Graduate and Undergraduate Student Participants

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Most student email addresses are listed in the directory.
Daniel Bolton
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2011
Theorist
Resume
I am interested in understanding nuclear properties and phenomena from first principles of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). In particular, I have studied the nuclear reaction in which a proton and a neutron fuse into a deuteron by emitting a pion. By calculating this reaction rate with a QCD-based theory and matching the experimental data, I have been able to extract the mass difference between the up and down quarks.
Patricia Carroll
Ph.D. Candidate, Astronomy
Expected Graduation: 2014
Observer
Following the Big Bang, the universe cooled until protons and electrons combined to form neutral hydrogen gas and the Cosmic Dark Ages began. Astronomers know little about the universe during this decisive time of structure formation. During the Epoch of Reionization, or the Cosmic Dawn, the first hot, bright sources began to form and reionize the gas. The evolution of the distribution of neutral Hydrogen is therefore a logical tracer of this initial structure formation, however it is inherently difficult to observe. My research involves the development of both instrumentation and data analysis techniques to detect the HI signal in order to reveal the conditions of the infant univserse.
Ted Cook
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2011
Experimentalist
I am testing Newton's inverse-square law of gravity at short distances. This work furthers our understanding of the role of gravity in cosmic dynamics, with the exciting possibility of uncovering new physics. The experiment uses a torsion pendulum which is designed to twist due to the gravitational interaction with a rotating attractor mass, separated by as little as 50 microns. Despite being a "table top" experiment, this work is able to place some of the most stringent limits on the existence new physics below the 1mm scale.
Gregory Crosswhite
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2011
Theorist
Resume
My research involves improving techniques for simulating quantum systems and applying them to solve problems in the field of quantum computing. In particular, there have been two major thrusts that I have been pursuing. First, I have been working on improving matrix product state techniques --- a family of algorithms for simulating many-body systems in quantum mechanics --- and applying them to study a system which is a quantum computing analogue of the classical transistor. Second, I have been developing an algorithm that can aid in designing quantum error-correcting codes by performing fast computational searches within specified parameter spaces.
Ian Derrington
Ph.D. Candidate,Physics
Expected Graduation:2011
Experimentalist
Resume
Low cost, high speed DNA sequencing has the potential to vastly accelerate research and to enable medicine based on ones DNA genome. Sequencing with nanopores, or nanometer sized holes, is a candiate to achieve significant milestones such as $1000/genome sequenced in one day and revolutionize DNA sequencing. I study and help design mutations of a protein nanopore MspA, which is one of the most promising nanopores for use in sequencing.
Will Dowd
Ph.D. Candidate,Physics
Expected Graduation: 2014
Experimentalist
Our research focuses on ultracold atomic physics and chemistry. We laser cool fermionic lithium and bosonic ytterbium to microkelvin temperatures in a magneto-optical trap followed by tight confinement of the atoms in the focus of a high power laser beam. Sympathetic or forced evaporative cooling is used to cool the atoms to nanokelvin temperatures. We investigate the interactions between the two species and plan to use them as probes of fundamental physics such as Bardeen-Cooper superconductivity, anisotropic interactions, and precise measurements of the fine structure constant.
Jason Grad
B.S. Physics
Expected Graduation: 2010
Experimentalist
Conducted saturated absorption laser spectroscopy (SLAS) of Ytterbium in order to develop a frequency stabilized light source at 556nm. A vacuum chamber system was developed to house and maintain a steady state Ytterbium vapor density which is controlled by variable heat sources. A single laser beam is separated into two counter-propagating beams which pass through glass view ports, and interact with the ytterbium vapor. The resultant signal is free of Doppler effects, and provides a stable frequency source with which we are able to frequency lock our laser. This frequency locked laser is finally used to slow ytterbium atoms in order to for them to be optically trapped for low temperature experiments.
Charles Hagedorn
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2010
Experimentalist
Resume
It is not known whether gravity acts over distances shorter than a hair's diameter. Our precision torsion-balance experiment tests gravity at scales from millimeters to below 50 microns. Cosmology observations and modern particle theories hint that gravity may change its behavior at scales near 100 microns. Short range gravity experiments place tight constraints on many modern theories of both fields. I'll describe the design, construction, operation, and status of our experiment.
