Education
B.A., University of Colorado; M.S., Colorado State University; Ph.D., University of Georgia
Recent publications/invited talks:
“PIXE Water,” Invited talk, Physics Dept. Central Connecticut State University, May, 2010.
“Excitations from dissociative fragments produced in H+ + H2O collisions,” N. Radeva*, S. Pan*, J. Pepper*, M. Monce, Physical Review A, 79 012704, (2009).
“A Study of Photon Emission from Proton-H2O Collisions,” S. Pan*, N. Radeva*, M. Monce, and “An Application of Proton-Induced X-ray Emission for Material Analysis,” J. Woodwar*, L. Mitchell*, M. Monce. Both presented at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Salisbury, MD, 2008.
* indicates student
Professor of Physics
Chair of Department of Physics, Astronomy, Geophysics
Joined Connecticut College: 1981
Specialization:
- Atomic and molecular physics
- Ion-molecule collisions
- Ion-atom collisions
Professor Monce's teaching interests span from introductory courses to senior level quantum mechanics. He leads a two-semester sequence of laboratory work in experimental physics and a semester of advanced laboratory instruction.
His area of expertise lies in atomic and molecular physics, particularly atomic collisions. To perform this work he uses a 1 million volt ion accelerator housed on campus. The research is involved in two areas: measurement of photon emission from ion-molecule collisions, and x-ray analysis of materials. Recent work on the photon emission study has focused on water as a target molecule. The x-ray analysis project has recently, in a joint effort with the Department of Art History, has been looking at the composition of ancient Greco-Roman pottery. More about ion accelerator laboratory research.
Monce actively encourages students to work on his projects. Much of the work he has conducted with students has been presented at professional meetings, appeared in Physical Review A, and The Journal of Geophysical Research, in which the students were first authors.
He has reviewed grant proposals for the NSF, and served on the Physics Standard Setting Advisory Board Committee for Connecticut's Department of Education. He advises students who are interested in teaching careers in physics. He is also a fellow of the Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology at Connecticut College.
Visit the physics department website.