Department Facilities
Astrophysics Survey Facility
The facility duplicates the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data locally. Facilities include SGI and Linux workstations and a multi-TB database server, with latest object-oriented database management and query software.
Numerical Astrophysics Facility
Emphasis is on cosmology, matter distribution in the universe, gravitational lensing, and globular cluster modeling. Sloan Digital Sky Survey data are analyzed locally on a compute/data center with a large-RAID-array disk farm. The group also uses the 96-CPU Beowulf system as described below. The globular cluster modeling is performed on GRAPE board (the fastest computer in the world) connected to a dual AMD front-end server harboring a large-RAID-array disk farm. Facilities also include a variety of Linux workstations, with fast access to National Supercomputer Clusters.
The Joseph R. Lynch Observatory
The observatory at Drexel University houses a 16" Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain, the largest in Philadelphia. Students use the observatory for coursework, independent observation projects, and hardware development.
Visit the observatory website here.
Protein Self-Assembly Laboratories
Four fully computer interfaced optical tables are available with argon-ion lasers and microscope optics to study the dynamics of protein self assembly. One apparatus uses multiple images to study stochastic nucleation. A second apparatus uses a spatial light modulator to produce complex images and test the adaptability and flexibility of fibers, as well as providing multiple optical tweezers. A third apparatus uses high speed, high resolution particle-tracking to determine the viscoelastic properties of domains of polymers. A fourth apparatus uses amplitude modulated light to measure the rates of rebinding of ligands to hemoglobin. Supporting equipment includes thin-film reflectivity and absorbance measurements for sample characterization.
Protein Dynamics Laboratory
This laboratory is dedicated to the study of the structure and mechanical properties of proteins. An Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is used to mechanically stretch individual proteins and measure the force and ensuing changes in conformations. The laboratory is fully equipped with ancillary equipment to prepare and manipulate samples.
Preparative Facilities for Biophysical Experiments
This general-use facility includes a cold chamber, Beckman centrifuge, Mettler balance, fume hood, large nitrogen glove box, phase-contrast microscope, digital pH meter, and a Hewlett-Packard diode spectrophotometer interfaced to a personal computer.
Nano-bio-optics
Fiber-optical nanoprobes are being developed for intracellular measurements of biochemical processes. These probes are based on silver or gold-coated conically tapered optical fibers with typical distal end diometers of 20-30 nm. The biomolecules are identified by their characteristic surface enhanced Raman (SER) spectra. Facilities include two Raman (785nm, 680nm) spectrometers.
Computational Biophysics Laboratory
A 2 processor, 2 gigabyte Sun Blade 2000 running Solaris for both numerical work and for 3D visualization, and a Sun V880, a 4 processor, 8 gigabyte SMP machine with a terabyte of fiber based storage are available for biophysics simulations and visualization. In addition, a Linux-based Beowulf Cluster which currently consists of 44 dual processor nodes, each of which are dual Xeon 2.66 GHz chips, connected with a gigabit ethernet. The master node as about a 1/2 terabyte of storage space and 2 gigs of ram, while each of the client nodes have an 80 gigabyte drive and 1 gigabyte of RAM.
Magnetic Materials
Research is being conducted on amorphous magnetic thin films, and fiber optical sensors. Facilities include a Varian X-band ESR spectrometer, vibrating sample magnetometer, Kerr-effect magnetometer, Mössbauer spectrometer, AC-susceptometer, and a variety of thin-film deposition apparatus using techniques including thermal evaporation, E-beam evaporation, and RF- and DC-triode magnetron sputtering.
Ultra-Low Temperature Physics and Nanoscience Laboratory
Research is conducted on the behavior of matter in the micro- to nano scale length scales and at low to ultra-low (near absolute zero) temperatures. This facility includes a helium dilution refrigerator (with a base temperature of 10mK), helium-3 and helium-4 cryostats and two RF SQUIDS.
Particle Physics Detector Development Laboratory
This facility provides experimental support for a research program in non-accelerator particle and nuclear physics, performing tests of invariance principles and conservation laws and searches for neutrino oscillation and high-energy neutrinos. Facilities include modern data acquisition electronics, including numerous CAMAC and NIM modules, various photomultiplier tubes, oscilloscopes, pulse height analyzers, a pulsed tunable dye-laser, a high-sensitivity long-path spectro-photometer, and a 600-liter liquid scintillation test tank.
Laboratory for High-Performance Computational Physics
This undergraduate and graduate teaching facility also provides support for various numerically intensive research projects. Facilities include a dual Xeon server and 15 independent Pentium workstations all running Linux, configured in a subnet and having full network access.
Drexel Beowulf Parallel Computers
The three clusters of off-the-shelf computers act as parallel computers. The first cluster is a server to support astrophysics research. It consists of 48 dual AMD CPUs, with 48 gigabytes of RAM and large local disks. The cluster is linked via two switched fast-Ethernet networks working in parallel.
The second cluster is the 88 Xeon processor system described above in the Computational Biophysics Laboratory.
The third is the ABAX system. It harbors 9 dual Intel Xeon processors configured in a rack mount. It is used to support biophysics research and as a teaching platform.
Undergraduate Students Lounge
Our department is providing undergraduates with a study area and relaxation area where they can socialize between classes, organize meetings, and conduct study groups. The lounge is decorated with comfortable furniture and it is located on the 7th floor of Disque Hall, Room 708.