\n
The proposed activity aims to conduct advanced research and development to demonstrate the technical feasibility of continuous power generation from the quantum field, applicable to both terrestrial and space environments. This research will significantly enhance our understanding of quantum field theory and the nature of the quantum vacuum, with the ultimate goal of developing a novel power generation technology and facilitating its commercialization.
\r\n
The objective of this Phase 1 SBIR project was to advance scientific and engineering knowledge related to quantum field theory and quantum vacuum phenomena as they pertain to power generation. To achieve this objective, the project focused on improving numerical analysis tools used for the design and optimization of custom power cells. These improvements included refining the ability to predict tunneling current magnitudes for specific metal-insulator-metal (MIM) configurations and determining the optimal combinations of materials and insulator thicknesses to maximize performance.
\r\n
As part of the project, several prototype power cell designs were developed and fabricated. These prototypes utilized different combinations of metal and insulator materials carefully chosen to enhance electron tunneling potential. The materials were selected based on their electrical properties, stability, and compatibility with quantum tunneling processes. Once fabricated, these prototypes were subjected to rigorous testing using a high-impedance measurement device. The testing protocol involved storing the chips in a dark, RF-shielded enclosure to prevent external interference and measuring their ability to accumulate charge, followed by a slow, controlled discharge process. The results revealed that the chips produced a higher-than-anticipated voltage output, a promising indication of the Casimir power chip’s potential to harvest energy from quantum fields.
\r\n
This higher voltage output represents a critical milestone and serves as a pathfinder for further exploration of Casimir power chips. The test data collected during these experiments informed updates to the tunnel current analysis algorithms within the Casimir analysis tools. These enhancements to the design tools will enable the development of improved power cell designs in subsequent phases of research, bringing the technology closer to practical applications.
\r\n
The broader impact of this Phase 1 SBIR project is the potential for a paradigm shift in power generation. The envisioned technology promises to deliver compact, clean, and lightweight power sources capable of providing consistent power regardless of environmental conditions. Unlike conventional power generation methods, this continuous electricity from quantum fields produces zero greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to a cleaner environment and reducing health burdens associated with air pollution. By addressing the growing demand for sustainable energy, this technology supports the health and welfare of the American public.
\r\n
Furthermore, the availability of a continuous, compact power supply has significant implications for national defense. Reliable and maintenance-free power sources can enhance the range, safety, and operational capability of military vehicles, frontline facilities, and autonomous systems. The ability to produce and distribute energy in a portable and efficient manner strengthens logistical operations and reduces dependence on traditional fuel supplies. This innovation supports strategic objectives by providing energy solutions that are resilient, adaptable, and capable of functioning in remote or hostile environments.
\r\n
The potential for commercialization is substantial, driven by the increasing global energy demand, which is projected to rise by 50% by 2050. Meeting this demand will require innovative technologies that can provide sustainable and affordable power. The ability to generate continuous electricity from quantum fields offers a competitive advantage by delivering lower-cost energy solutions for consumer, industrial, and commercial applications. This technology can reduce reliance on traditional power sources such as fossil fuels, chemical batteries, and extensive electrical grid infrastructure. Instead, it offers an environmentally friendly, scalable, and cost-effective alternative.
\r\n
Moreover, this concept represents a disruptive and transformative advancement in power generation. By providing a source of clean, safe, abundant, and affordable energy, Casimir power chips have the potential to address many of the world’s pressing energy challenges. Industries ranging from healthcare to telecommunications, aerospace, transportation, and manufacturing stand to benefit from this breakthrough. For instance, wearable medical devices, remote sensors, autonomous vehicles, and satellite systems could all leverage continuous, maintenance-free power to enhance functionality and reliability.
\r\n
In conclusion, the research and development undertaken in this Phase 1 SBIR project have demonstrated the feasibility and potential of continuous power generation from the quantum field. The results pave the way for future innovations that could revolutionize the way electrical power is generated and utilized. By combining scientific exploration with practical engineering, this project contributes to a sustainable energy future, economic competitiveness, and national security. Continued investment in this technology will unlock new possibilities for clean energy, positioning the United States as a leader in the global energy landscape.
\r\n
\n
\n Last Modified: 12/31/2024
\nModified by: Harold White
\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tImage\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n- \n
![\"Generation](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2024/2423233/2423233_10921819_1735676465328_gen3_chip--rgov-66x44.jpg\")
\n\n
Image of Generation 3 Casimir power chip
\n
Casimir
\n
Copyrighted
\n
Harold White\n
Generation 3 Chip
\n
\n\n
\n
\n","publicAccessMandate":"1","startDate":"05/01/2024","title":"SBIR Phase I: Development of devices to manipulate the structure of quantum field energy for use in electric power generation","transType":"Standard Grant","ueiNumber":"SW47CCGFSQA3"},{"abstractText":"Nanoscale quantum optical systems enhance the efficacy of light-matter interactions by confining light in small regions. Such systems are integral to a myriad of emerging quantum technological applications: from building single-photon devices and storing and transmitting quantum information over long distances, to facilitating precision tests of fundamental physics. Thus, with growing efforts to miniaturize quantum systems, both with the fundamental motivation to explore quantum phenomena at nanoscales and also with the practical goal of developing modular on-chip architectures, atom-surface interactions at nanoscales become a central facet of developing novel quantum systems. However, when interfacing atoms at nanoscales from photonic structures, the ever-present quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field critically limit the ability to trap and control atoms. This work will develop ways to engineer such quantum fluctuation phenomena – forces, dissipation and decoherence – by leveraging the collective behavior of atomic systems and the ability to manipulate atoms with lasers. Overcoming these critical challenges in the design of nanoscale quantum systems will enable novel functionalities for quantum devices. In addition to the research goals, the PI will train a diverse undergraduate and graduate student workforce at the exciting intersection of Quantum Science and Engineering. As a part of the educational efforts, the PI will develop a multidisciplinary senior level course on Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, engaging students from a diverse array of Science and Engineering majors.\r\n \r\nThis research will build a driven-dissipative Open Quantum Systems approach to engineering quantum fluctuation phenomena – Casimir-Polder forces, dissipation and decoherence – in collective atomic systems near surfaces with the goal to achieve better control and coherence of nanoscale quantum optical systems. The proposed program will build and advance new tools to control quantum fluctuation phenomena, with four main thrusts: (1) Realizing well-controlled and coherent atomic systems at distances of 10-100 nanometers from surfaces by developing near-surface trapping and cooling schemes; (2) Extending the framework of Casimir Physics and macroscopic QED to study fluctuation phenomena with objects that can be prepared in quantum superpositions, entangled or collective states and driven externally; (3) Guiding experiments on high-precision measurements of Casimir-Polder forces with atomic diffraction via nanogratings for creating repulsive drive induced Casimir-Polder forces and manipulating Casimir-Polder forces using collective effects; and (4) Mitigating fluctuation-induced decoherence in experiments with levitated dielectric nanospheres, to realize macroscopic quantum superpositions and correlated states of levitated nanoparticles.