Department of Physics
  • Home
  • Undergraduate
  • Graduate
    • Apply
    • Program Requirements
    • Graduate Courses
  • Courses
    • Undergraduate Courses
    • Graduate Courses
  • People
    • Faculty
    • Staff
    • Postdoctoral Scholars
    • Graduate Students
  • Research
    • Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (Experiment)
    • Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (Theory)
    • Condensed Matter Physics (Experiment)
    • Condensed Matter Physics (Theory)
    • Nuclear and Particle Physics (experiment)
    • Nuclear and Particle Physics (theory)
    • Statistical Mechanics (theory)
  • Events
    • Colloquium
    • Dissertation Defenses
    • Seminars
    • Past Events
  • Services
  • Contact
Picture

Matthew Newby

Assistant Professor of Instruction in Physics

Ph.D., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2013

SERC, Room 476
1925 N. 12th Street 
Philadelphia, PA 19122
215-204-2642
matthew.newby@temple.edu



Research Interests

My research interests lie in the areas of astronomy and history, and I am dedicated to effective teaching and mentoring at all levels of university education.

In my research I study the history and dynamics of the Milky Way galaxy, using old stars, dwarf galaxies, and globular clusters in the Galactic halo. Information from these structures provides clues towards understanding the distribution and nature of dark matter, the absence of Population III stars, and the dynamics of dwarf galaxy disruption. I was previously a researcher on the advanced distributed computing project Milkway@home. I have used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), the Chinese Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST/Guo Shoujing Telescope), and Pan-STARRS.  I have also studied Renaissance-era astronomy, including the analysis of a 1400’s-era painting depicting an astronomical scene.

I see computer and data literacy as being key skills for future thinkers and work towards improving these skills in students at all levels. I contributed to the creation of Temple’s Data Science undergraduate program, led the initiative to reorganize Temple’s undergraduate computational physics course, am an organizer of a yearly computing and statistics workshop for graduate students, and am currently part of the unique High-Performance Computing for Scientific Applications Professional Masters Program.
​
My approach to teaching involves a heavy emphasis on active learning, direct applications, interdisciplinary thinking, and encouraging multiple approaches to problem solving. I also integrate professional development and ethics discussions when possible.

Key Publications

  • Fitting the Density Substructure of the Stellar Halo with MilkyWay@home . Weiss, Jake; Newberg, Heidi Jo; Newby, Matthew; Desell, Travis; The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 238, 2 (2018).
  • Milkyway-at-home/milkywayathome_client: Separation v1.46. Matt Arsenault; Siddhartha Shelton; travisdesell; Jake Weiss; Roland Judd; Shane Reilly; willeb; Jake Bauer; Yidong Ren; M Newby; Colin Rice; Jeffery M. Thompson; Dave Przybylo; Zenodo (Software Release), 2018.
  • A Spatial Characterization of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy Tidal Tails. Newby, M. et al.; Astronomical Journal, 145, 163 (2013).
  • The Stellar Metallicity Distribution Function of the Galactic Halo from SDSS Photometry. An, D.; Beers, T. C.; Johnson, J. A.; Pinsonneault, M. H.; Lee, Young, S.; Bovy, Jo; Ivezić, Ž.; Carollo, D.; Newby, M. T.; Astrophysical Journal, 763, 65 (2013).
  • Update on the Cetus Polar Stream and Its Progenitor. Yam, William; Carlin, Jeffrey L.; Newberg, Heidi Jo; Dumas, Julie; O'Malley, Erin; Newby, Matthew; Martin, Charles; The Astrophysical Journal, 776, 2, (2013).
  • Absolute Magnitudes of Turnoff Stars in Globular Clusters. Grabowski, K.; Newby, M.; Newberg, H. J.; Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics, Volume 26.
  • On Rings and Streams in the Galactic Anti-Center. Li, J.; Newberg, H.; Carlin, J. L.; Deng, L.; Newby, M.; et al., Astrophysical Journal, 757, 151 (2012).
  • F Turnoff Distribution in the Galactic Halo Using Globular Clusters as Proxies.  Newby, M. et al., Astrophysical Journal, 743, 187 (2011).
  • Ultrafast Dynamic Reflectivity of Vanadium Pentoxide. Taft, G. J.; Newby, M. et al.; Journal of Materials Research, 23, pp 308-311 (2008).

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS


Department of Physics (035-08)
Temple University
1925 N. 12th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19122-1801

Cherry and White Directory
Maps and Directions
Contact
TEMPLE
CST
TUPORTAL
TUMAIL
ACCESSIBILITY
POLICIES
CAREERS
Copyright 2020. Temple University. All rights reserved.