical microscopy
in two and three dimensions (the latter using a fast
confocal microscope).
Some of the work applies fundamental understanding to
evelop new materials. Self-assembled materials can have
unique mechanical, optical and electronic properties with
applications in nanotechnology and biomedical engineering. Current areas of study include maximizing the scattering of
light from randomly packed arrays of strongly-scattering
spheres. By harnessing the tendency of small particles to
adsorb on liquid interfaces, we also have contributed to the
development of nanoscopic membranes composed of
functionalized nanoparticles. This approach also
lets us fabricate functioning electronic devices (e.g.,
transistors) via self-assembly of nanoparticles on metallic
droplets.
Lori Goldner: (e-mail)
Dr. Goldner's lab specializes in the study of single biological molecules and molecular complexes using optical techniques. In the last decade, the development of techniques to measure and manipulate single organic or biological molecules is facilitating a new understanding of molecular interactions and dynamics in biophysics, cell and molecular biology, and polymer science. In biophysics and molecular biology, the ability to identify, track, and measure the conformation and interaction of e.g., single proteins or RNA molecules, is leading to new insights in protein folding and RNA interactions and functionality, is helping to validate models of protein folding or molecular dynamics, and is leading to new insights in cell signaling and protein expression in living systems. The extension of single molecule techniques to track and measure individual biomolecules in living cells has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of cell signaling. In polymer science, visualizing the motion of individual molecules aids enormously in understanding flow, phase transitions, and other polymer dynamics.
Most recently, professor Goldner's group is working towards understanding the physics of biological molecules and molecular complexes in confining or crowded environments. They seek to understand how individual biomolecular components work together to drive empirical behavior of living systems. Towards this end they have recently developed the use of aqueous droplets with volume below 1 fL (diameter smaller than 1 micron) to confine and manipulate single molecules and molecular complexes. These droplets can be mixed and manipulated using optical tweezers to facilitate the assembly of molecular components one-at-a-time.
More information on Prof. Goldner's work can be found here.
Robert Hallock: (e-mail)
The research program directed by Robert Hallock is primarily aimed at
the study of liquid helium in restricted geometries, particularly thin
helium films. Research is directed in several specific areas: (1) thin
films of mixtures of the two forms of helium, 3He and 4He, (2) the
propagation of waves known as third sound on helium films on patterned
substrates, (3) the hysteretic capillary condensation of helium in
porous materials and avalanche behavior in superfluid helium pore
draining, (4) helium films on hydrogen surfaces, (5) helium in
quasi one-dimensional geometry, and (6) solid helium.
The study of superfluid
mixture films provides enhanced understanding of the two dimensional
behavior of helium. In particular the study of 3He as an impurity in a
4He film leads to enhanced understanding of two dimensional Fermi
systems. Such systems hold the potential to be novel superfluids, and a
search for such new superfluid behavior is in progress. The study of
such films on the weak binding substrate hydrogen is providing insight
into superfluidity in films more dillute than a single atomic layer.
Third sound propagation in two dimensional patterned environments is
being used to study localization phenomena in a context which can't be
addressed in other ways.
Superfluid helium provides a
unique vantage point from which to study novel behavior in constrained
three dimensional geometries. One aspect of this is the recent
observation of avalanche phenomena when superfluid helium drains from a
three dimensional porous material. Such avalanches may be an example of
phenomena which can be described by a non-equilibrium Ising model.
Helium also provides the opportunity to study one dimensional
adsorption. In such studies, buckytube bundles are being used to study
the behavior of 3He and 4He in such a highly constrained environment.
Recent experiments in the ara of solid helium have been interpreted as showing evidence for
"supersolid" behavior. The subject area is controversial and unsettled. The study of solid
helium will show whether or not it is possible to pass 4He atoms through solid helium and
should add considerably to our understanding of solid helium.
A list of recent publications (which may not be quite up to date),
which have resulted from work carried
out by Professor Hallock's research group
is available. A list
of current and former graduate students who
have worked in the group (and their thesis topics) is also available, as is a list of
current and former Postdoctoral Research Associates.
Narayanan Menon: (e-mail)
Professor Menon's research area is experimental studies of disordered
condensed matter. A particular interest is the dynamics of classical
fluids in circumstances where particles are constrained to move
collectively rather than as independent entities. Our understanding of
this middle ground between the ordered solid, and random, gas-like,
systems is poorly developed. Spatial structure here often reveals
little about dynamics: a snapshot of molecules in a glass, or of sand
grains in an intermittently jamming flow, appear no different from a
freely-flowing liquid. A major component of the experimental effort
addresses the long-standing question regarding the origin of slow
dynamics in supercooled liquids using a variety of wide-frequency
susceptibility measurements.