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"true","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA","awardeeAddress":"845 N PARK AVE RM 538","awardeeCity":"TUCSON","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"07","awardeeDistrictCode":"AZ07","awardeeName":"University of Arizona","awardeePhone":"5206266000","awardeeStateCode":"AZ","awardeeZipCode":"85721","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"04/18/2024","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"240000","expDate":"05/31/2027","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"AMO Theory/Atomic, Molecular &","fundsObligated":["FY 2023 = $240,000.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"240000","histAwd":"false","id":"2418249","initAmendmentDate":"04/18/2024","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Effect of self-interaction on Feynman's interpretation of the Lamb shift","auth":"Milonni, Peter W and Berman, Paul R and Sinha, Kanu","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/drlx-hrks","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"111","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10616405"},{"artTitl":"Fluctuation-induced forces on nanospheres in external fields","auth":"Jakubec, Clemens and Solano, Pablo and Deli, Uro and Sinha, Kanu","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.052807","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"109","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10509187"},{"artTitl":"Spontaneous emission in the presence of quantum mirrors","auth":"Sinha, Kanu and Parra-Contreras, Jennifer and Das, Annyun and Solano, Pablo","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/add495","jrnlTitl":"New Journal of Physics","jrnlVol":"27","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10686012"},{"artTitl":"Delay-induced spontaneous dark-state generation from two distant excited atoms","auth":"Alvarez-Giron, W and Solano, P and Sinha, K and Barberis-Blostein, P","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.023213","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Research","jrnlVol":"6","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10514913"},{"artTitl":"Non-Markovian spontaneous emission in a tunable cavity formed by atomic mirrors","auth":"Das, Annyun and Solano, Pablo and Sinha, Kanu","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/29yv-12sq","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"112","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10686013"},{"artTitl":"Steady-state entanglement generation via Casimir-Polder interactions","auth":"Izadyari, Mohsen and Pusuluk, Onur and Sinha, Kanu and Müstecaplolu, Özgür E","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-21067-6","jrnlTitl":"Scientific Reports","jrnlVol":"15","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10686014"},{"artTitl":"Decoherence and Brownian motion of a polarizable particle near a medium","auth":"Jakubec, Clemens and Jarzynski, Christopher and Sinha, Kanu","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/6m4t-jm4x","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"112","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10686016"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"04/18/2024","managingPec":"128400","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"NKJGJQYQJKR3","pdPIName":"Kanu Sinha","perfAddress":"1630 E University Blvd","perfCity":"TUCSON","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"07","perfDistrictCode":"AZ07","perfLocation":"University of Arizona","perfStateCode":"AZ","perfZipCode":"85721","pi":["Kanu Sinha kanu@arizona.edu"],"piEmail":"kanu@arizona.edu","piFirstName":"Kanu","piId":"270082902","piLastName":"Sinha","poEmail":"kblagoev@nsf.gov","poName":"Krastan Blagoev","poPhone":"7032924666","primaryProgram":["01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"128400","program":"ATOMIC THEORY, QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE","progRefCode":"1284, 7203","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Physical Review A~2025~111~Milonni, Peter W and Berman, Paul R and Sinha, Kanu~https://doi.org/10.1103/drlx-hrks~Effect of self-interaction on Feynman's interpretation of the Lamb shift~N~10616405~10616405~OSTI~2026-05-29 00:15:27.886","Physical Review A~2024~109~Jakubec, Clemens and Solano, Pablo and Deli, Uro and Sinha, Kanu~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.052807~Fluctuation-induced forces on nanospheres in external fields~N~10514912~10509187~OSTI~2025-05-07 00:02:43.7","New Journal of Physics~2025~27~Sinha, Kanu and Parra-Contreras, Jennifer and Das, Annyun and Solano, Pablo~https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/add495~Spontaneous emission in the presence of quantum mirrors~N~10686012~10686012~OSTI~2026-05-29 00:14:09.07","Physical Review Research~2024~6~Alvarez-Giron, W and Solano, P and Sinha, K and Barberis-Blostein, P~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.023213~Delay-induced spontaneous dark-state generation from two distant excited atoms~N~10514913~10514913~OSTI~2024-06-15 15:33:58.703","Physical Review A~2025~112~Das, Annyun and Solano, Pablo and Sinha, Kanu~https://doi.org/10.1103/29yv-12sq~Non-Markovian spontaneous emission in a tunable cavity formed by atomic mirrors~N~10686013~10686013~OSTI~2026-05-29 00:17:56.056","Scientific Reports~2025~15~Izadyari, Mohsen and Pusuluk, Onur and Sinha, Kanu and Müstecaplolu, Özgür E~https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-21067-6~Steady-state entanglement generation via Casimir-Polder interactions~N~10686014~10686014~OSTI~2026-05-29 00:20:22.906","Physical Review A~2025~112~Jakubec, Clemens and Jarzynski, Christopher and Sinha, Kanu~https://doi.org/10.1103/6m4t-jm4x~Decoherence and Brownian motion of a polarizable particle near a medium~N~10686016~10686016~OSTI~2026-05-29 00:23:07.686"],"startDate":"05/01/2024","title":"Engineering Quantum Fluctuation Phenomena in Nanoscale Quantum Optical Systems","transType":"Standard Grant","ueiNumber":"ED44Y3W6P7B9"},{"abstractText":"Quantum groups are deformations of the most basic symmetries of Nature. They were discovered during the 1980s in the study of one- and two-dimensional statistical mechanical models describing thin layers of ice. Amazingly, quantum groups have recently been shown to arise as the symmetries of 4-dimensional gauge theories, which describe the interaction of elementary particles such as quarks. Differential equations are another basic paradigm in science, and describe the evolution of physical, chemical, biological and economic systems. One of their striking aspects is that they can exhibit Stokes phenomena: their solutions are not entirely captured by the recursive, and often programmable methods used to solve them. The missing information, or Stokes data, can be considered as a hidden symmetry of the differential equation, as they relate different solutions possessing the same formal expansions. This project stems from the recent discovery that quantum groups naturally arise from the Stokes data of differential equations associated to classical symmetries. The main goals are to further explore this bridge between classical and quantum symmetries. Of particular interest is the extension to difference equations, which are natural discretisations of differential equations, and whose Stokes data are not well-understood beyond the one-variable case. Another important direction will the study of the integrable systems, or constants of motion, corresponding to these differential and difference equations. The project will provide research training opportunities for graduate students.\r\n\r\nIn more detail, the project stems from transcendental construction of quantum groups from the Stokes data of the dynamical Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations for the corresponding Lie algebra due to the PI. The first component will extending the construction to numerical values of the deformation parameter, in particular to roots of unity, and to the difference setting. The second component will establish a Riemann-Hilbert correspondence for q-difference equations in several variables by defining an appropriate notion of regular singularities and capturing these by elliptic monodromy data, similar to the one-variable case treated by Birkhoff. The third component is concerned with the integrable systems arising from the Casimir connection, and their parametrisation in terms of sheets of the corresponding Lie algebra. The results of the project will have application in the study of Stokes phenomena, quantum integrable systems and geometric representation theory.