Dr. Kyle Forinash



 
  • Email: kforinas @ ius.edu
  • Phone:
    • My Office: (812) 941-2039
    • School of Natural Science: (812) 941-2284
    • SNS Fax: (812) 941-2637
  • Office: Physical Sciences 101B
  • Office hours, Spring 2010:
    • T,W,Th: 3:00-4:00.
    • If my door is open, come on in!
    • Note: I am leaving March 11 for a three month Fulbright Fellowship in Argentina. I will be answering email sporatically.
  • Mailing Address: School of Natural Sciences, Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN. 47150.
  • Syllabi, Spring 2010:
  • Other useful Resources.
  • Suggestion box for comments or other feedback.
  • IUS Physics Homepage.
  • IUS Homepage.

Research and Creative  interests:

The world energy supply, its heavy dependence on fossil fuels and the resultant carbon dioxide emissions constitute a multifaceted problem currently facing the world. Since 1999 I have been exploring various aspects of this problem and am in the process of writing a junior level textbook on Environmental Physics. I have collected a list of references and my Power Point talk on energy can be found at: Ending the Oil Addiction; What will it take?

Since the early 1990s I have also worked with Ray Wisman and Bill Rumsey on the use of web based material in teaching. The three of us set up the very first web servers for the IUS campus in 1994, establishing IUS as the first IU regional campus having a web presence. Ray and I have also spent significant time in finding easy and inexpensive ways to interface physics experiments and equipment to computers. This includes providing remote access to and control of real physics experiments via the Internet. Over the past several years I have, using open source tools, created on-line simulations and tutorial materials for use at the introductory physics level. I received a Summer Faculty Fellowship for the summer of 2005 to work on curriculum material about waves:  Waves: An Interactive Tutorial (still under construction). I spent my sabbatical leave for the academic year 2006-2007 in Argentina where I gave classes and lectures about web based learning at several universities.

From 1990 until about 2001 I worked with groups at Los Alamos and in France on simplistic computer models which model the collective behavior of a chain of point masses joined by nonlinear coupling forces or nonlinear on-site potentials. These kinds of simple models provide insight into nonlinear behavior in discrete systems (such as solids) in general and possibly point the way toward understanding the behavior of more complicated systems such as real biological polymers, for example DNA. The possibility that nonlinear vibrations play an important role in the dynamics of large organic molecules has been vigorously debated in the literature over the past several years. Should it turn out that such nonlinear vibrations play an important role in the biological activity of large organic molecules, a better understanding of their behavior will play an integral part in comprehending the dynamically properties of such basic life processes as DNA unzipping during replication.

Representative publications, presentations, projects (not a complete resume!):

Free software by Ray Wisman, Chris Lang and myself (well, mostly Ray and Chris):

On-line laboratories, computer interfacing and distance learning.

  1. R. Wisman and K. Forinash; 'Discount interfacing with the IBM printer port', American Journal of Physics, vol. 57, no. 6 (1989) p561.
  2. R. Wisman, M. Riley and K. Forinash; 'Experimental Data Frequency Measurement with a PC', American Journal of Physics, vol. 60, no. 6 (1992) p570.
  3. K. Forinash, R. Wisman,W. D. Rumsey: 'Introductory Physics Course Management via the Internet', Invited talk; Annual meeting of the of the American Association of Physics Teachers, 1/17/96, Reno, NV.
  4. R. Wisman, C. Clark and K. Forinash; 'Real Time Data Acquisition via the Internet', contributed talk at the Annual meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, 1/6/98, New Orleans. More info.
  5. K. Forinash, R. Wisman, W. Rumsey; 'Interactive and Collaborative Uses of the Web' peer reviewed and published on the web as part of the "Using Technology to Enhance Learning: How Does It Change What Faculty Do?" conference created by the IPSE Faculty Development Committee.
  6. The experimental distance ULI lab server at IUS (1999). The experimental multi-site web data collection page (1999). These sties have been retired.
  7. L.Blankenship, R. Wisman, Mike Riley and K. Forinash; 'Remote Data Acquisition Using the Internet', contributed talk at the Annual meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, 1/9/99, Anaheim, CA.
  8. R. Wisman and K. Forinash; 'Data collection using the LabPro and Excel'.
  9. K. Forinash, ILTE workshop talk: Other Things to do with Your Course Web pages (5th annual IUS Teaching Symposium, 9/23/00).
  10. K. Forinash, R. Wisman; 'The Viability of Distance Education Science Laboratories' T.H.E. (Technical Horizons in Education) Journal Vol. 29 No. 3 (2001)p 380192.
  11. K. Forinash, R. Wisman; "Simple Internet data collection for physics laboratories", American Journal of Physics Vol. 70, No 4 (2002) p458.
  12. R. Wisman, K. Forinash; "A simple approach to Virtual Laboratories". Peer reviewed talk given at Second International Workshop on Tele-Education in Engineering using Virtual Laboratories, in Sherbrooke, Canada, on 8-9 August 2002.
  13. R. Wisman, K. Forinash; "Building Real Laboratories on the Internet". Peer reviewed talk given at the 6th International Conference on Computer Based Learning in Science, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus, 4-10 July 2003. Published in Int. J. Cont. Engineering Education an Lifelong Learning (IJCELL) Vol. 125, No. 1/2, pp. 56-66, 2005 and online at: IJCELL. 
  14. K. Forinash; "Distance Learning: A Solution to under- enrolled physics courses?". Contributed talk, AAPT meeting, Miami, FL. 1/26/04.
  15. K. Forinash, R. Wisman; Short presentation at the Florida Open Source Physics Workshop, July 2004.
  16. K. Forinash, R. Wisman, C. Lang, N. Couzin; "Free and easy sound analysis." Invited talk, AAPT summer meeting, Sacramento 2004.
  17. K. Forinash, ILTE workshop talk: Using Technology in the Classroom (9th annual IUS Teaching Symposium, 1/28/05).
  18. K. Forinash: "El uso de Internet en educación: Algunos Ideas y Ejemplos" (Haz un clic en los últimos letras en los títulos para leer en español.). 91º  Reunión Nacional de Física, Villa de Merlo, San Luis, Argentina, 26de septiembre de 2006 (http://afa2006.unsl.edu.ar). Invited talk.
  19. K. Forinash: "Investigaciones en enseñanza de física: Ejemplos del EE.UU." Mesa Redonda durante el Octavo Simposio de Investigadores en Educación en Física (SIEF 8) en Gualeguaychú del 4 al 6 de octubre. El tema de la mesa era Transferencia al aula de las Investigaciones en Educación en Física. Invited talk.
  20. K. Forinash: "Materiales Interactivos, Simulaciones y Internet para la Enseñanza de la Física" clase/workshop given in Tandil, San Luis, and Córdoba, Argentina 2006/2007.
  21. R. Wisman, K. Forinash: "Cell Phone Physics". Talk at the Annual meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, 2/14/09, Chicago, IL. Published Paper:R. Wisman, K. Forinash; "Science in Your Pocket" in the International Journal of Hands on Science, published on the web after peer review: http://www.aect.pt/ijhsci/?m=200809.

