| Research Assistantships are available in gravitational wave detection. Caltech and MIT
have built three ground based interferometers which constitute the Laser
Interferometric Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) (http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/)
The 4 km LIGO interferometers have now completed a two year data taking run at design sensitivity; the race is on to search through the data for signals from mergers of neutron stars and black holes binaries, rotating neutron stars, bursts from supernovas, gamma-ray burst engines, and the stochastic waves from the big bang. Work is just beginning on upgrades to the LIGO interferometers. Through the use of 40 meter scale prototypes and other campus labs, we will be developing the high precision interferometric techniques to make measurements at the scale of 10^-19 m. Research projects include data analysis and next generation interferometry: work with ultra low noise lasers, optics, electronics, and adaptive control systems. For more information on Research Assistantships contact Rana Adhikari rana@caltech.edu or Alan Weinstein ajw@ligo.caltech.edu |
Cosmic Microwave Background - Sunil Golwala and Andrew Lange
| Research assistantships are available in experiments designed to study the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). There are currently 3 experiments underway that will provide excellent opportunities for a Ph.D. thesis. Following on the successful BICEP experiment, new polarimeters are being deployed to the South Pole to search for the signature of the inflationary Cosmic Gravitational-wave Background (CGB) on angular scales of ~ 3 degrees. In parallel, a balloon-borne payload, SPIDER, is being developed to search for the CGB signature on larger (~ 30 degree) angular scales. Finally, the Planck orbital mission will be launched in 2009, and will provide an exceptionally rich data set to explore all aspects of the CMB. For more information on other experimental astrophysics opportunities please contact Andrew Lange at ael@astro.caltech.edu, Sunil Golwala at golwala@caltech.edu, Jonas Zmuidzinas at jonas@caltech.edu, Edward C. Stone at ecs@srl.caltech.edu, Jamie Bock at jjb@astro.caltech.edu, Andrew Blain at awb@astro.caltech.edu |
Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope - Tony Readhead
| This is a really great thesis project - guaranteed to have a lot of exciting new astrophysics with GLAST (launch date 16 May) being the most important addition to NASA's space observatories and the 40 M Telescope playing a unique role in support of GLAST. Roger Blandford and I have been working hard towards this goal over the last three years. The student would be responsible for the 40 M Telescope GLAST monitoring program, in which we will monitor the ~1000 brightest blazars north of declination -20 deg two or three times a week. These data will be made available world-wide on the web. Even without GLAST this program would make a fundamental contribution because it represents a large increase over all previous radio monitoring programs, in terms of both the number of sources and the cadence, but with GLAST is it very exciting indeed. GLAST will observe the whole sky every 6 hours, and we expect to learn a lot from the combined radio and gamma-ray data, and, in addition, to combine this with data we get from the VLBA, from Palomar, and from Keck. The 40 M Telescope is operated remotely from Pasadena (or anywhere with an internet connection). The student will have to spend some time (~30 days a year) up at the OVRO, working on the 40 M Telescope and receiver. There will also be frequent trips to Stanford to discuss the data analysis with our collaborators there (Roger Romani, Greg Madejski, and Roger Blandford), and follow-up observations on Palomar and Keck. We have spent the last two years bringing the telescope and receiver up to scratch, and both are working very well. We need to make some significant upgrades to the receiver, and the student could play an important role there if he/she wanted to. If the student wishes to delve deeply into the theory of relativistic jets and shocks that is also an option, but it is not a requirement. There are plenty of aspects of the interpretation that the student coud get involved in. We are a very small group, and the student would have ownership of the 40 M data for his/her thesis, and could definitely carve out whichever part of the project appeals to him/her, including follow-up of interesting targets, statistical analyses and correlations with GLAST data, etc. The 40 M Telescope is already accumulating data and the work would start immediately, and we would want the student to participate in a workshop we are organizing in Bonn in April. For more information regarding Research Assistantships, please contact Professor Tony Readhead at acr@astro.caltech.edu. Project Description. |
Research in the Development and Plasticity of Cultured Neural Networks - Jerry Pine