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"true","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY","awardeeAddress":"360 HUNTINGTON AVE","awardeeCity":"BOSTON","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"07","awardeeDistrictCode":"MA07","awardeeName":"Northeastern University","awardeePhone":"6173735600","awardeeStateCode":"MA","awardeeZipCode":"021155005","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"07/28/2023","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"DMS","estimatedTotalAmt":"284862","expDate":"07/31/2027","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"ALGEBRA,NUMBER THEORY,AND COM","fundsObligated":["FY 2023 = $94,533.00","FY 2024 = $93,898.00","FY 2025 = $96,431.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"284862","histAwd":"false","id":"2302568","initAmendmentDate":"07/28/2023","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Monodromy of the Casimir connection of a symmetrisable KacMoody algebra","auth":"Appel, Andrea and Toledano Laredo, Valerio","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00222-024-01242-8","jrnlTitl":"Inventiones mathematicae","jrnlVol":"236","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10506827"},{"artTitl":"An abelian formula for the quantum Weyl group action of the coroot lattice","auth":"Gautam, Sachin and Toledano_Laredo, Valerio","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1093/imrn/rnag165","jrnlTitl":"International Mathematics Research Notices","jrnlVol":"2026","jrnlYr":"2026","parPblcId":"10704913"},{"artTitl":"Pure braid group actions on category $\\mathcal{O}$ modules","auth":"Appel, Andrea and Toledano Laredo, Valerio","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.4310/PAMQ.2024.v20.n1.a3","jrnlTitl":"Pure and Applied Mathematics Quarterly","jrnlVol":"20","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10506836"},{"artTitl":"On the FinkelbergGinzburg Mirabolic Monodromy Conjecture","auth":"Toledano_Laredo, Valerio and Walters, Robin","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1093/imrn/rnae245","jrnlTitl":"International Mathematics Research Notices","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10554883"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"05/07/2025","managingPec":"126400","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03040000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Mathematical Sciences","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=dms","parentUeiNumber":"","pdPIName":"Valerio Toledano Laredo","perfAddress":"360 HUNTINGTON AVE","perfCity":"BOSTON","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"07","perfDistrictCode":"MA07","perfLocation":"Northeastern University","perfStateCode":"MA","perfZipCode":"021155005","pi":["Valerio Toledano Laredo V.ToledanoLaredo@neu.edu"],"piEmail":"V.ToledanoLaredo@neu.edu","piFirstName":"Valerio","piId":"269790419","piLastName":"Toledano Laredo","poEmail":"mdouglas@nsf.gov","poName":"James Matthew Douglass","poPhone":"7032922467","primaryProgram":["01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"126400","program":"","progRefCode":"","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Inventiones mathematicae~2024~236~Appel, Andrea and Toledano Laredo, Valerio~https://doi.org/10.1007/s00222-024-01242-8~Monodromy of the Casimir connection of a symmetrisable KacMoody algebra~10506827~10506827~OSTI~2024-05-14 09:49:56.843","International Mathematics Research Notices~2026~2026~Gautam, Sachin and Toledano_Laredo, Valerio~https://doi.org/10.1093/imrn/rnag165~An abelian formula for the quantum Weyl group action of the coroot lattice~N~10704913~10704913~OSTI~2026-08-09 08:07:10.65","Pure and Applied Mathematics Quarterly~2024~20~Appel, Andrea and Toledano Laredo, Valerio~https://doi.org/10.4310/PAMQ.2024.v20.n1.a3~Pure braid group actions on category $\\mathcal{O}$ modules~10506836~10506836~OSTI~2024-05-14 10:02:05.473","International Mathematics Research Notices~2024~Toledano_Laredo, Valerio and Walters, Robin~https://doi.org/10.1093/imrn/rnae245~On the FinkelbergGinzburg Mirabolic Monodromy Conjecture~N~10587157~10554883~OSTI~2024-11-15 04:04:22.8"],"startDate":"08/01/2023","title":"Transcendental fiber functors, shift of argument algebras and Riemann-Hilbert correspondence for q-difference equations","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"HLTMVS2JZBS6"},{"abstractText":"Nanoscale quantum optical systems enhance the efficacy of light-matter interactions by confining light in small regions. Such systems are integral to a myriad of emerging quantum technological applications: from building single-photon devices and storing and transmitting quantum information over long distances, to facilitating precision tests of fundamental physics. Thus, with growing efforts to miniaturize quantum systems, both with the fundamental motivation to explore quantum phenomena at nanoscales and also with the practical goal of developing modular on-chip architectures, atom-surface interactions at nanoscales become a central facet of developing novel quantum systems. However, when interfacing atoms at nanoscales from photonic structures, the ever-present quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field critically limit the ability to trap and control atoms. This work will develop ways to engineer such quantum fluctuation phenomena – forces, dissipation and decoherence – by leveraging the collective behavior of atomic systems and the ability to manipulate atoms with lasers. Overcoming these critical challenges in the design of nanoscale quantum systems will enable novel functionalities for quantum devices. In addition to the research goals, the PI will train a diverse undergraduate and graduate student workforce at the exciting intersection of Quantum Science and Engineering. As a part of the educational efforts, the PI will develop a multidisciplinary senior level course on Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, engaging students from a diverse array of Science and Engineering majors.\r\n \r\nThis research will build a driven-dissipative Open Quantum Systems approach to engineering quantum fluctuation phenomena – Casimir-Polder forces, dissipation and decoherence – in collective atomic systems near surfaces with the goal to achieve better control and coherence of nanoscale quantum optical systems. The proposed program will build and advance new tools to control quantum fluctuation phenomena, with four main thrusts: (1) Realizing well-controlled and coherent atomic systems at distances of 10-100 nanometers from surfaces by developing near-surface trapping and cooling schemes; (2) Extending the framework of Casimir Physics and macroscopic QED to study fluctuation phenomena with objects that can be prepared in quantum superpositions, entangled or collective states and driven externally; (3) Guiding experiments on high-precision measurements of Casimir-Polder forces with atomic diffraction via nanogratings for creating repulsive drive induced Casimir-Polder forces and manipulating Casimir-Polder forces using collective effects; and (4) Mitigating fluctuation-induced decoherence in experiments with levitated dielectric nanospheres, to realize macroscopic quantum superpositions and correlated states of levitated nanoparticles.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY","awardeeAddress":"1475 N SCOTTSDALE RD STE 200","awardeeCity":"SCOTTSDALE","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"01","awardeeDistrictCode":"AZ01","awardeeName":"Arizona State University","awardeePhone":"4809655479","awardeeStateCode":"AZ","awardeeZipCode":"852573538","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"06/05/2023","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"240000","expDate":"05/31/2024","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"AMO Theory/Atomic, Molecular &","fundsObligated":["FY 2023 = $0.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"240000","histAwd":"false","id":"2309341","initAmendmentDate":"06/05/2023","latestAmendmentDate":"06/05/2023","managingPec":"128400","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"NKJGJQYQJKR3","pdPIName":"Kanu Sinha","perfAddress":"P.O. Box 876011","perfCity":"Tempe","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"04","perfDistrictCode":"AZ04","perfLocation":"Arizona State University","perfStateCode":"AZ","perfZipCode":"852876011","pi":["Kanu Sinha kanu@arizona.edu"],"piEmail":"kanu@arizona.edu","piFirstName":"Kanu","piId":"270082902","piLastName":"Sinha","poEmail":"","poName":"Julio Gea-Banacloche","poPhone":"","primaryProgram":["01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"128400","program":"QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE","progRefCode":"7203","publicAccessMandate":"1","startDate":"06/15/2023","title":"Engineering Quantum Fluctuation Phenomena in Nanoscale Quantum Optical Systems","transType":"Standard Grant","ueiNumber":"NTLHJXM55KZ6"},{"abstractText":"This RUI award funds the research activities of Professor Noah Graham at Middlebury College.