Another research interest is
in the dynamics of granular fluids, composed of macroscopic particles
(such as sand) driven into flow by external forces. This is an area of
broad relevance even beyond statistical physics and dynamical systems,
in that granular systems are important in a number of geophysical,
industrial, and other human contexts. A basic unanswered question in
this field is whether granular flow (such as in an hour-glass) can be
described by a continuum approach on the lines of fluid mechanics for
conventional fluids. Laser light scattering techniques, video
microscopy and direct stress measurements are used to glean detailed
information regarding the microscopic dynamics of grains in flow in an
effort to establish key elements of statistical and continuum
approaches to describing these systems.
Prof. Menon's group's web page provides more details about his work.
Jennifer Ross: (e-mail)
The Ross Lab studies the physics of cytoskeletal filaments called
microtubules. Microtubules are the structural elements of the cell
that support the cell's structure and create the forces required for
cell division. Microtubules are also the tracks for motor proteins
called kinesin and dynein-dynactin. Understanding the intrinsic
properties of these cellular structures shed light on their biological
role in the cell.
In order to study microtubules and motors, the Ross Lab uses advanced
optical microscopy to observe these biomolecules one-at-a-time. Single
molecule experiments are performed using total internal reflection
fluorescence microscopy and optical trapping to measure the motion
and forces exerted by these molecules.
Professor Ross' web page has more information about
her research program.
Mark Tuominen: (e-mail)
Professor
Tuominen's research work is centered on the science and technology of
quantum nanostructures. This work involves the fabrication of new
nanometer-scale devices and materials systems, together with
experiments that probe the interesting electronic and magnetic behavior
these tiny devices exhibit. One project involves the physics of
single-electron devices which utilize of mesoscopic superconductors to
investigate macroscopic quantum behavior in a tunable way. The
experiments investigate the intrinsic noise of these devices (which are
extremely sensitive charge detectors) and their interaction with the
electrodynamic environment. A different project involves the
investigation of electron transport through single-atoms and
single-molecules. Unlike the case of macroscopic wires, it is observed
that the transport through a single atom is quantum-mechanically
coherent, exhibiting a quantized conductance. Another major research
project involves the formation of ultrasmall nanostructures by
utilizing polymeric self-assembly to template the desired materials and
devices. For example, this technique permits the investigation of the
"giant" magnetoresistive properties of magnetic-multilayer nanowires
with diameters in the 5-100 nm range (pictured above in a four-contact
measurement configuration).
The research
laboratory includes facilities for both fabricating and testing the
nanostructure devices described above. This includes: a
scanning-electron microscope for lithography and imaging, a
microelectronic cleanroom for sample processing, high-vacuum thin-film
deposition equipment, pulsed electrochemical deposition equipment,
STM/AFM, a He3/He4 dilution refrigerator, a 3He refrigerator, a Quantum
Design PPMS system, and various instrumentation for low-noise
electrical characterization of nanostructure samples.
Egor Babaev: (e-mail)
Professor Babaev's current research interests are connected with quantum fluids, gases
and solids. In particular he is working on the problem of
possibilities of novel types of quantum ordered states in condensed
matter (going beyond the usual paradigm where these sates fall into
categories of quantum fluids, gases, solids and superconductors). In
connection with it, he is examining possible ordered states in the
quantum domain of projected metallic state of hydrogen at ultrahigh
compression, and predicted there possible formation of two type of
novel quantum fluids: metallic superfluid and superconducting
superfluid. His other interests include multicomponent Bose-Einstein
condensates, dipolar condensates, multicomponent superconductors,
neutron stars interior. In these systems, he has found several new solutions
for topological defects, such as knotted solitons (with Faddeev and
Niemi) and discussed how collective quantum behaviour there manifests
itself in various exotic rotational and magnetic responses. He has also
studied various phase transitions between the states with different
symmetries in multicomponent systems.
Professor Babaev's web page can be found has further information. More information about quantum fluids research at UMass Amherst can be found here.
