Karen A. Topp

Physics 1082 Physics of Musical Sound
This course explores “how music works” from a physics point of view – what generates sound, how it propagates, and how it is measured and characterized. Although we focus primarily on the physical “laws” describing sound, the study of musical sound (or musical acoustics) is actually an interdisciplinary subject that includes the physiology of the ear, the psychology of how the brain interprets the ear’s signals, and some elements of music theory. The course starts with basic elements of acoustics, and then continues by studying the particular sounds of various types of musical instruments and the human voice.

Physics 2130 Electric Fields and Circuits
The essential phenomena of the electromagnetic interaction are introduced. The basic relations are then specialized for a more detailed study of linear circuit theory. Laboratory work stresses the fundamentals of electronic instrumentation and measurement with basic circuit components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, and transistors.

Physics 1130 Introductory Physics I

Physics 1140 Introductory Physics II

Physics 1510 Introductory Astronomy

Refereed Journals

K.A. Topp and R.O. Pohl, “Tunneling states in strained alkali halide crystals containing CN − ions,” Phys. Rev. B, 66, 064204, (2002).

K.A. Topp, J.F. Zachary, and W.D. O’Brien, Jr., “Quantifying B-mode Images of in vivo Rat Mammary Tumor with Frequency Dependence of Backscatter,” J. Ultrasound Med. 20, 605-612 (2001).

K.A. Topp and W.D. O’Brien, Jr., “Anisotropy of ultrasonic propagation and scattering properties in fresh rat skeletal muscle in vitro,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 107, 1027-1033 (2000).

E.L. Madsen et al. (incl. K.A. Topp), “Interlaboratory comparison of ultrasonic backscatter, attenuation, and speed measurements,” J. Ultrasound Med. 18, 615-631 (1999).

K.A. Topp, E. Thompson, and R.O. Pohl, “Glasslike excitations in chemically disordered crystals: Alkali-earth lanthanum fluoride mixed crystals,” Phys. Rev. B 60, 898-908 (1999).

K.A. Topp and D.G. Cahill, “Elastic properties of several amorphous solids and disordered crystals below 100 K,” Z. Phys. B 101, 235-245 (1996).

J.R. Olson, K.A. Topp, and R.O. Pohl, “Specific heat and thermal conductivity of solid fullerenes,” Science 259, 1145-1148 (1993).

Conference Proceedings

W.D. O’Brien, Jr., J.F. Zachary, D.A. Payne, P. Han, C. Liu, K.A. Topp, and B.-S. Sun, “In vivo microprobe for tumor diagnosis,” (invited poster). Biomedical Imaging Symposium: Visualizing the Future of Biology and Medicine. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD June 25-26, 1999.

K.A. Topp and W.D. O’Brien, Jr., “Anisotropy of ultrasonic parameters in fresh rat skeletal muscle in vitro,” 1998 IEEE International Ultrason. Symp. Proc. (Sendai, Japan), 1369-1372 (1998).

S. Abens, K.A. Topp, S. Sahling, and R.O. Pohl, “Low temperature properties of calcia-stabilized zirconia single crystal,” 21 st International Conference on Low Temperature Physics, Czech. J. Physics 46, 2259-2260 (1996).

K. A. Topp, B. E. White Jr., J. E. Freund, and R. O. Pohl, “Low temperature internal friction of bulk and thin film fullerenes,” Bul l. Am. Phys. Soc. 39, 274 (1994)

B.E. White Jr., J.E. Freund, K.A. Topp, and R.O. Pohl, “Low temperature internal friction of thin film fullerenes,” Science and Technology of Fullerene Materials. Symp. Proc. Mater. Res. Soc. (Pittsburgh, PA), 411-416 (1995).