\r\n\r\nWhether we are carrying out a physics experiment or using our eyes and ears in everyday life, we learn about the world through the reflection of waves. Ordinarily, these waves are created by a specific source, such as a light bulb or a sonar ping. However, even in the absence of a source, quantum-mechanical and thermal effects will spontaneously generate fluctuations that propagate and reflect according to the same rules of wave scattering. At the short distance scales relevant to nanotechnology, these fluctuations give rise to forces and interactions known as Casimir effects. Materials and structures with unusual properties --- which can range from \"twisted\" configurations that cannot unwind, to black holes from which waves cannot escape, to nonreciprocal materials that reflect light asymmetrically from a flat surface --- can in turn give rise to correspondingly unusual Casimir effects. This project will develop mathematical and computational tools to analyze such systems and predict the resulting forces and other associated properties, such as the rate of heat transfer. As micromechanical devices move to smaller and smaller scales, these calculations can inform possible features, as well as potential pitfalls, of their design. This project will also have significant broader impacts. Because scattering theory plays a fundamental role in many areas of physics and engineering, this project will provide valuable opportunities for undergraduate summer students to build essential skills through computational and mathematical research. Moreover, through education and outreach, the impact of this project will extend beyond the students directly involved to the broader department, college, and local community as well. This project will thus promote key national priorities, both by advancing fundamental and applied technological research and by building the core scientific and technical capabilities of the next generation of scientists and engineers.\r\n\r\nMore specifically, this work will focus on calculations involving quantum and thermal fluctuations due to topological solitons, curved spacetime backgrounds such as the Schwarzschild black hole, and nonreciprocal materials for which the amplitudes for forward and reverse scattering are unequal. In each of these cases, subtleties arising from gauge symmetry and breaking of discrete symmetries, such as parity and time reversal, can lead to unusual features in the calculation and its phenomenological predictions. These consequences are most effectively analyzed in terms of scattering amplitudes for both real and complex wave number, through which the quantum field theory problem can be broken down into more familiar components based in quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, and statistical mechanics. As a result, this approach offers significant opportunities for meaningful contributions by undergraduate summer research students, who at the same time will learn broadly applicable techniques of scattering theory, wave mechanics, and computational physics through concrete calculations and numerical simulations.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE","awardeeAddress":"9 OLD CHAPEL RD","awardeeCity":"MIDDLEBURY","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"00","awardeeDistrictCode":"VT00","awardeeName":"Middlebury College","awardeePhone":"8024435000","awardeeStateCode":"VT","awardeeZipCode":"05753","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"07/25/2022","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"135000","expDate":"07/31/2026","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"Elem. Particle Physics/Theory","fundsObligated":["FY 2022 = $135,000.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"135000","histAwd":"false","id":"2209582","initAmendmentDate":"07/25/2022","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Electromagnetic CasimirPolder Interaction for a Conducting Cone","auth":"Graham, Noah","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.3390/physics5040065","jrnlTitl":"Physics","jrnlVol":"5","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10504030"},{"artTitl":"Renormalized quantum stress-energy tensor of a nonzero radius cosmic string","auth":"Graham, Noah","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/8zvv-prwk","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"111","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10594493"},{"artTitl":"Quantum energies of BPS vortices in
and
","auth":"Graham, N. and Weigel, H.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.076013","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"106","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10410516"},{"artTitl":"Quantum contribution to domain wall tension from spectral methods","auth":"Graham, N and Weigel, H","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/9v1m-rwjb","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"112","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10705236"},{"artTitl":"Quantum energy density of cosmic strings with nonzero radius","auth":"Koike, Mao and Laquidain, Xabier and Graham, Noah","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.105009","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"110","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10555501"},{"artTitl":"One-loop quantum stress-energy tensor for the kink and sine-Gordon solitons","auth":"Graham, N. and Weigel, H.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2024.138638","jrnlTitl":"Physics Letters B","jrnlVol":"852","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10504031"},{"artTitl":"Quantum energies of solitons with different topological charges","auth":"Graham, N and Weigel, H","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.085031","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"111","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10592449"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"07/25/2022","managingPec":"128600","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"N1ACHB9PNN93","pdPIName":"Noah M Graham","perfAddress":"14 Old Chapel Road","perfCity":"Middlebury","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"00","perfDistrictCode":"VT00","perfLocation":"Middlebury College","perfStateCode":"VT","perfZipCode":"057536000","pi":["Noah M Graham ngraham@middlebury.edu"],"piEmail":"ngraham@middlebury.edu","piFirstName":"Noah","piId":"269734797","piLastName":"Graham","piMiddeInitial":"M","poEmail":"kdienes@nsf.gov","poName":"Keith Dienes","poPhone":"7032925314","primaryProgram":["01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"128600","program":"Nanoscale Research-for PHY use only, EXP PROG TO STIM COMP RES, RES IN UNDERGRAD INST-RESEARCH","progRefCode":"1767, 9150, 9229","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
This award has advanced fundamental research in quantum field theory with broader impacts in undergraduate physics education. Work supported by this award has established new techniques for calculating the effects of quantum fluctuations in flat and curved spacetime, making it possible to resolve inconsistencies in previous results and analyze new geometries and materials. This work has placed particular focus on configurations with topological structure, on connections between local and global densities, and on physical manifestations of quantum fluctuations via Casimir forces on nanomaterials.
\r\n
Scattering theory methods have shown how quantum anomalies can be used to guide the renormalization process for the stress-energy tensor of quantum fluctuations, leading to new results in nonsingular cosmic string geometries and resolving apparent inconsistencies between the energy density and total energy in one-dimensional models. These techniques have also extended to other applications involving deficit angle geometries, including calculations of the total energy for a cosmic string and the Casimir-Polder force on a conducting cone. Other Casimir force work has examined the effect of nonreciprocal interactions induced by an external magnetic field, which can provide the symmetry breaking necessary to construct a heat engine driven by quantum fluctuations.
\r\n
This award has supported undergraduate summer research opportunities for five students and created opportunities to integrate topics from research into both courses in Middlebury's upper-level physics curriculum and senior projects and theses. Because this research is grounded in broadly applicable techniques of scattering theory, it gives students the opportunity to build fundamental skills in physics and mathematics at the same time as they pursue new results in specialized research.
