Daniel Phillips
Recent News
Education
Ph. D., Theoretical Physics, Flinders University of South Australia, 1992-95
B. Sc. (Hons.), Theoretical Physics, Flinders University of South Australia, 1991
B. Sc., Theoretical Physics, Flinders University of South Australia, 1988-90
Bio
Daniel Phillips received his B.Sc. (Hons.) and Ph.D. degrees from the Flinders University of South Australia, graduating in 1995. From 1995-1998 he was a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Maryland (College Park). In 1998 he took a position as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, before moving to Athens to become an Assistant Professor in Ohio University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy in 2000. He has been a Professor at Ohio University since 2009. He has published over 100 papers in refereed journals, and his research is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. He has held Visiting Professorships at Chubu University in Japan, the University of Bonn and the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany, and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. From 2014-6 he served as Chair of the Institute for Nuclear Theory Advisory Committee and he was Director of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams Theory Alliance in 2022. He is the Past Chair of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics (DNP) Education Committee and a member of the DNP Executive Committee. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and has been named an "Outstanding Referee" by The Physical Review.
Research Interests
Phillips develops theories of the atomic nucleus. His research seeks to understand the forces between the neutrons and protons inside the nucleus. At present he has three main interests:
Building models which describe the outcome of experiments in which beams of electrons and/or photons are directed on nuclei containing two or three neutrons and protons and the products of the collision are detected. The pattern of scattering reveals information on the arrangement of the nucleus' constituents.
Investigating nuclei which have a substantial neutron excess. Such nuclei tend to form an extended "halo" of neutrons around a central core of neutrons and protons: the neutrons spend much of their time a long way away from the other constituents of the nucleus. In consequence these halo nuclei have properties that are rather different compared to more "standard" nuclei. They share these peculiarities with other "large" quantum-mechanical systems (e.g. clusters of 4He atoms) where particles range far from each other.
Applications of Bayes' theorem to nuclear physics. Bayesian methods allow one to incorporate prior information in analyses of experimental data As such they are well-suited to models where there is a pre-existing information on the expected size of parameters. This is the case in the "Effective Field Theories" (EFTs) that Phillips uses to analyze the systems described under 1 & 2.
The experimental data Phillips works closely with is taken at various facilities around the world including the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, VA; the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory in Durham, NC; the MAX-Lab facility in Lund, Sweden; the RIKEN facility in Japan; and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University.
Publications
Universality of nn distributions of s-wave 2n halo nuclei and the unitary limit, M. Göbel, H.-W. Hammer, D. R. Phillips, Phys. Rev. C 110 024003 (2024)
Get on the BAND Wagon: A Bayesian Framework for Quantifying Model Uncertainties in Nuclear Dynamics, D. R. Phillips et al., J. Phys. G 48, 072001 (2021).
How Well Do We Know the Neutron-Matter Equation of State at the Densities Inside Neutron Stars? A Bayesian Approach with Correlated Uncertainties, C. Drischler, R. J. Furnstahl, J. A. Melendez, and D. R. Phillips, Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 202702 (2020).
Quantifying correlated truncation errors in effective field theory, J. A. Melendez, R. J. Furnstahl, D. R. Phillips, M. T. Pratola, S. Wesolowski, Phys. Rev. C 100, 044001 (2019).
Halo Effective Field Theory constrains the solar 7Be + p→8B + γ rate, X. Zhang, K. Nollett, and D. R. Phillips, Phys. Lett. B 751, 535 (2015)
Parity violating nucleon-nucleon force in the 1/Nc expansion, D. R. Phillips, D. Samart, and C. Schat, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 062301 (2015)
Using effective field theory to analyse low-energy Compton scattering data from protons and light nuclei, H.W. Grießhammer, J.A. McGovern, D.R. Phillips, G. Feldman, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 67, 841 (2012)
Presentations and Awards
Tage Erlanger Visiting Professor, Chalmers University of Technology, 2024
EMMI Visiting Professor, Technical University of Darmstadt, 2018-9
Honors Tutorial College Distinguished Mentor Award, Ohio University, 2015
Outstanding Referee, Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, 2014
Jeanette G. Grasselli Brown Teaching Award, Ohio University, 2012
Fellow, American Physical Society, 2008
Distinguished Alumni Award, Flinders University of South Australia, 2008
Professional Associations
Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics, Ohio University, 2000-
American Physical Society, 1993-
(Member of Division of Nuclear Physics, Few-body Systems Topical Group, and Topical Group on Hadronic Physics)
Australian Institute of Physics, 1991-8
Courses Taught
Introductory Physics Tutorial, Mathematical Methods in Physics, Relativistic Quantum Mechanics and Introduction to Quantum Field Theory, Knowing What We Know, Advanced Quantum Theory, Classical Mechanics.
