Exotic Spin-dependent interactions
Prof. Mike Snow

Prof. Snow has conducted a number of tabletop experiments to search for possible exotic spin-dependent interactions of nature that are predicted in certain string theories. This work concentrates on interactions with ranges between millimeters and microns. The small scale of these experiments makes it possible to involve students in the experiments at the hardware level, and students are able to complete a coherent project during the summer. Students design key instrument components using Inventor and test them in the labs at CEEM before they are deployed at national laboratories such as LANSCE, SNS, and the NIST reactor.

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Studies of Quark Pair Creation in the Gluon Field
Prof. Adam Szczepaniak

Students will study properties of quark-gluon interactions in Quantum Chromodynamics formulated as a many-body, Hamiltonian system with physical degrees of freedom. Students will investigate the distribution of energy density in presence of quark and antiquark sources and its connection with phenomenological models of hadrons.

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Molecular dynamics simulations of star crust
Prof. Chuck Horowitz

Neutron stars are extraordinarily dense objects more massive than the sun but only about 20 km across. They offer a unique laboratory for study of nuclear matter at varying densities. Students will perform and analyze the results of molecular dynamics simulations to determine properties of the star's solid outer layers.