A basic building block of life is a cell. It hosts DNA and myriad other complex molecules such as proteins, lipids, and RNA species. How these molecules arrange in space and time in a coordinated manner to make a cell a living entity is yet unclear. Equilibrium statistical physics can explain some of their organization, but non-equilibrium processes also play a significant role and is a hallmark of life. This summer project will combine state-of-the-art microscopic measurements and image analysis, including AI-based methods, to understand how DNA is organized in a bacterial cell. This knowledge is important in designing next-generation antibacterial drugs and synthetic cells.
Advisor: Prof. J. Mannik
https://volweb.utk.edu/~jmannik/index.html
The EPIC detector is a proposed detector at the electron-ion collider. The forward hadronic calorimeter must be robust to high radiation levels and able to measure jets with high precision. Students will help assemble and test modules of the forward hadronic calorimeter for EPIC for use in a test beam. This work will take place at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Advisor: Professor Christine Nattrass
A new facility to measure the beta decay of laser polarized atomic nuclei (beta-NMR) was recently commissioned at the ISOLDE facility, CERN. This technique allows for precise measurements of nuclear properties such as its magnetic moment or charge radius. A powerful variant of beta-NMR uses radiation detectors to “tag” and identify specific nuclear excitations. In this project we will utilize gamma- and neutron-tagged beta-NMR to explore the anomalous nuclear structure of 47,49K. We will use CERN’s ROOT analysis software, as well as python and Julia code, to construct their decay strength distribution and compare it with state-of-the-art nuclear models.
Advisor: Professor Miguel Madurga
If you like to have hands-on experience with experiments looking for mysterious neutrinos you are welcome to join our summer activities. Most of the work will be at the ORNL. Two experiments you can be involved in are: COHERENT experiment to study neutrino interactions and LEGEND, neutrino less double beta decay experiment.
Advisor: Professor Yuri Efremenko
Photoelectron Diffraction is a methodology of photoelectron spectroscopy that
allows the determination of the local crystallographic arrangements around an
emitting atom. In one of our research endeavor,
it would be highly important to be able to determine the local crystal structure
around Fe and Se atoms in FeSe layers grown epitaxially on oxide substrates.
These are systems that revealed unconventional
superconductivity, with superconducting transition temperatures much higher than
those found in bulk FeSe. The determination of the crystallographic environment
in FeSe monolayers is fundamental for a correct description of their electronic
structure.
We are looking for a highly motivated student who can run simulations with a
dedicated program called EDAC (Electron Diffraction in Atomic Clusters). The
student will have the chance to learn fundamental concepts in solid state
physics, crystallography, and to apply notions of quantum mechanical scattering
to photoelectrons.
Advisor: Professor
Norman Mannella
Angle Resolved Photoemission (ARPES) is one of the premiere techniques that
allow direct measurements of the electronic structure of materials, providing a
link between the macroscopic properties at the heart of the materials
functionality and the microscopic degrees of freedom. With
energy resolutions of a few meV, momentum resolutions of better than 0.5% of a
typical Brillouin zone size, state-of-the-art Angle Resolved Photoemission (ARPES)
experiments are now able to directly reveal the microscopic, many-body
interactions in the single-particle spectral function, making it extremely
powerful in addressing central issues in the physics of complex electron
systems.
Yet, to date, the analysis of ARPES data in multi-band systems has been severely
hampered by the fact that signals derived from different bands overlap,
resulting in broad spectral features that are impossible to resolved.
We are looking for a highly motivated student
who can implement machine learning methods for the extraction of bands
dispersion. The student will have the chance to
learn fundamental concepts in solid state physics, crystallography, and to apply
notions of quantum mechanics.
Advisor: Professor
Norman Mannella
The CMS experiment at CERN will start colliding protons again this year, opening up new opportunities to search for physics beyond the Standard Model. Students will have an opportunity to help design these searches, studying triggers that make sure our detectors capture the particles we’re most interested in. We also have projects related to the design of future LHC detectors, focusing on an upgrade to the CMS tracker. In addition, there are opportunities in the group to influence where our field may head next by doing studies for a future muon collider. Projects will involve programming, so students are encouraged to build familiarity with python and a unix terminal in advance of the summer.