\n
\n Last Modified: 08/13/2026
\nModified by: Noah M Graham
\n
\n
\n","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Physics~2023~5~Graham, Noah~https://doi.org/10.3390/physics5040065~Electromagnetic CasimirPolder Interaction for a Conducting Cone~10504030~10504030~OSTI~2024-05-02 05:22:29.32","Physical Review D~2025~111~Graham, Noah~https://doi.org/10.1103/8zvv-prwk~Renormalized quantum stress-energy tensor of a nonzero radius cosmic string~N~10594840~10594493~OSTI~2025-08-06 00:04:10.606","Physical Review D~2022~106~Graham, N. and Weigel, H.~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.076013~Quantum energies of BPS vortices in
and
~10410516~10410516~OSTI~2023-05-02 09:46:08.08","Physical Review D~2025~112~Graham, N and Weigel, H~https://doi.org/10.1103/9v1m-rwjb~Quantum contribution to domain wall tension from spectral methods~N~10705236~10705236~OSTI~2026-08-10 17:11:17.216","Physical Review D~2024~110~Koike, Mao and Laquidain, Xabier and Graham, Noah~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.105009~Quantum energy density of cosmic strings with nonzero radius~N~10555501~10555501~OSTI~2024-11-18 11:00:18.89","Physics Letters B~2024~852~Graham, N. and Weigel, H.~https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2024.138638~One-loop quantum stress-energy tensor for the kink and sine-Gordon solitons~10504031~10504031~OSTI~2024-05-02 05:31:52.7","Physical Review D~2025~111~Graham, N and Weigel, H~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.085031~Quantum energies of solitons with different topological charges~N~10592449~10592449~OSTI~2025-05-22 23:47:19.9"],"startDate":"08/01/2022","title":"RUI: Quantum and Thermal Fluctuations in Monopoles, Spacetime, and Materials","transType":"Standard Grant","ueiNumber":"N1ACHB9PNN93"},{"abstractText":"This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). \r\n\r\nThe Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site in the Mathematics Department at Texas A&M University will host a group of twelve talented undergraduates for research training for eight weeks each summer. The REU faculty will specifically seek talented students who have been isolated from research opportunities at their home institution, from prior hardships, or lack of resources. Students will have the opportunity to learn cutting-edge mathematical ideas from scratch and contribute to solving challenging problems underlying many real-world problems from biochemistry, engineering, and cryptography. Students will receive free housing, reimbursement for travel, and a stipend.\r\n\r\nThe REU program will have three research tracks per summer. These are chosen on a rotating basis from five choices: (1) Algebraic Methods in Mathematical Biology, (2) Algorithmic Algebraic Geometry, (3) Number Theory, (4) Probability and Algebra, and (5) High-Dimensional Probability. The first track involves neural codes and parameter identifiability. The second track includes topics such as A-discriminants, tropical approximation of algebraic sets, and applications to optimization. The third track investigates questions on Dedekind sums, L-functions, modular forms, and class numbers. The fourth track involves random interacting particle systems and Casimir elements. The new fifth track will investigate objects of high complexity, for example, large matrices, tensors, and graphs, using probabilistic methods.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY","awardeeAddress":"400 HARVEY MITCHELL PKY S STE 300","awardeeCity":"COLLEGE STATION","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"10","awardeeDistrictCode":"TX10","awardeeName":"Texas A&M University","awardeePhone":"9798626777","awardeeStateCode":"TX","awardeeZipCode":"778454375","cfdaNumber":"47.049","coPDPI":["J Maurice Rojas rojas@tamu.edu"],"date":"01/03/2022","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"DMS","estimatedTotalAmt":"388556","expDate":"04/30/2026","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"RSCH EXPER FOR UNDERGRAD SITES, OFFICE OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY AC","fundsObligated":["FY 2022 = $257,887.00","FY 2024 = $133,506.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"391393","histAwd":"false","id":"2150094","initAmendmentDate":"01/03/2022","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Fast computation of generalized Dedekind sums","auth":"Tranbarger, Preston and Wang, Jessica","authIndCode":"N","jrnlTitl":"International journal of number theory","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10586317"},{"artTitl":"The image of the generalized Dedekind sum","auth":"Knight, Evelyne S and Matos, Carlos Alexov and Sefidi, Amira and Young, Matthew P","authIndCode":"N","jrnlTitl":"Functiones et Approximatio Commentarii Mathematici","jrnlYr":"2026","parPblcId":"10697120"},{"artTitl":"A Type D asymmetric simple exclusion process generated by an explicit central element of q(10)","auth":"Rohr, Eddie and Sellakumaran_Latha, Karthik and Yin, Amanda","authIndCode":"N","jrnlTitl":"Houston journal of mathematics","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10586064"},{"artTitl":"Parameter identifiability of linear-compartmental mammillary models","auth":"Clemens, Katherine and Martinez, Jonathan and Shiu, Anne and Thompson, Michaela and Warren, Benjamin","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-025-01568-1","jrnlTitl":"Bulletin of Mathematical Biology","jrnlVol":"88","jrnlYr":"2026","parPblcId":"10697121"},{"artTitl":"Algebraic properties of the values of newform Dedekind sums","auth":"Majure, Mitchell","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnt.2023.03.004","jrnlTitl":"Journal of Number Theory","jrnlVol":"250","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10492833"},{"artTitl":"Orthogonal Polynomial Duality of a Two-Species Asymmetric Exclusion Process","auth":"Blyschak, Danyil and Burke, Olivia and Kuan, Jeffrey and Li, Dennis and Ustilovsky, Sasha and Zhou, Zhengye","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10955-023-03100-y","jrnlTitl":"Journal of Statistical Physics","jrnlVol":"190","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10413968"},{"artTitl":"Quantum Dynamical Bounds for Quasi-Periodic Operators with Liouville Frequencies","auth":"Bradshaw, Matthew and de_Jong, Titus and Liu, Wencai and Wang, Audrey and Wang, Xueyin and Yang, Bingheng","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10884-026-10510-5","jrnlTitl":"Journal of Dynamics and Differential Equations","jrnlYr":"2026","parPblcId":"10695802"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"08/19/2024","managingPec":"113900","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03040000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Mathematical Sciences","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=dms","parentUeiNumber":"","pdPIName":"Anne J Shiu","perfAddress":"400 Harvey Mitchell Pkwy South","perfCity":"College Station","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"10","perfDistrictCode":"TX10","perfLocation":"Texas A&M University","perfStateCode":"TX","perfZipCode":"778454375","pi":["Anne J Shiu annejls@math.tamu.edu"],"piEmail":"annejls@math.tamu.edu","piFirstName":"Anne","piId":"269843385","piLastName":"Shiu","piMiddeInitial":"J","poEmail":"mdouglas@nsf.gov","poName":"James Matthew Douglass","poPhone":"7032922467","primaryProgram":["010V2122DB R&RA ARP Act DEFC V","01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"113900, 125300","program":"STEM Access for Persons w Disabilities, REU SITE-Res Exp for Ugrd Site","progRefCode":"137Z, 9250","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
Aim.
\r\n
The aim of this Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program is to provide outstanding undergraduate students -- including those who might otherwise not have access to a strong research environment -- an intense and carefully mentored eight-week summer mathematics-research experience with leading researchers in computational biology, algorithmic algebraic geometry, probability and algebra, knot theory, mathematical physics, and number theory, in a welcoming environment that encourages students to pursue careers and/or graduate study in disciplines in the mathematical sciences.
\r\n
\r\n
Outcomes.
\r\n
During summers 2022, 2023, and 2024, and 2025, a total of 45 undergraduates participated in the REU. Many of these students are now pursuing Ph.D.'s in mathematics or other STEM areas. Additionally, one student was awarded a prestigious NSF Graduate Fellowship, and another won a selective Goldwater Scholarship.
\r\n
During the REU, participants gained experience in mathematical research and communication. This was accomplished in part through participating in workshops on preparing and giving talks, writing mathematics, pursuing graduate studies, and career skills in the mathematical sciences.
\r\n
The research initiated at the REU resulted in 8 peer-reviewed research articles, including in top journals such as Journal of Number Theory and Bulletin of Mathematical Biology. Additionally, all participants gave talks on their research, and many also gave presentations at regional or national conferences.
