Chetan
At what stage of your studies are you?
I’m going into my fourth year of my MPhys.
Tell us a little about your research project.
My project was split into two parts, the first part involved measuring vibrations using a seismometer from various locations around the lab and the passive and active vibration isolation systems. This system is used to vibrationally isolate the mirror at the bottom of the atom interferometer which needs to be perfectly still to measure g - the acceleration due to gravity. I was able to calculate the error produced by the vibrations on the interferometer measurements of g.
Following this I and my fellow undergraduate colleague Lennox have been working on measuring and tweaking the properties of the lasers used for the manipulation of the atoms in the interferometer. We measured the phase noise between two lasers, which are used to perform the interferometry with atoms.
What skills have you developed during your research?
I’ve had the opportunity to really refine my data analysis skills from labs, reading and analysing data from a modern oscilloscope, and also been able to learn to work safely with complicated laser setups and electronic feedback circuits. Additionally, I’ve been presenting my findings at the group meetings which has given me more confidence with public speaking.
Any final thoughts on your placement?
It’s been really interesting and enjoyable working in an active research lab, I’ve also enjoyed learning from Jonathan and Gedminas’s experience and they’ve given me some great advice.
So, what’s next?
I plan to apply for as many things as I can so that I know what paths are open to me.
Lennox and Chetan in the atom interferometry lab.
Lennox
At what stage of your studies are you?
3rd Year
Tell us a little about your research project.
I’ve been doing two internal projects at the department over Summer. My first one was a continuation of a previous project with Monica D’Onofrio and Carl Gwilliam on using Graph Neural Networks on simulated ATLAS data for the distinguishing of rare signal processes from similar background processes. The work I did for this project was focused on refining my earlier work by replicating previous tests and trying to make the GNN more accurate by adjusting the input parameters to achieve higher accuracy.
My second project this Summer was working with Jonathan Tinsley and Gedminas Elertas with upgrading the laser system used to manipulate rubidium atoms within the atom interferometer. Most of the work I’ve done for this has been with reducing intensity loss at certain checkpoints of the laser setup and trying to improve the coupling of two lasers. I also worked on developing and testing the new RF frequency reference chain for the interferometry lasers.
What skills have you developed during your research?
I have thoroughly developed my confidence with using Python and especially the use of neural networks within Python. My work done in the laser lab helped me develop practical skills working with a lot of equipment that is required to be setup very precisely to achieve desired results.
Any final thoughts on your placement?
I’ve really enjoyed my time on my placements here, they’ve been very rewarding and have given me a greater appreciation of working in Physics.
So, what’s next?
I’m really excited to be moving onto my final year of the MPhys course and I hope that I can pursue a future career in Physics.
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