Advisor: Professor Tova Holmes
We use a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to probe various kinds of quantum materials in the atomic scale. By analyzing the atomic and electronic structure acquired by STM, it is possible to reveal the novel quantum states in these materials. In this project, students will be involved in three tasks: (1) use STMs to acquire atomic structure of materials; (2) analyze STM data with advanced statistic tools to extract hidden orders; and (3) automate the STM operation by combining coding for remote operation and machine learning-based methodology.
Advisor: Professor Wonhee Ko
Dark Matter is one of the biggest puzzles of the modern physics. It is known
definitely that Dark Matter exists in the universe. It is even more abundant
than the regular matter. However, the nature of Dark Matter is not understood.
This research project will be focused on the design of a new planned experiment
for detection of Dark Mirror neutrons and on the analysis of experimental data
from a previous experiment.
To be learned: particle oscillations in two-level Quantum Mechanical system,
physics of neutron detectors, McStas neutron transport software, Monte-Carlo
calculation methods, statistics, data analysis and presentations of the results.
Student with computing experience (Python, C++, FORTRAN) are welcome to contact
Prof. Yuri Kamyshkov for an interview.
Advisor: Professor Yuri Kamyshkov
DNP is the process aligning nuclear spins in a specific direction (typically
that of a magnetic field) in a solid material. In nuclear physics, this is
desirable for a target of scattering experiments as it increases the luminosity
- physics interactions of interest. In biology, DNP is increasingly utilized to
increase the signal to noise ratio in NMR spectroscopy studies, and is now being
used at ORNL to enhance the signal from protein crystal samples, with the
specific goal of utilizing the spin dependent scattering of neutrons from
hydrogen to gain a full atomistic understanding ofprotein structure.
We will be installing and operating a dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP)
characterization apparatus at UT to benchmark spin polarizable materials,
standardize the preparation of such materials, and develop techniques to
maximize the nuclear polarization. This effort addresses the growing need across
several fields for samples with high nuclear polarization. The samples include
macromolecular crystals for use in neutron beams (biological and materials
science), or deuterated materials to use as targets for electron beams (nuclear
physics).
Advisor: Professor Nadia Fomin
All eukaryotic cells contain a cytoskeleton. A major component of the
cytoskeleton is actin, a semi-flexible biopolymer that can assemble and
disassemble. The long-term goal in
the research field of the actin cytoskeleton is to derive a predictive framework
to elucidate how the organization and activity of the cytoskeleton arise from
the mechanics, dynamics, and cooperative interactions of individual components.
It remains challenging to achieve this goal because the actin cytoskeleton is
an active system driven far from equilibrium. The summer fellow will begin work
on cytoskeleton simulations, computationally modeling and characterizing the
actin cytoskeleton's organization under applied external forces, and identifying
the force-feedback mechanism in the model system.
Advisor: Professor Yuqing Qiu
The explosions of massive stars are mediated by neutrinos, and the quantum
mechanical processes that drive them to change flavor are a significant
challenge for the theory of how stars explode. We
have a machine learning model that predicts how this flavor change proceeds, but
we need to improve it before it is useful in dynamical supernova simulations.
The student on this project will run local
simulations of neutrino flavor transformation and use it to further train the ML
model. In addition, the student will make
enhancements to the ML model to allow it to make better predictions.
A background in Python or coding in general is required, and a
background in machine learning would be a large asset.
Advisor: Professor
Sherwood Richers
The oxygen you breathe, the calcium in your bones and about half of the iron in your blood were formed in the deaths of massive stars as core-collapse supernovae. We model these explosions in two and three dimensions using supercomputers as the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility and other computing facilities. Many of the most important observations, which can tell us if our models are correct, depend on the new atomic nuclei that are produced in the explosion. You will assist in running our nucleosynthesis calculations and analyzing the results so that we may better understand the nuclear contributions from these exploding stars.