| To begin to make a bridge from neuron cell culture to the brain, our lab has worked for several years to develop a culture system in which multiple neurons can grow into a network, with each cell independently addressable. We call this a "neurochip". Each neuron is "caged" over an electrode that can be used for extracellular stimulation and recording without damaging the cell. Dissociated neurons grow axons and dendrites out through tunnels of the cages and connect to form rich networks. By stimulating each cell and recording the responses of all the others, the connectivity of the network can be followed over time. After three weeks, a culture may have over 100 connections, with each neuron on average driving half of the others. Collecting data such as this has never before been possible. We are ready to capitalize on this ability by studying central questions of brain network development. In vivo, ongoing background neural activity promotes network maturation in many brain regions, and we will explore that effect. We will stimulate neurochip neurons individually at uncorrelated times while the cultures grow, at physiologically relevant rates. In addition, a very important role of activity is modifying synaptic connectivity for learning and memory, by enhancement or reduction of synaptic strength as a result of paired-pulse stimulation. Pairs of cells in our networks will be used to study this learning, not just for minutes as in the previous experiments, but for long times, with chronic stimulation of cultures while they develop. Contact: Jerry Pine at jpmail@capsi.caltech.edu. |
Quantum Optics with Single Atoms and Photons - Jeff Kimble
| Research assistantships are available in the Quantum Optics Group. General areas of activity are quantum information science and the quantum dynamics of open systems, including quantum measurement on various fronts, cavity quantum electrodynamics, and the quantum-classical interface. Within this setting, particular investigations relate to strong coupling in optical physics whereby nonlinear interactions require only single atoms and photons, thereby enabling the manipulation of the dynamical processes of individual quantum systems. In qualitative terms, our goal is to move beyond traditional nonlinear optics and laser physics into a new regime with dynamical processes involving atoms and photons taken one by one. The research addresses fundamental issues related to quantum metrology, to quantum networks, and to the general development of quantum information science. Recent experimental advances include observations of photon blockade by one atom trapped in an optical cavity and of measurement-induced entanglement for remote atomic ensembles. For more information regarding Research Assistantships, please contact Professor Jeff Kimble at hjkimble@caltech.edu or visit the Quantum Optics website at http://www.its.caltech.edu/~qoptics/. |
Physical Biology at Caltech - Ahmed Zewail, Director
| New opportunities for research in physical, chemical, and biological sciences are currently available for graduate students in the Center for Physical Biology. The Center was established at Caltech in 2005. Physical biology is a new discipline aiming at understanding how physical forces and interactions govern biological function, from the molecular to the cellular scale. In physical biology, this focus on structure and dynamics is distinct from the aim of mapping the engineering of information and its flow, the wiring in cells, and without visualization, structure and dynamics remain dark and elusive. At Caltech, we are developing the science and technology for such visualization in space and time, and with atomic-scale resolution. Studies of the physics of biological complexity is critical to the understanding of the nature of physical phenomena and to conceptual new ideas in the so-called field of Òemergence.Ó For these reasons, we direct our attention to both the experimental and theoretical dimensions of research, and have established a collaborative research among physics, chemistry, and biology faculty at Caltech. For more information about the Center, please visit our websites at www.ust.caltech.edu and www.lms.caltech.edu. For information regarding GRAs, contact De Ann Lewis, Administrator for the UST Center, Room 113 Noyes, 626-395-2611, email dlewis@caltech.edu |
Correlated Electrons in Semiconductor Nanostructures: Eisenstein Group
| There are openings for one and perhaps two new graduate students in the Eisenstein Group. The main focus of our experimental research is on the emergent collective phases of two dimensional electron systems at extremely low temperature and high magnetic field. For example, the group has recently discovered the long-sought phenomenon of Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons in double layer 2D electron gases. A new project developing now in the group involves attempts to detect a theoretically predicted new type of particle which is neither a boson nor a fermion, but is instead a non-abelian anyon. If we can discover these strange objects, and control them, a new paradigm for quantum computation may be possible. For more information regarding GRAs contact Professor Jim Eisenstein, jpe@caltech.edu or visit the Eisenstein Group at http://www.its.caltech.edu/~jpelab/. |
Search for Gravitational Waves with LISA
