Matthew Bellis

My Siena Experience

My Teaching Philosophy

I try to maintain high expectations for both the students and myself by fostering a supportive but challening classroom environment. I strive to tie the material to modern developments in science. In this way, the students see that this is a living field and there is still much to learn....and much that they can contribute to once they leave Siena!

What I Love About Siena

I get to talk about Physics with engaged students on a daily basis! You can't ask for more than that. The students are just great. Working with students in and out of the classroom is my favourite part about being at Siena. 

My Favorite Courses to Teach

I actually really love them all. Even when I'm teaching the General Physics class, I'm always learning something new and that keeps things fresh and exciting. 

My Professional Experience

Current Research

Particle physics. I am a member of the CMS collaboration, an experiment consisting of 3000+ physicists, which collects data at the Large Hadron Collider. I am interested in baryon-number violating processes and precision measurements of top-quark differential cross sections. 

I am also a member of the BaBar experiment, which collected data at SLAC from 1999-2008. I am interested in mining the dataset for signs of baryon-number violating processes and searches for hybrid mesons. .

Computing. I am interesting in the computational challenges in Science and how we overcome them. To this end, I stay current with the latest trends in High Performance Computing. Previously, I collaborated with scientists at NERSC / Kavli to explore the use of GPUs for challenges in cosmology and am currently working on simplified workflows and file formats in high energy physics analysis.  

Data Science. The same analysis approaches and tools that I use in Particle Physics and Cosmology can be applied to data science, such as studying the relationships and metrics in collegiate and professional sports and efforts to provide support to the homeless population in NY state. 

Education and Outreach. I am passionate about exploring new approaches to delivering educational content, both in and out of the classroom. I worked with students and Siena faculty to develop a board game that teaches concepts in quantum physics, as well as a website that provides simplified particle physics data for use in the classroom. 

Articles & Book Reviews

• Spin an parity measurement of the Λ(1405) baryon
  Physical Review Letters, vol. 112
  February, 2014
• Measurement of CP-violating asymmetries in B0→(ρπ)0 decays using a time-dependent Dalitz plot analysis
  Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology), vol. 88
  July, 2013
• Cosmological calculations on the GPU
  Astronomy and Computing, vol. 1
  2013
• Searches for the baryon- and lepton-number violating decays B0 → Λ + c ℓ −, B− → Λℓ −, and B− → Λℓ −
  Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology), vol. 83
  2011
• Differential cross section and recoil polarization measurements for the γ p → K + reaction using CLAS at Jefferson Lab
  Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics), vol. 81
  2010
• Differential cross sections and spin density matrix elements for the reaction γp → pω
  Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics), vol. 80
  2009
• Differential cross sections for the reactions γp → pη and γp → pη′
  Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics), vol. 80
  2009
• Measurements of the τ mass and the mass difference of the τ+ and τ− at BABAR
  Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology), vol. 80
  2009
• Multivariate side-band subtraction using probabilistic event weights
  Journal of Instrumentation, vol. 4
  2009
• Partial wave analysis of the reaction γp → pω and the search for nucleon resonances
  Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics), vol. 80
  2009
• The CMU Baryon Amplitude Analysis Program
  Journal of Physics: Conference Series, vol. 69
  2007
• Search for the Θ + pentaquark in the reactions γp → K¯ 0 K + n and γp → K¯ 0 K 0 p
  Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology), vol. 74
  2006
• Search for Θ +(1540) pentaquark in high statistics measurement of γp → K¯ 0 K + n at CLAS
  Phys. Rev. Lett, vol. 96
  2006
• Search for Θ++ Pentaquarks in the Exclusive Reaction γp → K + K − p
  Phys. Rev. Lett, vol. 97
  2006
• An Analysis Of γ p → pπ +π − Using The CLAS Detector
  AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 698
  2003

