JILA Thesis Defense

Quantum Effects Inside Rotating, Accreting Black Holes

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Abstract: Models of rotating black holes generally possess not only an event horizon, which marks the point of no return, but also an inner horizon, beyond which lies an observable singularity and potentially a wormhole to a new universe. However, if any matter or radiation falls into the black hole, these sources of accretion will trigger an instability that may destroy the inner horizon and anything beyond.

A Transportable Ytterbium Optical Lattice Clock with Eighteen Digits of Accuracy

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Abstract: 

We present the development and uncertainty evaluation of a transportable ytterbium optical lattice clock, achieving a total systematic uncertainty level of 3.7 ×10-18. We also report a field test of the clock after transporting it to Washington DC, demonstrating the clock’s reliability and readiness to contribute to scientific efforts such as the redefinition of the SI second and frequency-based measurements of Earth’s geopotential.

Measuring How Students Measure

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Abstract: Physics education research in undergraduate laboratory courses is vital to ensure that these courses achieve their learning goals, such as developing hands-on technical skills and mastering concepts and practices related to measurement uncertainty. In this talk, I cover my role in developing a research-based assessment instrument, the Survey of Physics Reasoning on Uncertainty Concepts in Experiments (SPRUCE).

A high optical access cryogenic optical tweezer array

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Abstract: Arrays of single trapped neutral atoms are an important platform for quantum metrology, simulation, and information processing. Interacting Rydberg atom arrays have undergone rapid scaling in qubit numbers and improvements in coherent control in recent years. Placing Rydberg atoms inside a cryogenic environment is of interest for reducing background gas collisions and blackbody radiation-induced decay.

Tabletop Coherent Extreme Ultraviolet Metrology and Imaging of Nanostructures

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Abstract: Nanoscale fabrication has progressed to the level where detailed near nanometer structure can be routinely produced. As fabrication scales shrink to atomistic scales, a corresponding need for high precision characterization is in demand. The use of extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) for patterning of small-scale features has seen considerable development and application in recent years.

Extreme Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Ultrafast Excitations in Magnetic Alloys

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The next generation of logic devices may rely on very fast switching of magnetic states. In this thesis, I utilize ultrafast pulsed lasers to measure and manipulate magnetic states on their fundamental timescales: ranging from few-femtoseconds spin-transfers in Heusler alloys to magnetization reorientations in ferrimagnets which take tens of picoseconds. I utilize high harmonic generation to produce a tabletop extreme ultraviolet probe for resonant measurements.

Twisting, Binding, and Probing Matter Waves in a Rubidium Cavity-QED system

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Large ensembles of laser-cooled atoms interacting via photon-mediated interactions are powerful platforms for quantum simulation and sensing. In this work, I will present a cavity-QED system with matter waves coupled to a high-finesse cavity. In this system, we successfully generated entanglement between atomic momentum states and realized the first entangled matter-wave interferometer.

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