Max Burgess’ Comps Presentation
Monday, March 26th
8:30 am in Olin 141
The Raman Effect and Raman Spectroscopy
In the past few decades, Raman spectroscopy has emerged as one of the primary tools for materials characterization. While Raman might not show up in a traditional physics curriculum, the theory behind it and execution of it tie together many key concepts from a standard physics education. I will begin by exploring the theory of the inelastic light scattering phenomenon known as the Raman effect from both a classical and a quantum approach. Then, I will talk about the instrumentation used to carry out Raman spectroscopy and how that instrumentation has changed in the near-century since the discovery of Raman scattering. I will move on to talking about the advantages and disadvantages of Raman spectroscopy as an analytical technique, and will wrap it up by highlighting a few very cool applications of Raman spectroscopy.
Ben Thompson’s Comps Presentation
Wednesday, March 28th
3:10 pm in Olin 141
Ultracold chemistry: cold atoms and where to bind them
Ultra-cold physics takes a step further by considering bound molecular states in the same temperature regime. A discussion of ultra-cold atomic cooling for the purpose of studying both atomic and molecular configurations is given. The focus will be on optical cooling methods such as Doppler and Sisyphus cooling with additional ventures into magnetic trapping and variants of evaporative cooling. Radiative forces and the limits these methods provide will be included as we decrease the overall temperature of our materials. Once a basis for achieving cold atoms has been established, we move to consider the dipole-dipole interactions and the shape of van der Waal potentials. Later the shape is used to coax our atoms into bound molecular states in a process called Feshbach resonance which will include a qualitative and quantitative description. And finally, we conclude with the applications we can explore which involve fundamental physics, complex system simulation, and quantum control.