I am a postdoctoral scholar in the Laser cooling and trapping group at Joint Quantum Institute. I am working with Dr. Gretchen Campbell and Dr. Ian Spielman to trap and cool sodium atoms to quantum degeneracy temperatures. One of the directions we are currently pursuing in our lab is to create a quantum simulator to study analogue cosmology scenarios using a cold and dilute gas of Bose condensed sodium atoms. In these experiments, the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) serves as the background vacuum and phonons are the analogue to photons in the expanding universe. In the course of building and optimizing this experiment we are exploring methods and new techniques for optimal quantum control and manipulation of the atomic BEC.
I earned my Ph.D. in experimental condensed matter physics from University of Pittsburgh, where I worked with Dr. David Snoke to realize Bose-Einstein condensation of exciton-polaritons in a III-V semiconductor ring microcavity. My research focused on studying the dynamics of a polariton condensate in a ring geometry.