\n
\n Last Modified: 08/20/2026
\nModified by: Anne J Shiu
\n
\n
\n","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["International journal of number theory~2024~Tranbarger, Preston and Wang, Jessica~Fast computation of generalized Dedekind sums~N~10586317~10586317~OSTI~2025-04-30 10:05:22.95","Functiones et Approximatio Commentarii Mathematici~2026~Knight, Evelyne S and Matos, Carlos Alexov and Sefidi, Amira and Young, Matthew P~The image of the generalized Dedekind sum~N~10697120~10697120~OSTI~2026-07-09 17:26:46.93","Houston journal of mathematics~2024~Rohr, Eddie and Sellakumaran_Latha, Karthik and Yin, Amanda~A Type D asymmetric simple exclusion process generated by an explicit central element of q(10)~N~10586064~10586064~OSTI~2025-04-29 11:47:34.476","Bulletin of Mathematical Biology~2026~88~Clemens, Katherine and Martinez, Jonathan and Shiu, Anne and Thompson, Michaela and Warren, Benjamin~https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-025-01568-1~Parameter identifiability of linear-compartmental mammillary models~N~10697121~10697121~OSTI~2026-07-09 17:31:40.903","Journal of Number Theory~2023~250~Majure, Mitchell~https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnt.2023.03.004~Algebraic properties of the values of newform Dedekind sums~10492833~10492833~OSTI~2024-02-28 05:15:33.656","Journal of Statistical Physics~2023~190~Blyschak, Danyil and Burke, Olivia and Kuan, Jeffrey and Li, Dennis and Ustilovsky, Sasha and Zhou, Zhengye~https://doi.org/10.1007/s10955-023-03100-y~Orthogonal Polynomial Duality of a Two-Species Asymmetric Exclusion Process~10413968~10413968~OSTI~2024-02-28 05:18:31.673","Journal of Dynamics and Differential Equations~2026~Bradshaw, Matthew and de_Jong, Titus and Liu, Wencai and Wang, Audrey and Wang, Xueyin and Yang, Bingheng~https://doi.org/10.1007/s10884-026-10510-5~Quantum Dynamical Bounds for Quasi-Periodic Operators with Liouville Frequencies~N~10695802~10695802~OSTI~2026-07-03 13:49:15.38"],"startDate":"05/01/2022","title":"REU Site: Undergraduate Research in the Mathematical Sciences and their Applications","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"JF6XLNB4CDJ5"},{"abstractText":"Seen from a general perspective, this research project deals with tiny, but important, effects which influence the spectrum of bound atomic systems, where two fundamental elementary particles circle around each other on quantum trajectories. When one combines quantum theory with relativity and adds the field quantization into the mix, then a complicated theory results, which is called quantum electrodynamics. This theory has been tested against experiment for decades, and confirmed. Recently, some interesting new effects, beyond quantum electrodynamics, may have been seen in the form of a so-called X17 particle which only couples weakly to those particles that are described by the widely-accepted Standard Model of particle physics. Effects mediated by the hypothetical new particle, visible in the spectrum of bound systems, shall be explored with high-precision calculations. This is but one of many fundamental quantum-field theoretical effects which will be studied in the context of the grant. Other effects pertain to the temperature-dependence of atom-surface interactions where the effects of so-called thermal field theory may have been seen in an experiment, and could be compared to theory for the first time. The work will be supplemented by speculative and high-risk work on overcoming the predictive limits of theoretical approaches that have set the standard for decades.\r\n\r\nThe project includes the study of higher-order corrections due to quantum electrodynamic effects in atoms and higher-order corrections to the bound-electron g-factor, and the investigation of higher-order quantum electrodynamic corrections in heavy bound systems, where the orbiting particle is heavier than the electron. The latter system is of interest due to the proton radius puzzle as well as the so-called ATOMKI anomaly (which pertains to conceivable dark-photon additions to the Standard Model). The effects due to the hypothetical X17 particle are drastically enhanced in heavy as opposed to light bound systems. Complementing the quantum electrodynamic calculations, and exploring quantum field theory at high precision, fundamental temperature-dependent dynamic Casimir processes will be investigated, pertaining to atom-surface interactions, and novel techniques will be explored for the calculation of large-loop-order Feynman diagrams, conceivably overcoming current predictive limits of perturbation theory. A 770-page book on quantum electrodynamics should be completed during the award period, serving as a reference for the community. All of the above mentioned subprojects have broader significance and impacts beyond the original field of study, because of their importance for the general understanding of fundamental quantum field theory in the low-energy domain.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SYSTEM","awardeeAddress":"300 W. 12TH STREET","awardeeCity":"ROLLA","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"08","awardeeDistrictCode":"MO08","awardeeName":"Missouri University of Science and Technology","awardeePhone":"5733414134","awardeeStateCode":"MO","awardeeZipCode":"654091330","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"08/09/2021","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"270000","expDate":"07/31/2025","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"AMO Theory/Atomic, Molecular &","fundsObligated":["FY 2021 = $90,000.00","FY 2022 = $90,000.00","FY 2023 = $90,000.00","FY 2025 = $31,042.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"301042","histAwd":"false","id":"2110294","initAmendmentDate":"08/09/2021","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Radiative energy and mass shifts of quantum cyclotron states","auth":"Jentschura, U_D","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-025-00982-3","jrnlTitl":"The European Physical Journal D","jrnlVol":"79","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10590483"},{"artTitl":"Instantons in
theories: Transseries, virial theorems, and numerical aspects","auth":"Giorgini, Ludovico T and Jentschura, Ulrich D and Malatesta, Enrico M and Rizzo, Tommaso and Zinn-Justin, Jean","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.036003","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"110","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10530889"},{"artTitl":"Enhanced and generalized onestep Neville algorithm: Fractional powers and access to the convergence rate","auth":"Jentschura, Ulrich D and Giorgini, Ludovico T","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2024.109280","jrnlTitl":"Computer Physics Communications","jrnlVol":"303","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10530203"},{"artTitl":"Correlation functions of the anharmonic oscillator: Numerical verification of two-loop corrections to the large-order behavior","auth":"Giorgini, Ludovico T. and Jentschura, Ulrich D. and Malatesta, Enrico M. and Parisi, Giorgio and Rizzo, Tommaso and Zinn-Justin, Jean","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.105012","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"105","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10330482"},{"artTitl":"Coupled oscillators and dielectric function","auth":"Das, T. and Ullrich, C_A and Jentschura, U_D","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.111.115101","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review B","jrnlVol":"111","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10574828"},{"artTitl":"Precision Rydberg state spectroscopy with slow electrons and the proton-radius puzzle","auth":"Jentschura, Ulrich D and Yost, Dylan C","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.108.062822","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"108","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10530190"},{"artTitl":"Irreducible three-loop vacuum-polarization correction in muonic bound systems","auth":"Adkins, Gregory S and Jentschura, Ulrich D","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.056016","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"111","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10613830"},{"artTitl":"Quantum electrodynamic corrections to cyclotron states in a Penning trap","auth":"Jentschura, Ulrich D and Moore, Christopher","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.108.036004","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"108","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10530189"},{"artTitl":"Revisiting the divergent multipole expansion of atom-surface interactions: Hydrogen and positronium,
