Kurtis Williams
- Courses8
- Reviews18
- School: Texas A&M University
- Campus: Commerce
- Department: Physics & Astronomy
- Email address: Join to see
- Phone: Join to see
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Location:
Commerce, TX - Dates at Texas A&M University: December 2011 - April 2020
- Office Hours: Join to see
N/A
Would take again: Yes
For Credit: Yes
0
0
Mandatory
Awesome
I love Professor Williams. He's undoubtedly a professor for freshmen. I had him as a junior just because I needed an extra class and he helped me. And if you're a competent student, then there will be no problems with passing his class. Overall, he's amazing in preparing you for success.
Biography
Texas A&M University Commerce - Physics & Astronomy
Experience
University of Texas at Austin
Postdoctoral Researcher
Developing and managing scientific research projects in astronomy and astrophysics. My current efforts are focused on computer programming in multiple languages including IDL, data analysis including image analysis, statistics and significance determination, and authoring grant and laboratory proposals for future projects.
University of Texas at Austin
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
Developed and managed research projects in astronomy. Facilitated professional development workshops for high school science teachers. Programming in numerous languages including IDL and HTML. Authored numerous papers for professional journals.
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor in Department of Physics and Astronomy. Primary responsibilities include teaching astronomy and physics courses for undergraduate and graduate students, astronomical research, and academic service responsibilities. Presently serving as faculty advisor for the local chapter of the Society for Physics Students.
Steward Observatory
Research Associate
Created data analysis and scripting procedures for astronomical imaging projects. Wrote and tested analysis software using multiple languages including IDL and Fortran. Developed and executed numerous research projects. Assisted in managing graduate and undergraduate students.
Education
University of California, Santa Cruz
MS, PhD
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Awarded 1999 Albert P Whitford Prize for outstanding 2nd-year graduate student and 2000 ARCS Foundation Scholarship. Dissertation entitled "White dwarfs in open clusters: The initial-final mass limit, the supernova mass limit, and the white dwarf deficit" defended in December 2002 and published as multiple papers in professional journals.Penn State University
BS
Astronomy & Astrophysics, Physics
Graduated with highest honors dual BS degrees in physics and astronomy & astrophysics. Awarded Fulbright Fellowship in 1996 for a year of study at the University of Munich and associated research at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany.
Publications
A Gravitational Redshift Determination of the Mean Mass of White Dwarfs: DBA and DB Stars
The Astrophysical Journal
We measure apparent velocities (v_app) of absorption lines for 36 white dwarfs (WDs) with helium-dominated atmospheres—16 DBAs and 20 DBs—using optical spectra taken for the European Southern Observatory SN Ia progenitor survey. We find a difference of 6.9 ± 6.9 km/s in the average apparent velocity of the Hα lines versus that of the He I 5876 Å lines for our DBAs. This is a measure of the blueshift of this He line due to pressure effects. By using this as a correction, we extend the gravitational redshift method employed by Falcon et al. to use the apparent velocity of the He I 5876 Å line and conduct the first gravitational redshift investigation of a group of WDs without visible hydrogen lines. We use biweight estimators to find an average apparent velocity,
_BI, (and hence average gravitational redshift, _BI) for our WDs; from that we derive an average mass, _BI. For the DBAs, we find _BI = 40.8 ± 4.7 km/s and derive _BI = 0.71+0.04 -0.05 M_sun. Though different from of DAs (32.57 km/s) at the 91% confidence level and suggestive of a larger DBA mean mass than that for normal DAs derived using the same method (0.647+0.013 -0.014 M_sun), we do not claim this as a stringent detection. Rather, we emphasize that the difference between _BI of the DBAs and of normal DAs is no larger than 9.2 km/s, at the 95% confidence level; this corresponds to roughly 0.10 M_sun. For the DBs, we find _BI = 0.74+0.08 -0.09 M_sun. The difference between of DAs is <=11.5 km/s (~0.12 M_sun), at the 95% confidence level. The gravitational redshift method indicates much larger mean masses than the spectroscopic determinations of the same sample by Voss et al...
Positions
Sigma Pi Sigma
Member, Chapter advisor
Sigma Pi Sigma is the national physics honor society dedicated "to honoring outstanding scholarship in physics; to encouraging interest in physics among students at all levels; to promoting an attitude of service of its members towards their fellow students, colleagues, and the public; and to providing a fellowship of persons who have excelled in physics." (http://www.sigmapisigma.org/about.htm)urn:li:fs_position:(ACoAAAPE0IIBM1HZ5JDI-vMTcDTz6h-rMgzdqkE,156670569)
Sigma Pi Sigma
Member, Chapter advisor
Sigma Pi Sigma is the national physics honor society dedicated "to honoring outstanding scholarship in physics; to encouraging interest in physics among students at all levels; to promoting an attitude of service of its members towards their fellow students, colleagues, and the public; and to providing a fellowship of persons who have excelled in physics." (http://www.sigmapisigma.org/about.htm)urn:li:fs_position:(ACoAAAPE0IIBM1HZ5JDI-vMTcDTz6h-rMgzdqkE,156670569)
Sigma Pi Sigma
Member, Chapter advisor
Sigma Pi Sigma is the national physics honor society dedicated "to honoring outstanding scholarship in physics; to encouraging interest in physics among students at all levels; to promoting an attitude of service of its members towards their fellow students, colleagues, and the public; and to providing a fellowship of persons who have excelled in physics." (http://www.sigmapisigma.org/about.htm)urn:li:fs_position:(ACoAAAPE0IIBM1HZ5JDI-vMTcDTz6h-rMgzdqkE,156670569)
Sigma Pi Sigma
Member, Chapter advisor
Sigma Pi Sigma is the national physics honor society dedicated "to honoring outstanding scholarship in physics; to encouraging interest in physics among students at all levels; to promoting an attitude of service of its members towards their fellow students, colleagues, and the public; and to providing a fellowship of persons who have excelled in physics." (http://www.sigmapisigma.org/about.htm)urn:li:fs_position:(ACoAAAPE0IIBM1HZ5JDI-vMTcDTz6h-rMgzdqkE,156670569)
Sigma Pi Sigma
Member, Chapter advisor
Sigma Pi Sigma is the national physics honor society dedicated "to honoring outstanding scholarship in physics; to encouraging interest in physics among students at all levels; to promoting an attitude of service of its members towards their fellow students, colleagues, and the public; and to providing a fellowship of persons who have excelled in physics." (http://www.sigmapisigma.org/about.htm)urn:li:fs_position:(ACoAAAPE0IIBM1HZ5JDI-vMTcDTz6h-rMgzdqkE,156670569)