Anders Hansen
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2013
Experimentalist
Resume
our research group runs a tabletop experiment at the UW Dept of Physics. Using precisely tuned lasers, electronics and ultrahigh vacuum systems, we simultaneously trap dilute, gaseous clouds of Lithium and Ytterbium. Through a sequence of laser cooling and forced evaporation techniques, we are able to bring ~10^5 atoms of each species to temperatures of a few microkelvins. The realization of such ultracold systems of multiple atomic species enables a wide range of experiments: probing exotic quantum phases of matter, exploring anisotropic interactions, and studying quantum scattering phenomena. Furthermore, we seek to synthesize highly polar LiYb molecules, with applications toward information science, and precise tests of fundemental physics.
Michael Hotz
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2011
Experimentalist
Resume
I work on the Axion Dark Matter Search, or ADMX, under Leslie Rosenberg. We try to detect axions in the galactic dark matter halo as they decay to microwave photons. The experiment uses an 8 Tesla superconducting magnet surrounding a 1 Kelvin, high quality cavity to stimulate axion decays.
Nathan Kurz
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2010
Experimentalist
Resume
The research in the trapped ion quantum computation lab is geared to "practical" aspects of quantum computation. The quotes signify that we are interested in such topics as robust readout of quantum states for information processing, scaling down the size of the trap to scale up toward multiple-ion traps, and speeding up gate times among other goals. Rather than fundamental research goals (and there are plenty of those) these applications lend themselves more toward what one might call a useful quantum computer some day.
Elizabeth Manrao
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2011
Experimentalist
Resume
Nanopore sequencing has the potential to become a fast and low-cost DNA sequencing platform. The ion current passing through a small pore identifies the sequence of single stranded DNA (ssDNA) electrophorically driven through the constriction. A mutant pore protein, MspA, derived from Mycobacterium smegmatis forms a short and narrow channel making it attractive for nanopore sequencing. Immobilizing ssDNA within MspA we observe unique current levels for each of the four bases and are able to resolve individual nucleotide substitutions. These results indicate that MspA has the single nucleotide sensitivity necessary for nanopore sequencing.
Amy Nicholson
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2011
Theorist
Resume
My collaborators and I are developing a new technique for the numerical study of properties of systems of particles with large scattering length. Due to the universal nature of such systems, this method is applicable to a wide range of research areas, from nuclei to ultra-cold atoms. With our technique we are able to match the precision of the most state-of-the-art calculations, however, the speed of our calculations allows us to study much larger systems at relatively small computer cost.
Amy Robertson
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2011
Experimentalist
Resume
Physics education research involves the systematic study of the teaching and learning of physics. A primary goal is improving instruction in physics classrooms at the precollege and university levels. Many studies have demonstrated that students at all levels often struggle with basic physics concepts, even after relevant instruction on related topics. Interestingly, the number of distinct conceptual difficulties that students exhibit for a given physics topic (e.g., first law of thermodynamics) is often small. Thus, the responses that students give to conceptual questions about a given topic can often be grouped into a small number of categories, and conceptual difficulties can thus be identified and described. The current project has endeavored to identify and describe conceptual difficulties with various aspects of the particle nature of matter, including ideas about substance and chemical change, the laws of definite and multiple proportions, and kinetic- molecular theory.
Marshall Roth
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2011
Experimentalist
The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope examines some of the highest energy phenomena in the universe. In addition to identifying and cataloging a broad spectrum of sources, the telescope also allows us to examine phenomena on cosmological scales. My research focuses on measuring size and strength of intergalactic magnetic fields from the gamma-ray emission of distant galaxies.
William Terrano
Ph.D. Candidate, Physics
Expected Graduation: 2011
Experimentalist
Resume
I am building and running torsion balances to study several possibilities for new, macroscopic forces. One project is a new design for a pendulum that will use a combination of different magnetic materials to be sensitive to forces between the spins of electrons at much greater sensitivities than was previously possible. I am also working on a prototype for a pendulum with a large hydrogen density. This is interesting because most observations constraining Dark Matter interactions rely on Hydrogen dynamics, so a pendulum with a large Hydrogen excess would allow us to study Dark Matter - neutron/proton interactions in greater detail. The difficulty lies in designing a pendulum with polyethylene that has the mechanical stability to make a precision measurement possible.