Prof Ian Whittingham ~ Adjunct Professor

Following my PhD (1970) in theoretical physics at Monash University on Compton scattering of gamma rays by relativistically bound atomic electrons (supervisor Dr H Perlman) and a short period as lecturer in physics at RMIT (1970-1971), I took up a Royal Exhibition of 1851 Scholarship atUniversity College London (1972-1974) under Prof. Sir Harrie Massey where I did further research on Compton scattering and developed an interest in spectral line broadening.

I joined the Physics Department at James Cook University in 1974 and have undertaken research in radiation physics, spectral line broadening, ultracold atomic collisions, particle theory and cosmology as lecturer (1974-1979), senior lecturer (1980--1991), associate professor (1992--2004), professor (2005--2008) and now adjunct  professor. I was Head of Discipline, Physics and a member of the School Executive from 1998 until mid 2005 when I stepped down on  medical grounds.

My research has been recognized in several ways. On the basis of my early research in radiation physics I was invited to be a founding member of the International Radiation Physics Society and to be on its International Advisory Board. Subsequently, my particle physics research led to a visitingfellowship and, in 1995, the Benjamin Meeker Visiting Professorship, at the Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol. It also resulted in my appointment as an Associate of the Special Research Centre for Subatomic Structure of Matter in Adelaide.  My research in ultracold atoms has been particularly successful; our calculations are used by the world's leading experimental groups, I have been a visiting fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Atom-Optics at the ANU, have close links with the ultracold atoms group at the  Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Ecole Normale Superiere, Paris and the ANU.

Interests

Research

• Atomic physics - Ultracold collisions of trapped metastable helium atoms: Quantum close-coupled calculations of elastic and inelastic rates for ultracold collisions between spin-polarised metastable helium atoms in a magnetostatic trap; Effects of laser intensity on photoassociation lineshapes; Close-coupled calculations of the bound states of the He(2s)+He(2p) system to study the role of non-adiabatic and Coriolis couplings. Both bosonic helium-4 , fermionic helium-3 and mixed helium-3 -- helium-4 systems have been studied; Current calculations are focused on loss rates and bound state lifetimes in mixed metastable helium and rubidium systems.
• Theoretical cosmology - Astro-particle physics: Comparative study of particle-physics motivated models of interacting dark matter and dark energy. Models considered include holographic and neutrino dark energy; Enhancement of relic dark matter abundances in various cosmological scenarios such as quintessence, scalar-tensor and brane world universes; Consequences of dark energy interactions with matter; Generation of matter-antimatter asymmetry (baryogenesis) in the very early universe.

Research Disciplines

• Particle and high energy physics (5107)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Expanding knowledge (2801)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Whittingham I (2022) Scattering of low energy neutrinos and antineutrinos by neon and argon. Physical Review D, 106 (11).
• Whittingham I (2022) Scattering of low energy neutrinos and antineutrinos by atomic electrons. Physical Review D, 105 (1).
• Cocks D, Whittingham I and Peach G (2019) Ultracold homonuclear and heteronuclear collisions in metastable helium. Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics), 99 (6).
• Brown M and Whittingham I (2017) Soft symmetry improvement of two particle irreducible effective actions. Physical Review D, 95 (2). pp. 1-18
• Brown M, Whittingham I and Kosov D (2016) Linear response theory for symmetry improved two particle irreducible effective actions. Physical Review D, 93 (10). pp. 1-13
• Brown M and Whittingham I (2015) Two-particle irreducible effective actions versus resummation: analytic properties and self-consistency. Nuclear Physics B, 900. pp. 477-500
• Brown M and Whittingham I (2015) Symmetry improvement of 3PI effective actions for O(N) scalar field theory. Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology), 91 (8). pp. 1-27
• Cocks D, Peach G and Whittingham I (2015) Long-range states in excited ultracold 3He*–4He* dimers. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 48 (11). pp. 1-11
• Meehan M and Whittingham I (2015) Dark matter relic density in scalar-tensor gravity revisited . Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2015 (12). pp. 1-28
• Meehan M and Whittingham I (2014) Dark matter relic density in Gauss-Bonnet braneworld cosmology. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2014 (12). pp. 1-18
• Meehan M and Whittingham I (2014) Asymmetric dark matter in braneworld cosmology. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2014 (6). pp. 1-18

Conference Papers

• Peach G, Cocks D and Whittingham I (2017) Ultracold collisions in metastable helium. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. In: 23rd International Conference on Spectral Line Shapes, 19–24 June 2016, Torun, Poland

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 40+ research outputs authored by Prof Ian Whittingham from 2000 onwards.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Searching for Pulsating Stars in the Gap Between the SPB and d Scuti Domains Through Machine Learning and Data Mining Techniques (PhD , Primary Advisor/AM/Adv)
• Dark Nebulae in the Milky Way: From Mosaics and Catalogues to Republishing a Classic Atlas (PhD , Secondary Advisor)