Benny Davidovich: (e-mail)
Professor Davidovitch’s current research interests are primarily in nonequilibrium phenomena
in condensed matter physics, in particular pattern formation in dissipative systems and
nonlinear dynamics of soft materials. Despite significant progress in the last decades,
our current understanding of the behavior of macroscopic systems away from their
thermodynamic equilibrium is still lacking. Whereas the study of systems at thermodynamic
equilibrium is generally pursued by constructing appropriate free energy and searching
for its minima, developing concepts and tools that can be widely used to characterize
nonequilibrium states is still an ongoing endeavor.
Prof. Davidovitch studies several problems in nonequilibrium dynamics. One such problem
is shear banding, a phenomenon common to flows in various types of complex fluids,
induced by shear force. Inspired by an observation of oscillatory shear-banded profile
in partially-ordered colloidal suspensions, Prof. Davidovitch and collaborators have recently suggested that shear banding could be attributed to coexistence of two linearly-responding phases rather than to a nonlinear rheology, as is typically assumed. Current work in this direction is focused on developing simple theoretical models whose analysis will enable distinction between universal and system-specific aspects of shear banding. Another problem is the spontaneous formation of nano-scale patterns on solid surfaces by ion bombarded. In a recent study, Prof. Davidovitch and collaborators have shown that observed pattern properties indicate on the relevance of nonlocal processes, on top of local mechanisms (such as surface diffusion or erosive surface response to single impact event), currently believed to underlie a continuum-level theory of the phenomenon. Current work on this project is aimed at developing a detailed nonlinear theory which will correctly relate the large variety of observed surface patterns to tunable system parameters (e.g. beam angle, ion type and energy), thus helping
to make a ion-sputtering an efficient tool for nano-pattering purposes. Another
problem currently studied is the influence of geometric fluctuations of charged
interfaces and fronts in plasma or electrolyte on the screening of electrostatic
potential. Prof. Davidovitch and his collaborators have recently found that such
fluctuations can potentially have unexpected long-range effect on the screened
potential, and they currently explore the relevance of this result under various physical conditions.
Jonathan Machta: (e-mail)
Professor
Machta's research interests are in theoretical and computational
aspects of statistical physics and condensed matter physics with and
emphasis on (1) the development and application of new cluster
algorithms for simulating equilibrium phase transitions and (2)
applications of computational complexity theory to problems in
statistical physics. He has also worked on phase transitions and
transport in porous media, superfluidity, random and self-avoiding
walks and nonlinear dynamics.
Cluster Monte
Carlo techniques were introduced a decade ago and have revolutionized
computational statistical physics because they are much more efficient
than conventional Monte Carlo methods. Prof. Machta and his
collaborators recently introduced several new kinds of cluster
algorithms and applied them to a range of problems in statistical
physics. One of these is the 'invaded cluster' algorithm which
simulates critical points without prior knowledge of the critical
temperature and with almost no critical slowing. A second method is the
'two-replica' cluster algorithm which is useful for simulating phase
transitions in systems without internal symmetries.
Professor Machta's second area of current interest is the interface
between theoretical computer science and statistical physics. Over the
past several years, he and his collaborators have analyzed a number of
models in statistical physics from the standpoint of computational
complexity theory. Complexity theory provides a robust set of
computational models and a hierarchy of complexity classes defined with
respect to these models. He has been able to classify a number of
physically motivated models within this complexity hierarchy. This work
helps guide algorithm development. A second, less obvious motivation,
is that the computational complexity of simulating a system is a way of
characterizing the system itself. Indeed, a case can be made that a
useful way to define 'physical complexity' is via computational
complexity.
A selected list of Professor Machta's recent publications is available.
William Mullin: (e-mail)
Professor Mullin's research interests are in quantum fluids
and solids. In particular he and his collaborators have
studied transport and equilibrium properties of fluid Fermi
and Bose systems, including
pure liquid 3He, 3He gas, dilute solutions of 3He in liquid 4He,
and trapped alkali Bose gases. Transport in these systems is
interesting because of the strong dependence that coefficients
such as spin diffusion, thermal conductivity, and viscosity have
on the degree of polarization. Recent UMass/University of Florida
experiments (Candela et al) observed a giant enhancement of viscosity
in dilute solutions at very high polarization and low temperature
confirming theoretical analysis provided by Mullin for these experiments.
The discovery in 1995 of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in alkali
gases held in magnetic or optical traps caused great excitement among
researchers in the area of quantum systems. In these gases particles
avalanche into the lowest quantum state below a certain transition
temperature, which can be as low as nanokelvin for a few thousand of
particles. Laloë and Mullin (LM) have been studying what happens in
these systems when two condensates, having opposite spin are mixed.