-quartz, and physisorption","auth":"Jentschura, Ulrich_D","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.012802","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"109","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10550802"},{"artTitl":"Dispersion of Ultrarelativistic Tardyonic and Tachyonic Wave Packets on Cosmic Scales","auth":"Nicasio, José and Jentschura, Ulrich D.","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.3390/sym14122596","jrnlTitl":"Symmetry","jrnlVol":"14","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10414580"},{"artTitl":"Vacuum energy and renormalization of the field-independent term","auth":"Márián, I.G. and Jentschura, U.D. and Defenu, N. and Trombettoni, A. and Nándori, I.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2022/03/062","jrnlTitl":"Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics","jrnlVol":"2022","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10330481"},{"artTitl":"Long-Range Interactions for Hydrogen Atoms in Excited D States","auth":"Adhikari, Chandra M. and Jentschura, Ulrich D.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms10010006","jrnlTitl":"Atoms","jrnlVol":"10","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10330480"},{"artTitl":"Magic Wavelengths for 1SnS and 2SnS Transitions in Hydrogenlike Systems","auth":"Adhikari, Chandra M. and Canales, Jonathan C. and Arthanayaka, Thusitha P. and Jentschura, Ulrich D.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms10010001","jrnlTitl":"Atoms","jrnlVol":"10","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10330479"},{"artTitl":"Interferometric differential high-frequency lock-in probe for laser-induced vacuum birefringence","auth":"Bullis, R G and Jentschura, U D and Yost, D C","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.023026","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Research","jrnlVol":"7","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10634768"},{"artTitl":"Logarithmic terms in atom-surface potentials: Limited applicability of rational approximations for intermediate distance","auth":"Jentschura, U D and Moore, C","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.108.012815","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"108","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10530187"},{"artTitl":"Dimensional regularization and two-loop vacuum polarization operator: Master integrals, analytic results, and energy shifts","auth":"Laporta, Stefano and Jentschura, Ulrich D","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.096020","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"109","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10530202"},{"artTitl":"Apparatus-dependent corrections to the electron
revisited","auth":"Jentschura, Ulrich D","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.107.076014","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"107","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10530184"},{"artTitl":"Proton Radius: A Puzzle or a Solution!?","auth":"Jentschura, Ulrich D.","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2391/1/012017","jrnlTitl":"Journal of Physics: Conference Series","jrnlVol":"2391","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10414581"},{"artTitl":"Eighth-order Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation","auth":"Jentschura, Ulrich_D","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.110.012808","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"110","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10551541"},{"artTitl":"Quantum Electrodynamics of Dicke States: Resonant One-Photon Exchange Energy and Entangled Decay Rate","auth":"Jentschura, Ulrich D. and Adhikari, Chandra M.","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11010010","jrnlTitl":"Atoms","jrnlVol":"11","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10414579"},{"artTitl":"Landau-Khalatnikov-Fradkin Gauge Transformations for the Propagator and Vertex in QED and QED
2","auth":"Nicasio, José and Bashir, Adnan and Jentschura, Ulrich D and Edwards, James P","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2667/1/012023","jrnlTitl":"Journal of Physics: Conference Series","jrnlVol":"2667","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10530191"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"11/12/2024","managingPec":"128400","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"","pdPIName":"Ulrich D Jentschura","perfAddress":"300 W 12th Street","perfCity":"Rolla","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"08","perfDistrictCode":"MO08","perfLocation":"Missouri University of Science and Technology","perfStateCode":"MO","perfZipCode":"654096506","pi":["Ulrich D Jentschura ulj@mst.edu"],"piEmail":"ulj@mst.edu","piFirstName":"Ulrich","piId":"269819159","piLastName":"Jentschura","piMiddeInitial":"D","poEmail":"mcavagne@nsf.gov","poName":"Mike Cavagnero","poPhone":"7032927927","primaryProgram":["01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"128400","program":"ATOMIC THEORY, PRECISION MEASUREMENTS, EXP PROG TO STIM COMP RES","progRefCode":"1284, 1289, 9150","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
\r\n
While theoretical physics, on the fundamental level, has attracted some of the most inquisitive minds in the entire World due to the fascination surrounding the subject area, we are happy to report that, despite the challenges, a few interesting new results have been obtained with the NSF support for the project \"PM: Quantum Electrodynamic Theory and Fundamental Processes\" (NSF PHY-2110294). Let us list just three examples of successfully completed sub-projects, and briefly discuss further developments:
\r\n
(1.) For decades, the book by Hans Bethe and Edwin Salpeter on the “Quantum Mechanics of One- and Two–Electron Atoms” has been an authoritative reference for the precision theory of simple atomic systems. This field of research has led to some of the most accurate determinations of fundamental physical constants seen to date and generally constitutes what is regarded as one of the most challenging subfields of theoretical physics. In consequence, the completion of a book which enhances the scope of the field and adds to our common knowledge of quantum field theory, has been a tremendous challenge. Finally, in 2022, the project could be completed, and a new book (co-authored by the PI and Gregory S. Adkins) was published, to give a fresh perspective on a number of calculations.
\r\n
(2.) A second area where progress could be achieved concerns atom-surface interactions. A priori, one would not expect atoms to interact strongly with crystal surfaces. This is because atoms, as well as solids, are electrically neutral. However, because atoms are, in fact, polarizable (the atom’s wave function “wiggles” and creates oscillating dipole moments which average to zeroover time, but have a quantum uncertainty), there is a residual interaction between the atom and the surface of a crystal. And here came the surprise: normally, one would expect the interaction potentials (and forces) to be expressible in terms of (inverse) powers of the atom-surface distance, forwhich physicists commonly use the variable name “z”. However, a closer look at the problem has revealed that logarithms (terms of the form ln(z) multiplied by inverse powers of z) also enter the mathematical description. Without the logarithmic terms, one could not possibly understand the complicated transition between the functional form of the interaction, which changes drastically from short-range to long-range. Furthermore, the temperature-dependence of the interaction could be clarified. As a byproduct, it was possible to understand, in a much more concise way than before, how optical properties of technologically important crystals change with temperature.
\r\n
(3.) Quantum electrodynamic corrections to energy levels of bound quantum systems have been evaluated to such enhanced accuracies that some fundamental constants could be determined to 12 or more decimal figures. As a surprise, it could be shown that the the mass of elementary particles, bound in so-called quantum cyclotron orbits, changes a tiny little bit when compared to the mass of a free particle. The effect is on the verge of being significant for some of the most accurate experiments to date.
\r\n
Further developments: The above aspects are but three highlights from along list of research results achieved under the grant PHY-2110294. Other results concern so-called two-loop, and three- loop, vacuum-polarization effects in bound quantum systems, notably, simple atoms. These calculations constitute very difficult challenges, and yet, they advance the theory of such bound-state energy levels (and quantum transitions between such bound levels) incrementally. The calculations were published in particle physics journals. All-in-all, 27 refereed publications (and one 789-page book) bear testimony to the intense work on the project.
