Teaching Professor
Physics
Bill Hirsch received his BS from the Pennsylvania State University in Astrophysics and performed computational nuclear physics research when earning his MS at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. from Wake Forest University for theoretical research concerning general relativity鈥檚 interplay with quantum field theory. This research was an exploration of an approximation to a quantum theory of gravity in which quantum fields interact with a space-time of extreme curvature. He examined quantum effects created by the presence of a fermion field (electrons, neutrinos, etc.) in blackhole and worm hole space-times. The nature of these effects may predict the non-existence of astrophysical objects that produce extreme space-time curvature.
Courses Taught
- Introductory physics for scientists and engineers
- Introductory physics for the health professions
- Classical Mechanics
- Electricity and Magnetism 1 & 2
- General relativity
- Particle physics
- Honors seminars
Research Interests
- Solutions to the Einstein field equations
- Neutron star and magnetar structure
- Quantum fields in space-times with large curvature
- Plausibility of wormholes in the framework of semi-classical general relativity
- Mathematical physics
Publications
Related papers coauthored by Hirsch:
Other related paper:
PhD Dissertation: