Thomas R. Moses
Professor of Physics
Meet Professor Moses
Years at Knox: 1992 to present
I am interested in critical phenomena in liquid crystalline and other soft condensed matter systems. I am currently investigating surface molecular ordering and fluctuations in molecular ordering in liquid crystals near their phase transitions between the disordered liquid (isotropic) and the ordered liquid crystalline (nematic or smectic) states.
With the help of Knox students, I am using a variety of techniques-evanescent-wave ellipsometry, magnetic and electric field-induced birefringence, and light scattering-to probe the molecular ordering near surfaces and fluctuations in bulk samples. The goal of this research is to understand how the length scales and energy scales associated with molecular ordering change in the vicinity of the phase transition.
Education
Ph.D., Physics, 1993, University of California, Berkeley.
M.A., Physics, 1990, University of California, Berkeley.
B.S., Physics and Mathematics, Phi Beta Kappa, 1987, Stanford University.
Teaching Interests
Classical physics, quantum physics, electronics.
Selected Professional Accomplishments
Honors & Grants
National Science Foundation-Solid State Chemistry, “Surface Ordering and Anchoring Energy in Nematic Liquid Crystals.” 1993.
Research Corporation, “Surface Ordering in Nematic Liquid Crystals.” 1992.
Publications
Thomas Moses, Mark Wolak*, Fahim Chandurwala*, and Tenzing Shaw*. “A simpler scanning Fabry Perot interferometer for high-resolution spectroscopy experiments.” American Journal of Physics. 83 (7), 656, 2015.
Thomas Moses and Jason Reeves*. “Virtual isotropic-nematic transitions in alkyl cyanobiphenyls.” Liquid Crystals. 35, 1395, 2008.
Thomas Moses, Jason Reeves*, and Paulo Pirondi*, “Fluctuations near a phase transition in liquid crystals,” American Journal of Physics. 75 (3), 220, 2007.
Thomas Moses, “Surface ordering above the isotropic-smectic: A transition at a silane-treated substrate,” Physical Review E. 64, 010702 (R), 2001.
Thomas Moses, Brian Durall*, and Gregory Frankowiak*, “Magnetic birefringence in a liquid crystal: An experiment for the advanced undergraduate laboratory,” American Journal of Physics. 68 (3), 248-53, 2000.
Thomas Moses and Natalie L. Adolphi, “A New Twist for the Conical Pendulum,” Physics Teacher. 36 (6), 372, 1998.
Thomas Moses, “Interfacial Ordering in a Liquid Crystal near the Nematic-Isotropic Transition,” Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst., 319, 121, 1998.
Thomas Moses and Brian Jensen*, “The Freedericksz transition in liquid crystals: An undergraduate experiment for the advanced laboratory,” Am. J. Phys., 66 (1), 49. 1998.
* student co-author