Faculty Mentors and Advisors

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Thomas Appelquist’s research has dealt with various topics in theoretical high energy physics. Among his contributions are his work predicting the existence of the J/Psi particle, the formulation of the decoupling theorem in quantum field theory, the study of quantum effects in Kaluza-Klein theories, the development of the electroweak chiral lagrangian, the proposal of walking technicolor theories, the idea of universal extra dimensions, and the analysis of conformal symmetry in certain gauge theories studied in lattice computations.

In his current research, he is developing and analyzing effective field theories with approximate conformal symmetry and an associated dilaton. This work, with collaborators at Yale and elsewhere,  continues to be motivated by the lattice studies of strongly coupled gauge theories. These theories could describe new physics accessible at the Large Hadron Collider or responsible for the formation of composite dark matter.

In recent years, he has enjoyed teaching quantum mechanics and quantum field theory to graduate students and precocious undergraduates at Yale. He was born in Emmetsburg, Iowa and grew up in northwest Indiana. He enjoys spending time in the Colorado mountains, and in London and San Francisco where his children and grandchilcren live.

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Research interests are Dark Sector searches using the Higgs boson in experimental particle physics, and new approaches to understanding physical phenomena, especially at the interface between quantum information science and high energy physics. Current activities include data analysis, detector R&D, and phenomenology at the energy frontier in the ATLAS collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

I used to enjoy basketball, classical piano, and parties … lots of parties.

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I am an experimentalist concentrating on fundamental issues, be that in particle physics, astrophysics, or cosmology. Lately I have been working on learning about the nature of Dark Energy, the mysterious component that makes up three quarters of our universe, yet we know essentially nothing about it. We do this both from telescopes in the Andes in Chile, and from a space mission we are proposing.

Skiing and sailing is what I do to get away from it all…

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I work at RHIC (the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider) on Long Island and “across the pond” at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) in Geneva, studying what happens when Au and Pb ions are collided at 99.99% the speed of light.

Outside of the laboratory I’m just your average New England “Resident Alien”.

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My research aims to understand and control quantum optical processes in nanostructures, with potential applications to nanophotonic devices. My latest adventure is bio-mimetics, i.e. to learn from nature how to design better photonic devices. The research activities in my group range from nanofabtrication, material characterization, optical measurement with high spatial, spectral and temporal resolution, and numerical simulation. My research group’s web page is at http://caolab.eng.yale.edu.

I enjoy traveling, hiking and swimming.

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My PhD is in physics and my lab studies how small networks of neurons perform computations that guide behavior. We use quantitative measurements of neural activity and of behavior, combined with modeling, to understand the mathematical operations performed by these networks and how those operations are implemented using neuronal biophysical properties.

My lab website: clarklab.yale.edu

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The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has opened up a new energy frontier for the field of Particle Physics. I am a member of ATLAS, one of the large, multi-national LHC Collaborations. My research focuses on finding new physics to fill in the gaps of our current understanding of elementary particles and the forces between them with a particular focus on tau leptons as probes. In particular, my group is studying the newly discovered Higgs Boson and working on techniques to learn more about this particle using taus.

I have two kids, Jonah and Alina, and we enjoy hiking in the woods near our house with my husband, Steve.  I am also involved in outreach activities that promote science to students and non-scientists.

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My PhD is in astrophysics and magnetohydrodynamics. More recently my interest has shifted to the study of biological sensory systems. In our lab we use a mixture of approaches from physics and biology to discover how /E. coli/ bacteria and flies sense chemicals and how Tcells make decisions. My research groups web page is at http://emonet.bilogy.yale.edu

Other interests: piano, sculpture, rock climbing

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I am an observational astronomer focusing on questions of galaxy formation and the nature of dark matter.  My research group studies dwarf galaxies, asking how these galaxies form and using them to constrain the fundamental physics of the universe. 

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My group studies the manifestations of quantum mechanics in improbable settings: the motion of millimeter-sized objects, and the flow of electrons through isolated rings of metal.

I like sea kayaking, playing guitar, and speaking Norwegian. My favorite pizza is Sally’s.

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My research explores the invisible Universe by probing the fundamental properties of neutrinos.  Known as the ghost particles in our Universe, neutrinos may hold the clue to explaining the imbalance of matter over antimatter.  We develop instruments to detect neutrinos from nuclear reactors, study radioactive decays with lifetimes longer than the age of the Universe, probe if neutrinos are their own antiparticle, and search for sterile neutrinos as a new form of matter.

I enjoy skiing and climbing with my kids and playing the violin.

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Important things first: Modern is better than Sally’s (apologies to Jack Harris).

With that out of the way, I’m a condensed matter theorist who develops and uses numerical algorithms together with high performance parallel computing to attack problems in condensed matter and materials physics. This ranges from the basic science problem of understanding why a material has the properties it has (conducting or insulating, malleable or brittle, transparent or fluorescent or not, etc.) to the more applied question of how to engineer a new material to have particular desired properties. In addition, I develop new theories and approaches to describe interacting and correlated electron systems (many-body problems).  My research group’s web page is at http://volga.eng.yale.edu

I love cooking. My most recent discovery is this incredible no-knead and super easy bread from the New York Times Library.  Give it a try: it is so easy you wonder why anyone works hard making bread… https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

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Research interests: Experimental tests of fundamental physical laws using atomic and condensed matter systems; experimental study of fluctuation phenomena including the Casimir force

Other professional interests: Cryptography; applications of physics to environmental issues; physics education

Hobbies and personal interests: Running and boxing; restoration of vintage electronics; amateur radio; gardening

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I am an experimental nuclear particle astrophysicist. In my group, we study neutrinos and dark matter using techniques borrowed from nuclear physics, atomic physics, particle physics, astrophysics, and chemistry. My office and lab are located at the Wright Laboratory at Yale, and the experiments are located at Gran Sasso, Italy, South Korea, the South Pole, and right here at Yale. You can find more on my website: https://maruyama-lab.yale.edu
 
When I’m not doing science, I enjoy spending time with my family, great food, skiing, and making and breaking stuff.

