Prof. Miskimen's research program is directed at testing low-energy predic-tions of Quantum Chromo-Dynamics (QCD), the fundamental theory for the strong nuclear force. The predictions of QCD have been tested most rigorously at high energies, where the interaction becomes weak. At low energies predictions are difficult to make because the interaction becomes strong. Despite the intractability of QCD at low energies, understanding particle properties at low energies remains a topic of great interest because we live in a low energy world where quarks are confined inside of elementary particles.

One prediction addressed by Prof. Miskimen concerns the fundamental symmetries of QCD, and how these are manifested in the interactions of photons with mesons. Another topic concerns the "stiffness" of the proton when placed in an external electric field. These investigations are pursued through experiments with electron and photon beams and proton targets at the Thomas Jefferson and at the M.I.T.-Bates Laboratories. At the Jefferson Laboratory the large-acceptance CLAS detector is used to detect final state photons, protons, or pions. At Bates, magnetic spectrometers detect struck protons that are ejected at angles out of the electron scattering plane.