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Astrophysics Survey Facility
The facility duplicates the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data locally. Facilities include SGI and Linux workstations and a multi-TB database server, with latest object-oriented database management and query software.

Numerical Astrophysics Facility
Emphasis is on cosmology, matter distribution in the universe, gravitational lensing, and globular cluster modeling. Sloan Digital Sky Survey data are analyzed locally on a compute/data center with a large-RAID-array disk farm. The group also uses the 96-CPU Beowulf system as described below. The globular cluster modeling is performed on GRAPE board (the fastest computer in the world) connected to a dual AMD front-end server harboring a large-RAID-array disk farm. Facilities also include a variety of Linux workstations, with fast access to National Supercomputer Clusters.

Observatory
A 16-inch Meade telescope is the key feature of the newly revamped Joseph Lynch Observatory on campus. Students use the observatory for coursework, independent observation projects, and hardware development.

Biophysics Laser Laboratory
Research is focused on the development of pulsed laser instrumentation systems and their application to the measurement of time-dependent biophysical and biochemical processes. Laser photolysis of caged-ATP, caged-Ca2+, caged protons and caged neurotransmitters have been used in the study of the molecular mechanisms of muscle contraction, neuron communication and proton-dependent biochemical and biophysical processes. Facilities include frequency-doubled ruby, neodymium-glass, liquid dye, solid-state holmium-YLF and erbium-glass lasers.

Protein Self-Assembly Laboratories
Four fully computer interfaced optical tables are available with argon-ion lasers and microscope optics to study the dynamics of protein self assembly. One apparatus uses multiple images to study stochastic nucleation. A second apparatus uses a spatial light modulator to produce complex images and test the adaptability and flexibility of fibers, as well as providing multiple optical tweezers. A third apparatus uses high speed, high resolution particle-tracking to determine the viscoelastic properties of domains of polymers. A fourth apparatus uses amplitude modulated light to measure the rates of rebinding of ligands to hemoglobin. Supporting equipment includes thin-film reflectivity and absorbance measurements for sample characterization.

Protein Dynamics Laboratory
This laboratory is dedicated to the study of the structure and mechanical properties of proteins. An Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is used to mechanically stretch individual proteins and measure the force and ensuing changes in conformations. The laboratory is fully equipped with ancillary equipment to prepare and manipulate samples.

Preparative Facilities for Biophysical Experiments
This general-use facility includes a cold chamber, Beckman centrifuge, Mettler balance, fume hood, large nitrogen glove box, phase-contrast microscope, digital pH meter, and a Hewlett-Packard diode spectrophotometer interfaced to a personal computer.

Nano-bio-optics
Fiber-optical nanoprobes are being developed for intracellular measurements of biochemical processes. These probes are based on silver or gold-coated conically tapered optical fibers with typical distal end diometers of 20-30 nm. The biomolecules are identified by their characteristic surface enhanced Raman (SER) spectra.

Computational Biophysics Laboratory
A 2 processor, 2 gigabyte Sun Blade 2000 running Solaris for both numerical work and for 3D visualization, and a Sun V880, a 4 processor, 8 gigabyte SMP machine with a terabyte of fiber based storage are available for biophysics simulations and visualization. In addition, a Linux-based Beowulf Cluster which currently consists of 44 dual processor nodes, each of which are dual Xeon 2.66 GHz chips connected with a gigabit ethernet. The master node as about a 1/2 terabyte of storage space and 2 gigs of ram, while each of the the client nodes an 80 gigabyte drive and 1 gigabyte of RAM.

Magnetic Materials and Thin-Film Laboratory
Research is being conducted on amorphous magnetic thin films, fiber optical sensors, and high-T superconductors. Facilities include a Varian X-band ESR spectrometer, vibrating sample magnetometer, Kerr-effect magnetometer, Mössbauer spectrometer, AC-susceptometer, and a variety of thin-film deposition apparatus using techniques including thermal evaporation, E-beam evaporation, and RF- and DC-triode magnetron sputtering.

Ultra-Low Temperature Physics and Nanoscience Laboratory
Research is conducted on the behavior of matter in the micro- to nano scale length scales and at low to ultra-low (near absolute zero) temperatures. This facility includes a helium dilution refrigerator (with a base temperature of 10mK), helium-3 and helium-4 cryostats and two RF SQUIDS.

Particle Physics Detector Development Laboratory
This facility provides experimental support for a research program in non-accelerator particle and nuclear physics, performing tests of invariance principles and conservation laws and searches for neutrino oscillation and high-energy neutrinos. Facilities include modern data acquisition electronics, including numerous CAMAC and NIM modules, various photomultiplier tubes, oscilloscopes, pulse height analyzers, a pulsed tunable dye-laser, a high-sensitivity long-path spectro-photometer, and a 600-liter liquid scintillation test tank.

Surface Science Laboratory
Emphasis is on studies to relate static structure and dynamic processes at solid surfaces and interfaces at the atomic level. Facilities include a scanning tunneling microscope, an Atomic Force Microscope, and a surface analysis system for ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy.

Laboratory for High-Performance Computational Physics
This undergraduate and graduate teaching facility also provides support for various numerically intensive research projects. Facilities include a dual Xeon server and 15 independent Pentium workstations all running Linux, configured in a subnet and having full network access.

Drexel Beowulf Parallel Computers
Three clusters of off-the-shelf computers act as a parallel computer. The first cluster encompasses 32 dual–Pentium III 450-MHz CPUs, with 512 (256) megabytes of RAM and a 40-GB local disk, connected via a fast-Ethernet switch; this cluster is used for nuclear physics, biophysics, and nonlinear dynamics studies.

The second cluster is a new server to support astrophysics research. It consists of 48 dual AMD CPUs, with 48 gigabytes of RAM and large local disks. The cluster is linked via two switched fast-Ethernet networks working in parallel.

The third cluster is the 88 Xeon processor system described above in the Computational Biophysics Laboratory.

General Facilities
The College of Arts and Sciences shops provide facilities for custom design and fabrication of electronics and computer components and glassware.