At a Glance
Halo Effective Field Theory constrains the solar 7Be + p→8B + γ rate, X. Zhang, K. Nollett, and D. R. Phillips, Phys. Lett. B 751, 535 (2015)
Bayesian parameter estimation for effective field theories, S. Wesolowski, N. Klco, R. J. Furnstahl, D. R. Phillips, A. Thapaliya, J. Phys. G43, 074001 (2016)
Parity violating nucleon-nucleon force in the 1/Nc expansion, D. R. Phillips, D. Samart, and C. Schat, Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 062301 (2015)
Describing one- and two-neutron halos in effective field theory, D. R. Phillips, Pramana 83, 661 (2014)
Using effective field theory to analyse low-energy Compton scattering data from protons and light nuclei, H.W. Grießhammer, J.A. McGovern, D.R. Phillips, G. Feldman, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 67, 841 (2012)
Graduate Students
- Arbin Thapaliya, Ph.D., 2016, presently Assistant Professor at Franklin University, Franklin, IN
- Bijaya Acharya, Ph.D., 2015, presently post-doctoral researcher at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
- Chen Ji, Ph.D. 2012, presently post-doctoral researcher at ECT*, Trento, Italy
- Chieh-Jen (Jerry) Yang, Ph.D., 2010, presently post-doctoral researcher at IPN, Orsay, Paris, France
- Deepshikha Shukla, Ph.D., 2006, presently Associate Professor at Rockford University, Rockford, IL
Post-doctoral Researchers
- Jared Vanasse, 2015-
- Xilin Zhang, 2012-4, presently post-doctoral researcher at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- Johannes Kirscher, 2010-11, presently post-doctoral researcher at City College of New York
- Matthias Schindler, 2007-9, presently Associate Professor at University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
- Lucas Platter, 2005-7, presently Assistant Professor at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
- Anders Gardestig, 2003-5
- Vladimir Pascalutsa, 2001-3, presently Research Scientist at the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
Work-Related Experience
Ohio University, Department of Physics & Astronomy
Professor (2000-)
University of Bonn
Mercator Visiting Professor (2009)
University of Manchester
Visiting Researcher (2008)
Chubu University
Miura Visiting Professor (2006)
University of Washington
Research Assistant Professor (1998-2000)
University of Maryland at College Park
Postdoctoral Research Associate (1995-98)
Grants
“Nuclear dynamics and astrophysics in few- and many-body systems”, co-PI with C. Elster and M. Prakash, United States Department of Energy, $1,410,000 November 1, 2013–October 31, 2016.
“Travel to Germany in summer GAUSTEQ program”, Jefferson Science Associates, $5,840.00, 2013-14.
“Nuclear dynamics and astrophysics in few- and many-body systems”, co-PI with C. Elster and M. Prakash, United States Department of Energy, $1,423,000 November 1, 2010–October 31, 2013.
“Nuclear dynamics and astrophysics in few- and many-body systems”, co-PI with C. Elster and M. Prakash, United States Department of Energy, $1,100,000, November 1, 2007–October 31, 2010.
“Glidden Visiting Professorship for Roxanne Springer”, $8,000, 2007-8.
“Ohio University Post-doctoral Fellowship, for Lucas Platter”, $25,000, 2006-7.
“Hadronic and electromagnetic reactions as probes of nuclear dynamics”, co-PI with C. Elster and L. E. Wright, United States Department of Energy, $540,000, November 1, 2004–October 31, 2007.
“Structure of the Universe from Quarks to Superclusters”, Ohio University Research Priorities process, co-PI with eleven other Nuclear/Particle Physics and Astrophysics faculty, $1,342,000, July 1, 2004–June 30 2009.
“Travel costs for 2004 Gordon Research Conference on Photonuclear Reactions”, National Science Foundation, $5,500.
“Few-nucleon systems in the laboratory, supernovae, and the cosmos”, United States Department of Energy Outstanding Junior Investigator Award, $183,000, July 1, 2002–June 30, 2005.
“Hadronic and electromagnetic reactions as probes of nuclear dynamics”, co-PI with C. Elster and L. E. Wright, United States Department of Energy, $473,000, November 1, 2001–October 31, 2004.
Honors
- Honors Tutorial College Distinguished Mentor Award, Ohio University, 2015
- Outstanding Referee, Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, 2014
- Jeanette G. Grasselli Brown Teaching Award, Ohio University, 2012
- Fellow, American Physical Society, 2008
- Distinguished Alumni Award, Flinders University of South Australia, 2008
- Department of Energy Outstanding Junior Investigator, 2002–2005
National and International Committees
- Member, Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, 2016-
- Conference co-chair (together with Ch. Elster and C. Roberts), 21st International Conference on Few-body Problems in Physics, Chicago, IL, May 2015
- Chair, National Advisory Committee for Institute for Nuclear Theory, 2015-16
- Vice-Chair, Chair-Elect, Chair, Past-Chair, APS Few-body Topical Group, 2012-16
- Member, National Advisory Committee for Institute for Nuclear Theory, 2013-14
- Member, International Advisory Committee, 22nd European Conference on Few-body Problems in Physics, Krakow, Poland, September 2013.
- Member, APS Division of Nuclear Physics Dissertation Awards Committee, 2012
- Member, MAX-Lab, Lund, Sweden, Program Advisory Committee, 2008–
- Chair, 2004 Gordon Research Conference on Photonuclear Reactions