Awards & Distinctions

•  Invited to attend Science Hack Day in San Francisco, California as one of eight Science Ambassadoors supported by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
  Category: Service-Community
  Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, 2014
• Outstanding Mentor Award
  Category: Teaching
  Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships, 2010
• Rensselaer Founders Award of Excellence
  Category: Other
  RPI, 2002
•  Inducted into the honorary physics society, Sigma Pi Sigma, for outstanding scholarship in physics.
  Category: Other
  Sigma Pi Sigma, 2001
• Walter Eppenstein Teaching Award
  Category: Teaching
  RPI, 2000

Books & Book Chapters

• The Physics of the B Factories
  Springer-Verlag
  2014

Presentations

• A search for WIMPs and tests of local dark matter velocity distributions with the Co-GeNT public dataset
  April, 2014
  APS Meeting, Savannah, Georgia
• Cosmology with the 3-point correlation function on the GPU
  March, 2014
  GPU Technology Conference, San Jose, California
• Science Hack Day: an opportunity for public engagement, art/science mash-ups, and inspiration
  April, 2013
  APS Meeting, Denver, Colorado
• GPU-enabled Precision Measurements of the Structure of the Universe
  March, 2013
  GPU Technology Conference, San Jose, California
• BABAR Results on Lepton Universality and Lepton and Baryon Number Conservation
  July, 2011
  PANIC11, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Outreach tools with real HEP data: challenges and opportunities
  May, 2011
  Workshop on Data Preservation and Long Term Data Analysis in HEP, Batavia, Illinois
• A search for baryon and lepton number violation in B decays using the BaBar dataset
  March, 2011
  APS Meeting, Anaheim, California
• D0 - D0 Mixing and CP Asymmetry Measurements at BaBar
  July, 2010
  ICHEP, Paris, France
• B factories: Leptonic B Decays
  April, 2010
  Lattice QCD Meets Experiment Workshop, Batavia, Illinois
• A search for baryon and lepton number violation in B decays using the BaBar dataset
  February, 2010
  APS Meeting, Washington, District of Columbia
• High Energy Physics (HEP) data in education and outreach efforts
  February, 2010
  APS Meeting, Washington, District of Columbia
• HEP Outlook on Outreach with HEP Data
  December, 2009
  Workshop on Data Preservation and Long Term Data Analysis in HEP, Geneva, Switzerland
• HEP Data as an Educaion Tool
  May, 2009
  Workshop on Data Preservation and Long Term Data Analysis in HEP, Menlo Park, California
• Extraction of cross sections for the reaction γp→pπ+π-
  October, 2008
  APS Division of Nuclear Physics, Oakland, California
• The CMU baryon amplitude analysis program using photoproduction data from Jefferson
  January, 2008
  SLAC Experimental Seminar, Menlo Park, California
• Current Status of a Coupled-Channel Partial Wave Analysis Using Data from CLAS at Jefferson Lab
  October, 2007
  APS Division of Nuclear Physics, Newport News, Virginia
• Current Status of a Coupled-Channel Partial Wave Analysis Using Data from CLAS at Jefferson Lab
  September, 2007
  NSTAR, Bonn, Germany
• The Missing Baryons Problem
  September, 2007
  Old Dominion University Colloquium, Norfolk, Virginia
• A PWA of pπ+ π- in Photoproduction Using CLAS
  October, 2006
  APS Division of Nuclear Physics, Nashville, Tennessee
• The CMU Baryon Amplitude Analysis Program
  October, 2006
  APS Topical Group on Hadron Physics, Nashville, Tennessee
• The CMU Baryon Spectroscopy Program
  February, 2006
  GlueX PWA Workshop, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Ultra-high Energy Cosmic Rays
  April, 2004
  RPI Astrophysics Seminar, Troy, New York
• A Partial Wave Decomposition of γp→pπ+π-
  March, 2004
  NSTAR, Grenoble, France
• A Partial Wave Decomposition of γp→ pπ+ π-
  December, 2003
  Caltech Seminar, Pasadena, California
• Analysis of γp→ pπ+ π-
  May, 2003
  Conference of Intersections of Particle and Nuclear Physics, New York, New York
• Analysis of γp→ pπ+ π-, 1.3 < W < 2.3 Ge V / c^2
  October, 2002
  APS Division of Nuclear Physics, Lansing, Michigan