| LISA is a space-based detector for gravitational waves consisting of three spacecraft separated by baselines of 5 million kilometers. LISA will be capable of detecting the merger of massive black holes virtually anywhere in the known universe, as well as the persistent gravitational waves emitted by galactic binaries. See http://lisa.jpl.nasa.gov/ for more details. Graduate students have the opportunity to work on LISA both in the laboratory on development of precision interferometric techniques, and on the development of computational techniques for the detection of gravitational wave sources. For more information regarding GRAs contact Professor Tom Prince, (626)395-6605, or prince@srl.caltech.edu, or visit Tom Prince's home page. |
Space Astrophysics Laboratory - Experimental Optical/UV/X-Ray Astrophysics
| GALEX - The Galaxy Evolution Explorer is a Space Ultraviolet Small Explorer mission that will map the global history and probe the causes of star formation over the redshift range 0 < z < 2, 80% of the life of the Universe, the period over which galaxies have evolved dramatically, and the time that most stars, elements, and galaxy disks had their origins. The mission is scheduled for launch in Fall 2001, and has a nominal mission life of 28 months. GALEX objectives include two imaging surveys in Far and Near UV bands: the All-sky Imaging Survey (AIS) of UV galaxy morphology, SFR & extinction, and the Deep Imaging Survey (DIS) to provide photometric redshifts, extinction and SFR for the faintest and most distant galaxies. In addition, GALEX will address three overlapping Spectroscopic Surveys: the Wide-field Spectoscopic Survey (WSS) of the rarest and most luminous star-forming galaxies; the Medium Deep Survey of star forming galaxies of intermediate SFR and redshift, and the Deep Spectoscopic Survey to find galaxies with the lowest SFR and highest z. There are definite opportunities for graduate research immediately on this project. For more information visit the GALEX Home Page Graduate students interested in a research assistantship involving these projects should contact Professor Chris Martin at cmartin@srl.caltech.edu |
| Neutrino Physics - We have an active program in the study of neutrino properties using antineutrinos produced by nuclear power reactors. During the last few years our program has been focused on the KamLAND experiment, located in an underground mine in Japan. The KamLAND detector is a large (1000 ton) liquid scintillator detector and is located an average distance of 200 km from a large number of commercial nuclear power stations in Japan. We have detected flavor oscillations in neutrino propagation and accurately determined the mass parameters. Last year we published the first detection of geological neutrinos from within the earth.The KamLAND experiment will continue for the next few years after we upgrade the detector to enable the study of very low energy solar neutrino events (so-called 7Be neutrinos). In addition, we plan to construct a new experiment to study the remaining unknown angle in the neutrino mixing matrix. This final angle is the key to planning future studies to determine mass hierarchy and the extent of CP violation (which is related to understanding the matter/antimatter asymmetry in the universe). This new experiment will also utilize antineutrinos from nuclear power reactors, but at a closer distance than the KamLAND experiment and with very high precision. Graduate students interested in a research assistantship involving these projects should contact Professor Bob McKeown at bmck@krl.caltech.edu | |
| ULTRA-COLD NEUTRONS - Ultra-cold neutrons, with velocities below about8 m/s, can be trapped and localized by constructing a "bottle" of certain materials or via strong magnetic fields. This containment allows precise measurements of the properties of the free neutron (in searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model) and investigation of novel quantum properties of these neutral matter waves. Opportunies are available for several GRA positions to carry out experiments that are underway as well as design and execute future experiments. Information can be found
at http://www.krl.caltech.edu/ucn/ and by contacting Brad Filippone at brad@krl.caltech.edu | |
Experimental High Energy Physics
| BABAR is an experiment at the PEP-II Asymmetric B Factory at SLAC, the premier facility for the study of heavy quark and heavy lepton physics. In the summer of 2001, BABAR published the first measurement of a CP-violating asymmetry in B meson decay, providing a new, uniquely sensitive test of the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. Ongoing detailed studies of heavy quark decays provide perhaps the best short term opportunity to unearth effects indicative of physics beyond the Standard Model. Information about BABAR can be found at http://www.hep.caltech.edu/~babar/. Studies are also beginning towards SuperB, a next generation experiment with substantially improved capabilities. There are openings for graduate students for thesis research, as well as for undergraduates for part term research projects during the academic year or the summer. For more information, contact Professor David Hitlin at hitlin@hep.caltech.edu or Professor Frank Porter fcp@hep.caltech.edu. |
