ND2005 - Student Profiles

Networking Day 2005

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Student Profiles

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Graduate and Undergraduate Student Participants

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Battle, Adrienne: Phd. Candidate (poster, resume/CV); I study the lateral phase separation of lipids on Giant Unilamellar Vesicles as a model for the raft hypothesis of cell membrane organization. I use a combination of fluorescence microscopy and image processing to examine the physical properties of phase separated regions on the membrane.
Baumgaertel, Jessica: Undergraduate Student (poster, resume/CV); I have worked on modeling plasma turbulence and transport for the National Spherical Torus Experiment, an innovative magnetic fusion device. Specifically, I conducted simulations investigating the instabilities of microtearing modes of drift waves. Insight from these simulations will be used in the design of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.
Bullard, Theresa: Ph.D. Candidate (talk, resume/CV); The aim of my research his to understand the underlying mechanisms behind the nucleation, evolution, and control of growth induced screw dislocations in crystals, a critical component of crystal growth at low supersaturation. We have developed a method by which these dislocations may be labeled with luminescent dyes during growth from solution. With this method of dying crystals and through the use of confocal laser scanning microscopy, computer vision techniques, and fractal analysis, the history and evolution of growth-active screw dislocations throughout the crystal are determined. This work is relevant to materials engineering, improving crystal growth techniques, and better understanding the growth and nucleation of crystals under low supersaturation conditions.
Butler, Tom: Ph.D. Candidate (talk, resume/CV); I study a novel system wherein individual DNA molecules are detected and analyzed as they are driven through a nanometer-scale pore. This "nanopore" system may serve as a useful model of biologically relevant, nanoscale physical and chemical processes. It also has the potential to be utilized in a number of biotechnology-related applications, the most ambitious of which is single-molecule DNA sequencing.
Chen, Yeechi: Ph.D. Candidate (poster); My project investigates the optical properties of chromophores (fluorescent dyes) near nanostructured noble metals. We can specifically place the dyes at a variable distance by conjugating both dyes and metal nanoparticles, which are then coupled by DNA hybridization. We characterize the system with atomic force microscopy and optical spectroscopy. I have customized the microscope and optical setup to be able to resolve the light scattering from single metal clusters.
Clark, Adam: Ph.D. Candidate (talk); String theory, at its most basic level, is the hypothesis that the fundamental particles that make up our universe (like quarks, electrons, and neutrinos) are not point-like but rather very tiny strings. What distinguishes one particle from another is the way the string vibrates, like different notes on a violin string. This simple hypothesis has many profound consequences, which in recent years have led to string theory emerging as a candidate theory for the description of the universe at a fundamental level. One of those recent developments is the conjecture of an equivalence between string theory in a certain class of 10 dimensional spaces and non-stringy theories in regular space that are closely related to the strong nuclear force. The 10 dimensional spaces in question here have the peculiar property that a beam of light can travel to the edge of the universe, literally an infinite distance, in a finite amount of time. My research focuses on testing this equivalence.
Coffey, David: Ph.D. Candidate (poster); I am researching conjugated polymer films for use in solar cells. Specifically, I employ an atomic force microscope coupled to an optical microscope to measure photoexcited charge in these films. I have built/programmed this setup so I can measure charge creation rates, charge lifetimes and charge transport with 100 nm spatial resolution and ~0.1 ms time resolution.
Cook, Eryn: Undergraduate Student (tour, poster, resume/CV); Our lab studies ytterbium as a candidate for a high precision atomic clock. We conduct spectroscopy and laser cooling and trapping of neutral Yb using high power visible and infrared lasers, exotic optical components, and ultra-high vacuum systems. Current experiments focus on electromagnetically induced transparency and absorption effects that arise from multiple photon-atom interactions in atomic beam systems.
Cox, Adam: Ph.D. Candidate (talk, poster, resume/CV); The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) is a heavy water-Cerenkov detector that is designed to measure the flux of neutrinos produced by the decay of Boron-8 nuclei in the sun. SNO was constructed in order to solve the 40-year Solar Neutrino Problem wherein there was a large discrepancy in the expected and observed flux of neutrinos from the sun. My research has focused upon the third phase of the experiment where the detector has been modified to measure the neutrino flux in a new way. An array of "Neutral Current Detectors" (NCDs), were installed to directly detect neutrons produced by interactions of the neutrinos with SNO's heavy water. I have been involved in the construction, testing, installation and calibration of the data acquisition system along with the installation and commissioning of the NCDs. My research will conclude with a measurement of the Boron-8 solar neutrino flux.
Cramer, Claire: Ph.D. Candidate (tour); I use a high precision torsion balance to test Lorentz and CPT invariance. The lab tour will also include precision tests of the equivalence principle and gravitational inverse square law. These experiments are currently placing some of the most stringent limits on extensions to the Standard Model, theories of extra dimensions, and other well-motivated alternatives to general relativity.
