Research

As part of the Alert Production Team for the Vera Rubin Observatory and in collaboration with Dr. Ian Sullivan, I work with data from the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) to correct for the differential chromatic refraction effect that occurs in data from ground-based telescopes. We are developing a model that will account for the object distortion found in bluer-band images due to Earth’s atmosphere. This model will eventually be incorporated into LSST imaging pipelines.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a non-invasive technique that allows the measurement of ongoing brain activity. With Professor Samu Taulu, I programmed original algorithms to simulate and analyze MEG data to more accurately identify the location of brain currents in preparation for new MEG prototype. I also jointly run the research group focused on developing a self-organizing brain map algorithm.

In collaboration with Professor Boris Blinov, I looked for the presence of correlated photon emission using a linear crystal of barium ions. We designed new methods of determining bright and dark states for each ion and the associated times at which jumps occur to look for near-simultaneous jumps and calculate the probability that the observed can be explained by random, uncorrelated ion jumps.

Quantum dots are particles with nanometer-sized diameters that exhibit quantum effects in their size and optical and electronic properties. My research focused on the role of quantum dots in nanotechnology and quantum computing. Specifically, I looked into the design of semiconductor quantum dot qubits and of aluminum gates as well as the role of quantum dots as a form of quantum memory.

In observing the centers of local galaxies, a tight connection has been shown to exist between supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their host galaxies. Based on numeric simulations of the merging of galaxies, actively accreting supermassive black holes play a foundational role in the evolution of the galaxies. My work studied the origins of AGN discovery and classification, and their properties.

Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) is a mathematical parameterization of Big Bang cosmology. It assumes that the universe is composed of ordinary matter, photons, neutrinos, and dark matter. My research focused on studying the roles of dark matter and dark energy in the formation and evolution of our universe.

The patterns of galaxies and matter on scales much larger than individual galaxies or groupings of galaxies are known the Large-Scale Structure (LSS) of the universe. I studied the LSS of the universe through its evolution by the Double Dark theory which focuses on the role of dark energy, dark matter, and normal matter in this process.

In collaboration with Professor David Pengra, I studied the physics of gaseous ionization detectors and carried out computer modeling and simulations of pulse formation, electron drift and other aspects of their operation.

Diamond nitrogen-vacancy (DNV) centers are point defects within the diamond lattice structure where a nitrogen atom sits next to a vacant site within the lattice. Since its spin state can be both initialized and read-out optically, DNV centers are important for studying electronic and nuclear spin phenomena at room temperature. With Professor Boris Blinov I focused on the role of DNV centers in quantum technologies and explored DNV quantum sensing applications such as magnetometry and spectroscopy.