The measurement of transverse spin causes the appearance of a phase
angle that is analogous to a hidden variable considered in local
realistic alternatives to quantum mechanics. On the other hand, LM show
that Bell’s Theorem, characterizing such local realistic theories and
normally studied for two-particle systems, is violated in the measurements
of a arbitrarily large number of boson spins.M
Neutral fermions, in particular helium atoms, flowing in nanotubes
present a rich ground for new research. Prof. Mullin and collaborators
have found that flow of such particles through nanotubes might be used
as an additional cooling mechanism in a dilution refrigerator. Such
systems may also reveal phenomena, such as quantized conductance,
localization, universal conductance fluctuations, etc. normally studied
in electronic nanostructures.
Professor Mullin's web page
provides access to his publications. Professor Mullin retired in 2000 but continues as a
member of the Condensed Matter group with a very active current research program
in spite of emeritus faculty status.
Nikolai Prokof'ev: (e-mail)
Professor Prokof'ev's research program includes physics of dissipative
quantum systems and Monte Carlo simulations. He was also interested in
the properties of strongly correlated electrons, conductance and
metal-insulator phase transitions in one-dimensional systems, and
quantum magnetism.
A few years ago Prof. Prokof'ev and his collaborators realized that quantum Monte Carlo
simulations can be performed directly in a continuous parameter space,
thus avoiding artificial discretization of continuous variables and
systematic errors (it could be the imaginary time continuum for lattice
models or the space-time continuum for polaron-like models). In a
separate development, a new idea for performing Monte Carlo updates
using artificially created and evolving objects in configuration space
was implemented, which allowed calculations of the Green's functions as
easily as, say, the total energy in previous schemes. The new algorithm
was applied recently to a number of cases, which include (i) disordered
1D Hubbard model, (ii) quantum spin chains in a magnetic field; (iii)
smearing of the Coulomb staircase in quantum dots; (iv) the
Frohlich-Feynman polaron problem, and (v) quasi-condensation in the
interacting 2D Bose gas. The current research interestes of Prof.
Prokof'ev in this area are concentrated on the critical temperature
shift due to interactions in the 3D Bose gas, hole dynamics in 2D
magnetic systems, and spin glass algorithms.
In
an attempt to understand decoherence mechanisms in nanoscale magnetic
particles and superconducting devices Prof. Prokof'ev in collaboration
with Philip Stamp found that at low temperatures conventional
dissipative couplings usually described by the oscillator bath model
(phonons, electrons, magnons, photons, etc.) give way to the spin bath
environment formed by nuclear spins and paramagnetic impurities. The
first work dealt with the topological aspects of the coupling of large
magnetic molecules to this "spin bath" (the environmental spins add a
Haldane/Berry phase to each path involved in the dynamics of the
nanomagnet - this adds a "random phase" to the action, and can destroy
phase interference even when no energy is exchanged between the system
and the spin bath). More recently the problem of "central spin" quantum
dynamics has been solved in a large number of relevant experimental
cases. It seems that the spin bath environment is probably the most
serious obstacle in the way of making superconducting qubits
functional.
Prof. Prokof'ev frequently collaborates with Prof. Svistunov.
Christian Santangelo: (e-mail)
Professor Santangelo's current research interests are in theoretical
soft condensed matter physics, and especially the role of geometry in
self-assembly and liquid crystalline phases. Self-assembly shows great
promise for forming precise target structures on nanoscopic or
microscopic scales which can then, in turn, be used in a variety of
applications. Nevertheless, it has proven quite a challenge to connect
the interactions of macromolecules to the large-scale structure of their
assemblies. With collaborators, he is developing techniques to model
self-assembly in colloids interacting through a soft corona and the
formation of undulated and network phases of wormlike micelles in
diblock copolymers. His recent work has focused on geometry and
topological defects in smectic liquid crystals, materials with one-dimensional
periodic order. In particular, he has studied geometrically-induced
order in two dimensional smectics on curved surfaces, which has an
analogy to gravitational lensing. These curved smectics are a toy
model for the more complicated geometrical frustration that occurs
in three dimensional smectics. Other work includes the assembly of
aqueous charged systems in regimes in which ionic correlations become important.
Professor Santangelo's web page has more information.