Nonlinear dynamics.

  1. K. Forinash, A. R. Bishop and P. Lomdahl; 'Nonlinear dynamics in the DNA Molecule', Physical Review B, vol.43 (1991) p10743.
  2. K. Forinash and J. Keeney; 'A Double Chain System with Varying Interchain Potential', Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General, vol. 25 (1992) p6087.
  3. K. Forinash, M. Peyrard and B. Malomed; 'Interaction of Discrete Breathers with Impurity Modes', Physical Review E, vol.49 (1994) p3400.
  4. K. Forinash, T. Cretegny and M. Peyrard; 'Local Modes and Localization in a Multi-component Nonlinear Lattice', Physical Review E, vol. 55 (1997) p4740.
  5. K. Forinash, C. Lang ; 'Frequency Analysis of Discrete Breather Modes Using a Continuous Wavelet Transform', Physica D, vol. 123 (1998)  p437. Figures for this paper.
  6. C. Willis, K. Forinash; 'Nonlinear Response of the Sine Gordon Breather to an ac Driver'; Physica D, 2598 (2000) p1-12.
  7. K. Forinash; 'Coupled multi-component systems: A Simple Membrane Model', Journal of Biological Physics, vol 28 (2002) 63-75.

Miscellaneous.

  1. Collected notes, links, references, syllabi and other resources for courses I have taught.
  2. K. Forinash, J. P. Richie, T. Jones; 'Wind Chime Physics', American Journal of Physics, vol. 58, no. 1 (1990) p82.
  3. K. Forinash; 'Physics 100: Science Literacy', The Physics Teacher, vol. 29, no. 7 (1991) p448.
  4. C. Lang and K. Forinash; 'Time-Frequency Analysis with the Continuous Wavelet Transformation', American Journal of Physics, vol. 66, no. 9 (1998) p794. Figures for this paper
  5. K. Forinash, 'What is Science?' American Journal of Physics, Vol. 68, No. 9, pp. 787–788, September 2000.
  6. K. Forinash, W. Rumsey, C. Lang; 'Galileo's Mathematical Language of Nature',  Science and Education, Vol. 9, No. 5 Sept. 2000, Kluwer Publishers.
  7. R. Wisman and K. Forinash: Wave Equation Workbench; a JAVA Applet simulation of linear and non-linear waves (May not work with all browsers).
  8. 'Skydiving and the CBL' with Chris Chudzinski (poster session at the January 2000 annual meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, 1/18/00, Kissimee, FL).
  9. K. Forinash, T. O'Connor and H. Sibray; 'The  IUS and Purdue ELF/ULF project'; Journal of Engineering Education July, 2001.
  10. K. Forinash, W. D. Rumsey: 'A First Course in the History and Philosophy of Science', European Journal of Physics Vol. 21 (2000) p 427.
  11. Here is some preliminary work using the Easy Java Simulation package by Francisco Esquembre: Sine Gordon wave equation simulation (July 2004).
  12. K. Forinash; Brownian motion. Invited talk, AAPT winter  meeting, Albuquerque, NM 2005.
  13. Here are some Applets created by Wolfgang Christian's group at Davidson College Physics which I have scripted and embedded in web pages with curriculum material.
  14. Mathematical Methods in Physics: Partial Differential Equations, Fourier Series, and Special Functions by Victor Henner, Tatyana Belozerova, Kyle Forinash (A. K. Peters, 2009).
  15. Foundations of Environmental Physics; Understanding Energy Use and Human Impacts, Kyle Forinash (Island Press, July 2010).
Physics at IUS
Contact Dr. K. Forinash, for comments/suggestions/corrections.