We carry out research in biological physics and soft condensed matter physics. In Sloane, we have a couple of optical tweezers set ups which allow for the manipulation and study of individual DNA molecule and their interactions with proteins. We are also currently building a STED (simulated emission depletion) superresolution microscope that will allow us to image fluorescent proteins within living cells at 50 nm or better resolution.  Overall, we seek to create and test physics-based models of biologically-relevant phenomena.

Outside of lab, I like to hike and bicycle

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My group is developing experiments using techniques from nuclear, particle, and atomic physics to search for tiny effects in the laboratory that could give evidence for new fundamental particles or interactions. Our current experiments are aimed at determining the properties of neutrinos, searching for effects from dark matter or dark energy, and measuring gravitational interactions at microscopic distances. More details can be found on our research page: http://campuspress.yale.edu/moorelab/.

When I’m not in the lab, I enjoy biking, reading, and hiking.

My research interests lie in the area of cosmology and astrophysics, specializing in theoretical and computational modeling of the structure formation of the Universe and its application to cosmology. My research group develops and uses theoretical and computational models of how galaxies and clusters of galaxies form and grow in the Universe starting from the Big Bang to today.

When I am not doing science, I enjoy running, biking, hiking, and skiing.

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Some of the most puzzling phenomena in modern physics involve the collective quantum behavior of many interacting particles: from the strange near-perfect flow of the quark-gluon fluid, the emergence of strongly-correlated topological phases of electrons at high magnetic fields, to the structure of neutron stars. Many of this systems are difficult to probe accurately in the lab, and are very hard to simulate with classical computers. 

My group uses ultracold atoms trapped with lasers in ultrahigh vacuum as synthetic ‘toy’ systems to deepen our understanding of such complex phases of quantum matter and provide stringent benchmarks to advanced computational quantum physics methods.

When I’m not working, I enjoy reading, going to concerts, hiking, skiing, and scuba diving.

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My research group is focused on instrumentation for cosmology (in other words, building telescopes to measure things about the Universe). I work on understanding the nature of Dark Energy through 21cm probes of galaxies with two new radio experiments: CHIME (http://chime.phas.ubc.ca) and HIRAX (http://www.acru.ukzn.ac.za/~hirax/). I also work on measurements of the polarized Cosmic Microwave Background with ACT (http://act.princeton.edu) and the upcoming Simons Observatory (http://www.simonsobservatory.org). The CMB is the gift that keeps on giving: upcoming measurements hope to constrain high-energy phenomena impossible to measure with particle accelerators: very early Universe physics through inflation as well as extensions to the standard model of particle physics (neutrino masses, the number of standard model particles present in the early Universe).

I enjoy running, reading, walking around, and trying new beer (with mixed results). I also like gardening, but have more enthusiasm than skill (sorry, plants).

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Theoretical Soft and Biological Physics

I use theory and computer simulations to understand jamming and glass transitions in soft matter systems such as granular materials, foams, colloids, and polymers. My interests in biological physics include protein folding and aggregation, DNA packaging, and the packing and mechanical properties of cells and tissues.

I am an avid soccer player, father of twins Eli & Elizabeth, and my wife Jennifer and I (who I met in 7th grade) love taking trips to beaches during the summer months including the Outer Banks and Captiva.

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My research is at the interface of theoretical and observational cosmology. My current interests are in explaining “dark energy” - the accelerated expansion of the Universe. I am a member of a new astronomical survey to better measure this expansion rate that just started taking data (and has been keeping me busy!). I’m also involved in designing the next generation of such experiments, including a satellite mission.

I enjoy hiking and backpacking, whenever I can get away.

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The research in our lab develops understanding of advanced light detectors, for future NASA and space applications, and the electrical behavior or superconducting nanostructures. This relates to the coherence of the phase of the wavefunction. Undergraduates who have worked in our lab have gone in many research and career directions; a number are university faculty members of Physics departments.

Teaching interests include seminars on topics relating science, technology and society.

My personal interests are family, including a new grandson, and service to the New Haven Public schools, doing ‘Mr. Science’ demonstrations.

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My academic interests have varied with time: Electrical engineering (undergraduate), particle physics (PhD, postodoc and early years at Yale ) and condensed matter theory, since 1986. I am especially fond of field theory methods and the renormalization group.

I love my time in the class room. Of late I have been teaching undergraduates at the introductory and upper levels. I also spend some lecturing to the nonexperts: high school kids, Yale community, and the general public.

I spend my spare time reading novels and watching Seinfeld reruns. I am also trying perfect a way to do my taxes without using imaginary numbers.

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My research is in experimental elementary particle physics. I am part of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, at CERN in Geneva Switzerland, and the CDF experiment at Fermilab, outside of Chicago. I am looking for signatures of new interactions or new objects, like for example, a fundamental particle that would explain the astronomical evidence for dark matter.

When not working I enjoy running, cooking and being pummeled by my two children.

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I study the co-evolution of galaxies and the supermassive black holes at their centers (known as Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) when they are actively accreting), using observatories on the ground and in space.

I like to read, travel and do stuff with my kids, Amelia and Sophia.

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