In addition to the specific research facilities, areas of faculty research interest are identified below.

• Solar Astronomy. The Department operates the San Fernando Observatory located in Sylmar to carry out solar research in which students are involved. The main research goals are (1) the study of magnetic fields and their relation to sunspots and other forms of solar activity, and (2) the study of variations in the output of solar energy and its relation to measurements made in space by spacecrafts observing the Sun. Daily digital images are available on the web at www.csun.edu/sfo. These images are the result of data analysis and image processing, which are themselves areas of research for student involvement. Students at the Sylmar facility often perform these measurements. Faculty involved: Drs. Chapman.
  
  
• Theoretical Astronomy. The theoretical group associated with the San Fernando Observatory studies the turbulent processes in the solar atmosphere and the effects of the solar energy variability on the climate of our planet earth. Students have the opportunity to learn analytical and numerical methods and techniques commonly used in analyzing nonlinear dynamical systems and stochastic processes. Faculty involved: Dr. Cadavid.
  
  
• Instrumental Astronomy. The Department also operates an observatory on campus. Students have the opportunity to make observations of the planets and variable stars. A new astrophysics laboratory is under development that will teach students about CCD detectors and other instrumentation used in astrophysics. Faculty involved: Drs. Chapman.
  
  
• Theoretical Materials Research. The Computational Materials Research Center is housed in the Keck Laboratory. The center operates state-of-the-art computers to calculate intrinsic properties of materials from basic principles. These include mechanical, optical, magnetic, surface properties, and catalysis. Students who get involved with the center get to use sophisticated computers and learn a variety of issues of interest to the field of materials science. Advanced scientific programming, data analysis, and visualization are among several techniques employed at the center. Capabilities exist to help experimental scientists and industrial engineers understand the origin of different materials properties and to design new materials using only computers. Faculty involved: Drs. Kioussis, Lim and Sheng.
  
  
• Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) and Time Resolved Fluorescence Quenching (TRFQ). A state-of-the-art EPR facility is available in the Department to good students to work on research problems as early as their freshman year. EPR spectroscopy is combined with the optical technique of TRFQ to investigate certain properties of materials with applications in biology, chemistry and physics. Faculty involved: Drs. Bales, Peric and Ranganathan.
  
  
• Theoretical Nuclear Physics. The areas of interest in our Department include (1) the study of neutrino-nucleus interactions, related to the determination of the neutrino mass, which determines the fate of the universe, (2) the study of fire balls created in high-energy nuclear reactions (in a condition similar to the beginning of the universe: the big bang) using pion interferometry, (3) the development of mathematical models that describe the interaction of radiation with matter using Monte Carlo computer techniques. Faculty involved: Dr. Seki.
  
  
• Experimental Nuclear Physics. The Department maintains a nuclear physics laboratory where students learn to detect and analyze low energy radiation consisting of alpha, beta, gamma and cosmic rays. Once the data have been collected, students are encouraged to take the data home for analysis in their home computers. Faculty involved: Dr. Doty.
  
  
• California High Energy Cosmic Ray Observatory (CHICOS) Project. In collaboration with the California Institute of Technology, the University of California Irvine and the Los Angeles Unified School District, a grid of ultra-high energy cosmic ray detectors will be set up in the Southern California basin. There will be opportunities for students to participate in this project. These detectors will be placed in schools to detect the highest energy particles observed on the earth and the interested student can get involved in all phases of the project - from setting up the electronics in the detectors to data analysis and Quantum Chromodynamics simulation of the physics. Faculty involved: Dr. Seki.
  
  
• Optics and Materials Characterization. The Department has developed two laboratories for the characterization of materials using optical techniques. One laboratory studies novel materials at liquid helium temperature using spectroscopy. The other measures thin films that can be described as sandwiched layers of different materials. Both reflection and polarization measurements are performed to analyze the composition of each layer of the thin film. Students have the opportunity to learn hands-on optical experimental techniques. A state-of-the-art scanning electron microscope (SEM) including X-ray elemental identification facility is also available. Faculty involved: Drs. Doty, Lee and Ranganathan.