Mike Lisa
Contact Information
Distinguished University Professor
Areas of Expertise
- Nuclear experiment
- Intensity interferometry in nuclear physics
- Intensity interferometry in astrophysics
Education
- Ph.D. Physics, Michigan State University, 1993
- M.A. Physics, State University of New York, Stony Brook, 1990
- B.S. Physics, University of Notre Dame, 1988
Prof. Lisa joined the faculty of the Physics Department in 1996, establishing a leading research program studying collisions between nuclei at ultra-relativistic energies. He uses the STAR detector system at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider to measure subtle patterns from the particles emitted which provide insight into the poorly-understood Strong interaction between quarks and gluons that make up protons and neutrons. He is recognized as a leading authority on femtoscopy in subatomic physics, a technique that uses two-particle correlations to extract spatial features at the femtometer (10-15 m) scale and timescales on the order of yoctoseconds (10-24 sec)! Femtoscopy is a specialized form of a more general technique called intensity interferometry. In 2020, Lisa began a second research thrust, into astronomy. Here, he uses intensity interferometry to measure the size and spatial features of stars at the milli-arcsecond scale. His group uses the VERITAS telescope array in Arizona to perform the measurements; his group makes extensive use of the Ohio Supercomputer Center and brings a high-energy-physics approach to the analysis.