Boris Svistunov: (e-mail)
Prof. Svistunov's research activities concentrate in the areas of
Bose-Einstein condensation, superfluidity and related phenomena in
quantum gases, liquids, solids, and ultra-cold atomic systems in
optical lattices. He is also heavily involved in developing and
applying high-performance Monte Carlo techniques in quantum and
classical statistical physics.
In collaboration
with Yuri Kagan and Georgy Shlyapnikov he predicted the so-called
m!-effect---a generic effect of suppressing m-body inelastic processes
in the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), as compared to the normal state.
Observation of this effect was one of the first direct experimental
proofs of the BEC formation in ultra-cold atomic gases. In this
collaboration Prof. Svistunov has proposed two non-trivial relaxation
scenarios: kinetics of Bose-Einstein condensation (with numeric
simulation carried out with Natalia Berloff) and cascade decay of
superfluid turbulence (vortex line tangle) in the T=0 limit.
Prof. Svistunov has developed (in collaboration with Nikolay Prokof'ev and Igor Tupitsyn) two novel Monte Carlo
approaches: Diagrammatic Monte Carlo and Worm Algorithm. The
diagrammatic Monte Carlo applies to the problems where the quantities
of interest are expressed in terms of positive definite convergent
diagrammatic series. A textbook example is the Frohlich polaron model,
which has been successfully studied with this approach. The Worm
Algorithm is a generic powerful scheme of simulating quantum and
classical discrete systems in the case when the effective configuration
space can be represented in the form of closed paths. Among the most
important problems solved with this algorithm in the nearest past is
the problem of critical temperature and fluctuation region in weakly
interacting 3D and 2D Bose gases, direct simulation of ultra-cold atoms
in 3D optical lattice, superfluid-insulator transition in the
commensurate system of lattice bosons with disorder, counterflow
superfluidity of two-component bosonic systems in a lattice (predicted
in collaboration with Anatoly Kuklov), weak first-order quantum phase
transitions.
The two hottest problems being
solved at the moment are (i) the problem of BCS-BEC crossover in the
system of fermions with resonant attractive interaction: by determinant
diagrammatic Monte Carlo with worm-type updates, in collaboration with
Nikolay Prokof'ev, Evgeni Burovski, and Matthias Troyer; and (ii)
supersolidity (=superfluidity in the solid phase) of He-4: by the recently
developed (with Massimo Boninsegni and Nikolay Prokof'ev) worm
algorithm for continuous-space systems.
Murugappan Muthukumar (Wilmer D. Barrett Distinguished Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering; Adjunct Professor of Physics): (e-mail)
Professor Muthukumar's theoretical research program has three main
centers of activity in the area of the statistical mechanics of
polymers. (1) Phase Transitions in Polymers: Under study is the role of
density fluctuations in phase separation of polymer blends and
solutions, order-disorder transitions in block copolymers and liquid
crystalline systems. The kinetics of these ordering processes are also
studied with and without shear flows. (2) Polyelectrolyte Dynamics:
Under investigation are the dynamics of polyelectrolytes and other
water-soluble polymers in the context of viscosity, diffusion, and
electrophoresis. Also under study are models of the ways polymer
molecules move in tangled environments wiht a focus on the physics of
separation methods. Professor Muthukumar uses Monte Carlo and related
simulation techniques, various experimental methods, and analytical
theory. (3) Dynamics of Self-Assembly and Pattern Recognition: Here the
emphasis is on the kinetics of self-assembly in model random
copolymers, phospholipids and biological polymers such as proteins,
polynucleotides, and carbohydrates. Recognition of patterns on
membranes by polymers with prescribed sequences is investigated using
computer modeling and theoretical methods.
Visits to the Group
The Condensed Matter Group welcomes visitors at any time. Most of the
Condensed Matter Program is housed in Hasbrouck Laboratory which is
barely visible at the extreme left of this photograph of the campus
pond. Anyone interested in visiting the Condensed Matter Group should
feel free to contact directly the faculty member most relevant to them
by use of the e-mail connections above listed beside each faculty
member's name. Directions
to the campus are available as are
campus maps. The University of Massachusetts is
located in Amherst, at the northern end of
the Pioneer Valley (the Pioneer Valley
site is a well done web site that also connects to pages for many, but not all, of
the local towns) in west-central Massachusetts. The area is blessed
with a wonderful quality of life with many outdoor activities, five
area colleges, a free bus system, and a remarkable variety of cultural
events.