Paul Amy

Paul Amy is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA). He teaches courses such as General Physics I, Electricity and Magnetism, and Introduction to Astrophysics. His office is located in the Center for Science & Innovation, 110D, and he can be reached at paul.amy@mcla.edu or (413) 662-5458.

His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2019), an M.S. in Physics from SUNY Albany (2011), and a B.S. in Physics from Union College.

Dr. Amy's research focuses on the structure and evolution of the Milky Way's halo, particularly the detection and characterization of tidal streams—stellar remnants pulled from dwarf galaxies or globular clusters. He uses data from large-scale sky surveys like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Gaia mission, with a special emphasis on blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars due to their brightness and reliable distance estimates. His work helps map the gravitational potential of the Milky Way and infer properties of dark matter.

The two recent publications highlight his contributions to identifying stellar substructures and modeling galactic dynamics. His current projects include developing a novel algorithm to detect tidal streams using line-of-sight velocity versus heliocentric distance plots and investigating unusual structures in the North Galactic Cap near the Virgo Overdensity.

• arXiv:1903.10136, ApJ submitted (2019)
• MNRAS, 477, 2419 (2018)

Dr. Amy is actively involved in research but no information is available about student advising, grants, or scientific awards. He works within the physics program at MCLA, contributing to both teaching and cutting-edge astrophysical research.