| CMS - is an experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (the LHC) in Geneva, that is nearing completion and will start taking data in the Summer of 2007, studying proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 14 TeV. The leap in energy, the high intensity of the LHC and CMS' ability to cleanly identify and precisely measure photons, electrons and muons are expected to lead to a new round of discoveries on the nature of matter and the fundamental interactions. CMS will search for the Higgs particles thought to be responsible for mass in the universe, for supersymmetry, subconstituents of quarks and leptons, and other exotic new phenomena such as evidence for extra spatial dimensions. Caltech leads the search for the Higgs particles in the mass range favored by precision measurements of electroweak phenomena at lower energies, using the distinctive decay of the Higgs to two photons, and is active in several other areas of data analysis searching for new physics processes including TeV-scale graviton decay, and CP violation in the Higgs sector. Graduate students in the group, as well as undergraduates working part time, are active in data analysis as well as in the preparation, calibration and commissioning of the detector, with a focus on the precision electromagnetic calorimeter, and in the near future will take part in the first data taking. Information about CMS and the LHC can be found at http://cmsdoc.cern.ch and http://lhc.web.cern.ch/lhc. For more information on research opportunities with the CMS group, contact Professor Harvey Newman at newman@hep.caltech.edu |
| MINOS - MINOS, The Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search experiment, utilizes protons from the Fermilab Main Injector to produce a high-energy, high intensity neutrino beam (NuMI) aimed in the direction of the Soudan underground laboratory located in northern Minnesota. The experiment has been taking data and studying neutrino oscillations for the last two years. Its first results on atmospheric neutrino oscillations were recently published, and it is about to release its first results on oscillations after a year of data-taking with 1020 protons on target. The MINOS iron spectrometer and plastic scintillator detectors (5.4 kTons at Soudan and 1 kTon at Fermilab), based on a design originated at Caltech, are used to study the oscillations in detail and determine the participation in the oscillations of different neutrino flavors, and to compare the neutrino interactions before and after the 730 km "flight" to Soudan. The group has central roles in the ongoing data acquisition of the experiment, the study of atmospheric neutrinos, electron neutrino interactions searching for subdominant oscillations between electron and tau neutrinos, and most recently antineutrino interactions and the search for neutrino-antineutrino oscillations, as well as R&D aimed at substantially increasing the proton beam (and thus the neutrino beam) intensity. Members of the MINOS group also are active in developing the next-generation NOvA experiment, a 30 kTon totally active scintillation detector with a sensitivity to electron-tau neutrino oscillations estimated to be 20 times greater than current-generation experiments, as well as a water-based scintillator detector prototype aimed at developing the following generation of megaton detectors for neutrinos and ultrahigh energy cosmic rays. Opportunities for graduate students and undergraduates with this group cover the full range from detector R&D, to MINOS detector operation and data analysis, in the newly blossoming field of neutrino properties and interactions beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Information about MINOS and NOvA can be found at http://www-numi.fnal.gov and http://www-nova.fnal.gov. For more information on research opportunities with this group, contact Professor Harvey Newman at newman@hep.caltech.edu. |
Space Infrared Telescope Facility
| The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) was launched as NASA's 4th Great Observatory in January 2003. As part of the Infrared Spectrometer (IRS) team Guaranteed Time Program, we are conducting a moderate depth survey of 10 square degrees at 24 microns. This survey will be used to select targets for followup IRS spectroscopy. |
| The goal of this project is to establish the nature of faint infrared sources. Most of the objects detected in this survey are likely to be dusty galaxies at high redshifts (z > 1). It is expected that the main result from this program will be to determine the rate of star formation in dusty infrared galaxies as a function of redshift. Since there is strong evidence that the bulk of star-formation in the universe has occured in dusty galaxies, the direct measurement of the star formation history in dusty galaxies is essential to establishing the star formation history of the universe. |
| There is an opportunity for a graduate student to participate in this project, preparing for and analyzing the SIRTF survey data as well as the existent ancillary data, preparing for the SIRTF spectroscopic followup observations. Complementary groundbased followup observations using the Palomar and Keck telescopes will also be part of this project. Contact Tom Soifer at bts@irastro.caltech.edu, x6626 for further information. |
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