Weldon Wilson
Weldon Wilson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Residence | Edmond, OK, United States |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | Oklahoma State University |
| Known for | Physics, Dept of Engineering & Physics |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | University of Central Oklahoma |
Weldon J. Wilson is an American physicist and Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Physics in the Department of Engineering & Physics at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma. His research addresses problems in nonlinear systems, spanning quantum and classical field theory, general relativity, gauge interaction, geophysics, statistical physics, fluid dynamics, and biology.
Biography
Wilson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1973 and a doctorate in physics in 1980, both from Oklahoma State University. Before entering academia full time, he conducted energy research for the Occidental Oil and Gas Company and the Cities Service Oil Company. He subsequently served on the faculty of the University of Central Florida.
Wilson joined the University of Central Oklahoma, where he spent 29 years as a member of the Department of Engineering & Physics. He served as graduate coordinator and as assistant chair of the department, and played a role in the initial ABET accreditation of the department's engineering physics and biomedical engineering programs. He retired in 2021. Over his career he taught courses ranging from introductory physics and astronomy to quantum mechanics, mathematical physics, electromagnetic fields, analytical mechanics, solid state physics, and computational physics.
Work
Wilson describes his research as centered on the study of nonlinear systems, in which he constructs theoretical and computational models of complex phenomena arising from systems of interacting objects and carries out empirical studies to constrain and motivate those models. His work has addressed problems in quantum and classical field theory, general relativity, gauge interaction, geophysics, statistical physics, fluid dynamics, and biology.
Among the specific topics he has treated are Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic fields, calculations of the speed of gravity, the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron, relativistic invariants and dynamics, and the entropy and thermodynamics of single-particle systems. His projects have also included population dynamics modeling, astronomical image enhancement, gravitational field equations, photonic crystals, Bayesian statistics, genetic algorithms, and quantum Bayesian networks.