Associate Professor

Biography

Dr. Matthews grew up in Paris, Texas, and earned her B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Baylor University. From 1998-2000 she was employed as an engineer at Raytheon Aircraft Integrations Systems, where her main project was vibroacoustics analysis for NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). In 2000 she returned to Baylor as a lecturer in the Physics Department and Baylor Interdisciplinary Core and Senior Research Scientist with CASPER (2000-2006), and is now an Associate Professor of Physics and Associate Director of CASPER. With four young children at home, the hobby she most often gets to practice is decorating cakes for birthdays and other special occasions.

Research Interests

Dr. Matthews is engaged in both theoretical and experimental research in dusty plasmas. Dusty plasmas can be found in many astrophysical environments and are also of special interest in the plasma processing of silicon wafers for computer chips. Her research interests include the early stages of planet formation involving the charging and coagulation of dust, planetary ring dynamics, and the self-organization of laboratory dusty plasmas into dust crystals, Coulomb balls, and dust strings. Another area of interest is hypervelocity impact studies, in relation to designing shielding material and dust detectors for space missions.

Theoretical and Experimental Space Physics/CASPER
• Coagulation of micron-sized dust
• Charging of fractal dust aggregates
• Dynamics of charged grains in Saturn's F Ring
• Dynamics of Dust Crystals
• Hypervelocity Impact Studies

PHY 1408 - Physics for Natural and Behavior Sciences I
PHY 1409 - Physics for Natural and Behavior Sciences II
PHY 1430 - General Physics II
PHY 2340 - General Physics III
PHY 2360 - Mathematical and Computational Physics
PHY 3350 - Topics in Astronomy
PHY 4350 - Introduction to Stellar Structure and Evolution
PHY 5320 - Classical Mechanics
PHY 5352 - Plasma Physics
The following classes are in the Baylor Interdisciplenary Core (BIC).
BIC 2437 - Natural World I
BIC 2447 - Natural World II
What is the BIC?

Jonathan Perry (M.S. - 2012)
Qianyu (Theresa) Ma (Ph.D. - 2011)

Dr. Victor Land (2008-2012)

NSF CAREER: Charging and Coagulation of Dust Grains In Astrophysical and Laboratory Environments (June, 2009- May 2014), $436,658.

Glow and dust in plasma boundaries, with V. Land, A. Douglass, K. Qiao, Z. Zhang, and T. Hyde, IEEE Trans Plasma Sci, 41(4), 799-803, 2013. doi: 10.1109/TPS.2013.2244914 Available on BearDocs

Mode Couplings and Conversions for Horizontal Dust Particle Pairs in Complex Plasmas, with K. Qiao, J. Kong, J. Carmona-Reyes, A. Douglass, Z. Zhang, and T. Hyde, IEEE Trans Plasma Sci, 41(4), 745-753, 2013. doi: 10.1109/TPS.2012.2236361 Available on BearDocs

Vertical interaction between dust particles confined in a glass box in a complex plasma, with J. Kong, K. Qiao, Z. Zhang, and T. Hyde, IEEE Trans Plasma Sci, 41(4), 794-798, 2013. doi: 10.1109/TPS.2013.2240018 Available on BearDocs

Charging of Aggregate Grains in Astrophysical Environments, with Q. Ma, V. Land, and T. Hyde, ApJ, 763:77, 2013. doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/763/2/77 Available on BearDocs

The influence of monomer shape on aggregate morphologies, with J. Perry, E. Gostomski, and T. Hyde, A&A 539, A99, 2012. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201117940 Available on BearDocs

Determination of the levitation limits of dust particles within the sheath in complex plasma experiments, with A. Douglass, V. Land, K. Qiao, and T. Hyde, Phys. Plasmas 19, 013707, 2012. Available on BearDocs

Charging and coagulation of dust in protoplanetary plasma environments, with V. Land and T. Hyde, Astrophysical Journal, 744:8, 2012. Available on BearDocs

Dust particle charge in plasma with ion flow and electron depletion near plasma boundaries, with A. Douglass, V. Land, and T. Hyde, Physics of Plasmas, 18, 083706, 2011. Available on BearDocs

One-dimensional vertical dust strings in a glass box, with J. Kong, T. Hyde, K. Qiao, and Z. Zhang, Phys Rev E, 84, 016411, 2011. Available on BearDocs

The effect of electrode heating on the discharge parameters in complex plasma experiments, with V. Land, J. Carmona-Reyes, J. Creel, J. Schmoke, M. Cook, and T. Hyde, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol., 20, 015026, 2011. Available on BearDocs

Crystallization dynamics of a single layer complex plasma, with P. Hartmann, , J. C. Reyes, T. W. Hyde, A. Kovacs, and Z. Donko, Physics Review Letters, 105, 115004, 2010. Available on BearDocs

A Simple Method to Measure the Interaction Potential of Dielectric Grains in a Dusty Plasma, with Z. Zhang, , K. Qiao, J. Kong, and T. Hyde,Phys. Rev. E, 82, 036401, 2010. Available on BearDocs

Fluid modeling of void closure in micro-gravity noble gas complex plasmas, with V. Land, T. Hyde, and D. Bolser, Phys. Rev. E, 81, 056402, 2010. Available on BearDocs

Vibrational Modes and Instabilities of a Dust Particle Pair in a Complex Plasma with K. Qiao and T. Hyde, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 38(4), 826-832, 2010. Available on BearDocs

Probing the sheath electric field using thermophoresis in dusty plasma, with V. Land, B. Smith, and T. Hyde, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 38(4), 768-773, 2010. Available on BearDocs

Dipole-dipole interactions of charged magnetic grains with J. Perry and T. Hyde, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, 38(4), 792-797, 2010. Available on BearDocs

Effect of Dipole-Dipole Charge Interactions on Dust Coagulation with T. Hyde, New Journal of Physics 11, 063030, 2009. doi: 10.1088/1367-2630/11/6/063030

Experimental and Computational Characterization of a Modified GEC Cell for Dusty Plasma Experiments with V. Land, E. Shen, B. Smith, and T. Hyde, New Journal of Physics 11, 063024, 2009. doi: 10.1088/1367-2630/11/6/063024

Charging and Growth of Fractal Dust Grains
T. W. Hyde, IEEE Transactions in Plasma Physics, 36(1), 310-314, 2008.
arXiv:0711.0196v1

Phase Transitions in a Dusty Plasma with Two Distinct Particle Sizes
with B. Smith, T. Hyde, J. Reay, M. Cook, and J. Schmoke, Advances in Space Research, 41(9), 1509-1512, 2008.
astro-ph/0508489

Formation of Cosmic Dust Bunnies
with R. L. Hayes, M. S. Freed, and T. W. Hyde, IEEE Transactions in Plasma Physics, 35(2), 260-265, 2007.
astro-ph/0701385