Dormaier, Bob: Undergraduate Student (poster); My research focuses on controlling the growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes and subsequent characterization of them. For Networking Day specifically, I will present research methods and results examining the effects of widespread electric fields on nanotubes growing from quartz substrates. The nanotubes grown in such a configuration tend to be well-aligned in one direction, an important prerequisite for their further integration into related research and consumer products.
Fardon, Rob: Ph.D Candidate (talk); We don't know what 95% of the universe is made of. We think that of this 95%, roughly one quarter behaves like matter, and three quarters like energy, but each has only been inferred to exist from it's gravitational effects. Could this "dark sector" interact with Standard Model particles other than gravitationally? An intriguing possibility is a coupling between neutrinos and dark energy. I will discuss a model in which this occurs and outline the novel features that result, including the chance of detecting signatures of dark energy via neutrino experiments.
Fister, Tim: Ph.D. Candidate (talk, resume/CV); Understanding the bulk local structure and bonding in liquids, polymers, and other low-Z compounds can be difficult with conventional x-ray techniques, despite its importance in most of the natural sciences. I have designed and built an accessible multielement spectrometer that inelastically scatters x-rays to efficiently analyze these materials for general users at the Advanced Photon Source.
Gray, Amanda: Undergraduate Student (poster); The production of single top quarks is a relatively infrequent electroweak process that is of interest to researchers for verifying and potentially extending the standard model of particle physics. However, it is difficult to extract the single-top signal from background events, especially the W-boson-plus-jets background. My research explores qualitative and quantitative methods of analyzing the asymmetry in psuedo-rapidity of muons produced by W-boson decay, which may aid in recognizing single-top events recorded by the DØ RunII experiment at Fermilab National Laboratory.
Hong, Sungho: Postdoc (poster, resume/CV); My current research is about developing models for computation carried by a single neuron and algorithms to fit them to experimential data. The dynamical systems approach is used to analyze non-linear dynamics of neural input/output relationships. In this way, we aim to establish a relationship between a neuron's biophysical properties and its computational function in a brain or in sensory systems.
Lay, Erin: Ph.D. Candidate (poster); The World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) provides real time lightning locations globally by measuring the very low frequency radiation emanating from lightning discharges. I have been involved with calibration, testing, and hardware construction for WWLLN, as well as with addressing scientific questions related to global lightning and its effects using WWLLN data. Recently, I have been building and testing new lightning detection stations and performing a comparison on 2 years worth of archived WWLLN data with data from the FORTE satellite optical lightning sensor.
Leber, Michelle: Ph.D. Candidate (poster); My poster will give an overview of background simulations for the Katrin experiment.
Lin, Chin-Yet: Ph.D. Candidate (poster, resume/CV); My research mainly focuses on field-theoretical models of polymer melts. Specifically we applied self-consistent mean field theory to study different structures and phases of di-block copolymers under an external electric field. Since the electric field contributes differently in the free energy for different morphologies of polymers, we examined the evolution of phases under the influence of the external field. In our study the theoretical framework is constructed and then implemented with necessary numerical methods to calculate the relevant physical properties and phase diagrams.
Mejia, Annie: Postdoc (poster, resume/CV); Circumstellar disk hydrodynamics, formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems. Gas drag on solids in gravitationally unstable disks. Gravitational instabilities in disks as an angular momentum transport mechanism and as a possible way of forming protoplanetary clumps. The effects of cooling and heating on gravitational instabilities and the long-term evolution of the disk under cooling/heating processes.
O'Neill, Griff: Ph.D. Candidate (talk, poster, resume/CV); My research is in experimental high temperature plasma physics, and magnetically confined nuclear fusion. We are researching a magnetic plasma confinement device called a 'Spheromak' which may offer advantages over conventional 'Tokamak' based designs. My work has focused on diagnostics. I use long wavelength lasers to interferometrically measure the plasma density. In addition, I measure plasma temperature and internal plasma flows using spectroscopy. These measurements are compared to the output of simulations to help gain a better predictive understanding of the plasma physics that dominates the behavior of the spheromak.
Oblath, Noah: Ph.D. Candidate (poster); I work on a variety of projects for the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) experiment. SNO is a neutrino detector located in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. I primarily work on the analysis of signals from the Neutral Current Detectors, one of the components of SNO. I also built a system that is used to detect certain impurities in the heavy water that SNO uses to detect neutrinos, and I work on a few other analysis projects.
Pace, Chad: Undergraduate Student (poster); My research is focused on nanowires of the remarkable material vanadium dioxide. My research group is exploring techniques for incorporating these nanowires into field affect transistors. The idea is that these transistors will operate on a new principle, which involves the transition of the material from an insulating to a metallic state on application of a voltage. The transition occurs around 67 degrees C, and therefore I am building a thermal stage, which will enable accurate control of atmospheric conditions and temperature around this transition. At the same time I am helping in the development of new techniques for growing the nanowires and making electrical leads with evaporated metal.
