Rate My Professor Ben Rybolt

Ben Rybolt serves as Senior Lecturer of Physics in the Department of Physics within the College of Science and Mathematics at Kennesaw State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from The University of Tennessee in 2016, with a dissertation on the results of the Double Chooz reactor antineutrino experiment, defended in 2015. Prior to his doctoral studies, Rybolt obtained a B.S. in Physics from the University of Richmond in 2009. During his undergraduate tenure at Richmond, he engaged in cosmology research under E.F. Bunn, presenting "Searching for Dust Contamination of CMB Maps Using Wavelet Transforms" at the American Astronomical Society meeting in 2008.

Rybolt's research contributions include work on neutrino physics and potential dark matter signatures. As a graduate student at The University of Tennessee, he co-authored the paper "Neutron disappearance and regeneration from a mirror state," published in Physical Review D 96, 035039 (2017), which investigates neutron oscillations to a mirror state in the context of mirror dark matter models. Additional involvement encompasses reactor antineutrino spectrum analysis and tests of Lorentz violation using antineutrino experiments such as Double Chooz. At Kennesaw State University, he instructs introductory physics courses, including PHYS 1111K, PHYS 1112K, and associated laboratories. In recognition of his instructional effectiveness, Rybolt was honored with a teaching excellence award by the College of Science and Mathematics at the 2023 Teaching Excellence Reception, announced in 2024. His office is located in CL 3043 of the Clendenin Building on the Kennesaw Campus, where he maintains availability for student consultations.