Advisor: Professor Raph Hix
Topological insulators (TIs) are exotic quantum matters that become metallic
only on the boundary. The surface/edge
conductive channels of TIs are believed to be a necessary outcome of the
topological properties of bulk electronic wavefunctions. However,
recent studies have revealed violations of this 1-to-1 relation between boundary
metallicity and bulk topology in out-of-equilibrium quantum systems.
In this project, we will explore such
unconventional topological physics in nonequilibrium systems subject to a
time-periodic drive. A major goal is to reveal
whether and how spacetime symmetries can protect fractionalized quasiparticles
in these systems. The students will have hands-on
experience in model design of quantum systems, numerical simulation, and
symmetry & topological analysis.
Advisor: Professor Ruixing Zhang
The UTK group is involved in the development of neutron detectors for the future FRIB Decay Station and its present incarnation, FRIB Decay Station Initiator https://fds.ornl.gov/initiator/. The FDSi is currently the primary detector to study decays of exotic nuclei at the Facility for Rare Isotope (FRIB) https://frib.msu.edu/. Our focus is on developing a new generation system that uses neutron interaction tracking to improve the energy resolution of the neutrons. Neutron-time-of-flight measurements also require the implementation of fast-response pixelated implant detectors. The summer projects will include characterizing pixelated detectors constructed using GAGG inorganic scintillators and implementing new scintillator materials for neutron detection.
Advisor: Professor Robert Grzywacz
The CMS Experiment at CERN is upgrading its silicon tracking detector for the High-Luminosity LHC era. This project will involve participation in the assembly, control, calibration, and QA/QC for tracker modules at Fermilab. The project will require training in programming in C++ and python, analog and digital electronics, and the physics of particle detection. This work will involve working closely with the team at the Silicon Detector Facility at Fermilab, in Batavia, IL.r.
Advisor: Professor Larry Lee
https://leejr.web.cern.ch
Protons and Neutrons are constituents of most observable matter in the universe. Understanding the origin of nucleon spin has been an overarching challenge for nuclear physics since the 1980s. To probe this experimentally with a polarized electron beam, spin-polarized nuclear targets are required. We have a program if such experiment approved at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. This summer, the successful student fellow will assist in setting up a lab at UT to polarized 3He gas using Metastability exchange optical pumping method. The work will include characterizing the cell, mapping the magnetic field, laser testing, writing code to control equipment and optic alignment.
Advisor: Professor Dien Nguyen
The gravitational wave emission for two stars of nearly identical mass but different stellar structure and, therefore, different explosion history. Gravitational waves may allow us to disentangle the two scenarios when stellar mass becomes a degenerate parameter and where, in this regard, electromagnetic observations are inconclusive.
Advisor: Professor Tony Mezzacappa
The gravitational wave emission associated with anisotropic neutrino emission in a series of models initiated from the same progenitor mass but using different nuclear equations of state. The gravitational wave “memory” in each of these models may provide a signature of the underlying equation of state and, consequently, the underlying high-density, neutron-rich nuclear physics.
Advisor: Professor Tony Mezzacappa
In this project, you will work with members of the ORNL-UTK astrophysics
collaboration to extend a novel analysis framework written in Python in order to
analyze our next generation of supernovae simulations. The design focus of the
analysis tool lies on the way the hydrodynamics and neutrino radiation dynamics
are evolved in the code framework and in analyzing neutrino data as a function
of neutrino energy from the simulations. In particular, the fluid and spectral
radiation data, which live on different computational grids during the
evolution, need a unified representation for analysis. There will also be plenty
of opportunity to gain experience using the supercomputers at the Oak Ridge
Leadership Computing Facility, managing data, and producing publication level
figures from the relevant analysis.
Advisor: Professor Bronson Messer
In a collapsed massive star, the new born neutron star (proto-NS) that drives the explosion of the star through the emission of neutrinos has a vigorous convection zone in its mantle, but the impact of proto-NS convection on the development on the supernova explosion is unclear. For this project, you will use supercomputers at ORNL or elsewhere to compute and compare 2D core-collapse supernova models with the CHIMERA supernova code with and without proto-NS convection to analyze the impact of convection.
Advisor: Dr. Eric Lentz