Pierce, Michael: Ph.D. Candidate (talk, poster, resume/CV); My thesis has focused on the experimental study of thin magnetic films using x-ray scattering. Study of magnetic films is important not only for technological applications, but also for the understanding of critical phenomena, disorder, phase transitions and avalanches that are present in many different systems. We have developed a new technique for studying microscopic magnetic domains using coherent soft x-ray speckle metrology. We have applied this method to study the effects of disorder on the magnetic memory properties of thin films that are used in industry for magnetic storage media.
Pinegar, Dave: Ph.D. Candidate (tour, poster, resume/CV); We measure atomic masses to ultra-high accuracy. (Our uncertainties are currently at the level of 1 part in 10¹¹.) Our near-term physics goal is to measure the mass difference between helium-3 and hydrogen-3 (tritium), since this number is useful in certain experiments which measure the mass of the electron neutrino, a poorly known quantity of current interest. In our experiment, single ions are isolated in the stable electric and magnetic fields of a Penning trap, and observed with a high performance custom-built electronic amplifier. Our newest version uses two Penning traps, and an external ion source to load them.
Ramachandran, Subramanian: Ph.D. Candidate (tour, poster, resume/CV); I use heat capacity and pressure to study phases and possible phase transitions in reduced dimensions. These studies are conducted on inert gases like Ne, 4He and on molecules like H2 adsorbed on the 1D and 2D sites of single walled closed end carbon nanotube bundles. This study has potential applications in the field of catalysis and in determining the bulk hydrogen storage properties in carbon nanotubes.
Sallaska, Anne: Ph.D. Candidate (poster, resume/CV); I am involved in the UCNA collaboration at Los Alamos National Labs, which investigates polarized ultracold neutrons (UCNs) in order to determine the angular correlation coefficients of their decay. These coefficients will enable us to test various theoretical predictions to a higher degree of precision. One of our responsibilities is to fabricate, test, and employ UCN detectors to monitor neutron flux. We have tested and are implementing solid state detectors with 6Li or 10B foils which convert the UCNs into detectable, charged particles.
Sherman, Jeff: Ph.D. Candidate (tour, talk); Broadly, atomic physics concerns the interaction of light and matter. I study single trapped barium ions using radio-frequency and laser fields in order to probe atomic structure at high precision. We also plan to use a single trapped atom as an ultra-stable oscillator in a next-generation optical frequency standard: an optical clock accurate to about 1 second every 10 billion years and useful in radio-astronomy, long-distance communication, navigation, and searches for temporal drift in the fundamental constants of nature.
Sjue, Sky: Ph.D. Candidate (poster); I study the Standard Model of particle physics via the weak nuclear interaction. This includes experiments with radioactive nuclei and experiments with free neutrons.
Triambak, Smarajit: Ph.D. Candidate (tour); I will present an overview of Experimental Nuclear Physics research taking place at the UW using the Tandem Van de Graaff Accelerator Facility.
Trimble, William: Ph.D. Candidate (poster); I am using solid-state lasers and nonlinear optics to cool and probe single indium ions confined in a Paul trap. The narrow electronic transition in singly charged indium has attractive features as an optical frequency standard. A laser whose frequency is controlled to match the frequency of such a transition can be made more stable than the best microwave frequency standards, and comparisons between different optical frequency standards allow tests of the constancy of the fundamental constants.
Van Etten, Adam: Undergraduate Student (poster); Feedback control of the long-wavelength resistive wall mode (RWM) using magnetic coils in the DIII-D tokamak has allowed reliable operation at normalized pressure exceeding the free-boundary limit by up to a factor of two. The feedback system senses the resonant response of the stable RWM to intrinsic field asymmetries, yet the effects of the feedback action depend strongly on the algorithm used. Time-dependent simulations using an ideal MHD model support the current interpretation of the experimental results. The time-dependent formulation of the feedback model also allows investigation of non-linear feedback behaviors, such as the effects of voltage and current limits. In the experiment these hardware limitations are observed to provide system stability under circumstances that, in linear analysis, are predicted to lead to instability.
Young, Cody: Ph.D. Candidate (talk, resume/CV); I am fascinated by the interaction of light and matter. I study third-order nonlinear optical materials (two-photon absorbing materials) and ultra-fast lasers for their use in 3D nanofabrication. I use my home built system to fabricate photonic bandgap structures. I dream of one day advancing this technology to the realm of monolithic fabrication of complete devices. Imagine solidifying an entire working microelectronics device from a homogeneous liquid - complete from the interface, to the display, to the electronics inside.