\r\n
\n
\n Last Modified: 09/29/2025
\nModified by: Ulrich D Jentschura
\n
\n
\n","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["The European Physical Journal D~2025~79~Jentschura, U_D~https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-025-00982-3~Radiative energy and mass shifts of quantum cyclotron states~N~10634769~10590483~OSTI~2025-05-15 04:01:33.326","Physical Review D~2024~110~Giorgini, Ludovico T and Jentschura, Ulrich D and Malatesta, Enrico M and Rizzo, Tommaso and Zinn-Justin, Jean~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.036003~Instantons in
theories: Transseries, virial theorems, and numerical aspects~N~10530889~10530889~OSTI~2024-08-06 13:49:51.656","Computer Physics Communications~2024~303~Jentschura, Ulrich D and Giorgini, Ludovico T~https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2024.109280~Enhanced and generalized onestep Neville algorithm: Fractional powers and access to the convergence rate~N~10530203~10530203~OSTI~2024-08-04 00:10:21.213","Physical Review D~2022~105~Giorgini, Ludovico T. and Jentschura, Ulrich D. and Malatesta, Enrico M. and Parisi, Giorgio and Rizzo, Tommaso and Zinn-Justin, Jean~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.105012~Correlation functions of the anharmonic oscillator: Numerical verification of two-loop corrections to the large-order behavior~10330482~10330482~OSTI~2022-06-05 13:03:15.1","Physical Review B~2025~111~Das, T. and Ullrich, C_A and Jentschura, U_D~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.111.115101~Coupled oscillators and dielectric function~N~10574818~10574828~OSTI~2025-08-05 16:00:38.07","Physical Review A~2023~108~Jentschura, Ulrich D and Yost, Dylan C~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.108.062822~Precision Rydberg state spectroscopy with slow electrons and the proton-radius puzzle~N~10530190~10530190~OSTI~2024-08-03 23:37:30.67","Physical Review D~2025~111~Adkins, Gregory S and Jentschura, Ulrich D~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.056016~Irreducible three-loop vacuum-polarization correction in muonic bound systems~N~10613830~10613830~OSTI~2025-09-08 14:30:55.6","Physical Review D~2023~108~Jentschura, Ulrich D and Moore, Christopher~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.108.036004~Quantum electrodynamic corrections to cyclotron states in a Penning trap~N~10530189~10530189~OSTI~2024-08-03 23:35:35.256","Physical Review A~2024~109~Jentschura, Ulrich_D~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.012802~Revisiting the divergent multipole expansion of atom-surface interactions: Hydrogen and positronium,
-quartz, and physisorption~N~10530201~10550802~OSTI~2025-01-08 00:02:28.633","Symmetry~2022~14~Nicasio, José and Jentschura, Ulrich D.~https://doi.org/10.3390/sym14122596~Dispersion of Ultrarelativistic Tardyonic and Tachyonic Wave Packets on Cosmic Scales~N~2596~10414580~10414580~OSTI~2023-05-20 13:31:38.33","Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics~2022~2022~Márián, I.G. and Jentschura, U.D. and Defenu, N. and Trombettoni, A. and Nándori, I.~https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2022/03/062~Vacuum energy and renormalization of the field-independent term~062~10330481~10330481~OSTI~2022-06-05 13:03:16.16","Atoms~2022~10~Adhikari, Chandra M. and Jentschura, Ulrich D.~https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms10010006~Long-Range Interactions for Hydrogen Atoms in Excited D States~6~10330480~10330480~OSTI~2022-06-05 13:03:15.92","Atoms~2022~10~Adhikari, Chandra M. and Canales, Jonathan C. and Arthanayaka, Thusitha P. and Jentschura, Ulrich D.~https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms10010001~Magic Wavelengths for 1SnS and 2SnS Transitions in Hydrogenlike Systems~1~10330479~10330479~OSTI~2022-06-05 13:03:16.086","Physical Review Research~2025~7~Bullis, R G and Jentschura, U D and Yost, D C~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.023026~Interferometric differential high-frequency lock-in probe for laser-induced vacuum birefringence~N~10634768~10634768~OSTI~2025-09-08 14:38:48.113","Physical Review A~2023~108~Jentschura, U D and Moore, C~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.108.012815~Logarithmic terms in atom-surface potentials: Limited applicability of rational approximations for intermediate distance~N~10530187~10530187~OSTI~2024-08-03 23:32:24.233","Physical Review D~2024~109~Laporta, Stefano and Jentschura, Ulrich D~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.096020~Dimensional regularization and two-loop vacuum polarization operator: Master integrals, analytic results, and energy shifts~N~10530202~10530202~OSTI~2024-08-04 00:08:30.653","Physical Review D~2023~107~Jentschura, Ulrich D~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.107.076014~Apparatus-dependent corrections to the electron
revisited~N~10530184~10530184~OSTI~2024-08-03 23:27:25.773","Journal of Physics: Conference Series~2022~2391~Jentschura, Ulrich D.~https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2391/1/012017~Proton Radius: A Puzzle or a Solution!?~N~012017~10414581~10414581~OSTI~2023-05-20 13:40:29.323","Physical Review A~2024~110~Jentschura, Ulrich_D~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.110.012808~Eighth-order Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation~N~10530204~10551541~OSTI~2025-07-19 00:04:50.206","Atoms~2023~11~Jentschura, Ulrich D. and Adhikari, Chandra M.~https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11010010~Quantum Electrodynamics of Dicke States: Resonant One-Photon Exchange Energy and Entangled Decay Rate~N~10~10414579~10414579~OSTI~2023-05-20 13:28:52.326","Journal of Physics: Conference Series~2023~2667~Nicasio, José and Bashir, Adnan and Jentschura, Ulrich D and Edwards, James P~https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2667/1/012023~Landau-Khalatnikov-Fradkin Gauge Transformations for the Propagator and Vertex in QED and QED
2~N~10530191~10530191~OSTI~2024-08-03 23:52:27.326"],"startDate":"08/15/2021","title":"PM: Precision Low-Energy Quantum Electroynamic Theory and Fundamental Processes","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"Y6MGH342N169"},{"abstractText":"Gravity represents one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. But unlike the other three interactions (electromagnetism, weak, and strong forces), its theoretical descriptions, based on Newton’s description of universal gravitation, later expanded by Einstein’s General Relativity, are incompatible with the Standard Model, a quantum-mechanical framework that unifies all of the other three interactions. Faced with this dichotomy, some modern proposals in theoretical physics have suggested a possible breakdown of the inverse-square-law (ISL) pioneered by Newton at experimentally-accessible sub-millimeter separations, thereby providing a tantalizing prospect for unifying gravity with quantum theory. The proposed research will utilize one of the most sensitive table-top instruments, a torsional balance, to directly probe the ISL below 50 micron. Specific results obtained from this research in collaboration with SU students will thus increase basic knowledge in fundamental research and have profound impacts across broad areas of physics ranging from astrophysics to elementary particle and nuclear physics. \r\n\r\nThis project aims to test the inverse-square law of gravity in the parallel-plane configuration by directly quantifying the contributions from non-gravitational interactions. The proposed strategy allows for conducting a high-precision experiment below 70 micron for which the roughness and planarity of the interfacing surfaces are the only limiting physical barriers. The approach will thus substantially improve the current limits on the strength α-parameter of the Yukawa space at least by a factor of four at the 10-μm range. Another novelty of the proposed research is to probe gravity above 1 cm in the Yukawa space, a previously unexplored range. From a technical perspective, with an electrostatic screen inserted between the test bodies, probing gravity at this scale would significantly reduce the near-field effects, such as the electric patch effect and the Casimir force. The completed torsion balance experiment will provide an excellent experimental platform for students to gain critical laboratory skills and make significant contributions to the integration of teaching and research in the SU physics department. The research will greatly benefit from technical resources and expertise provided by the Eöt-Wash group at the University of Washington (UW), a pioneering group renowned for their precise studies of the ISL for many decades.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"SEATTLE UNIVERSITY","awardeeAddress":"901 12TH AVE","awardeeCity":"SEATTLE","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"07","awardeeDistrictCode":"WA07","awardeeName":"Seattle University","awardeePhone":"2062966161","awardeeStateCode":"WA","awardeeZipCode":"981224411","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"07/08/2021","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"149999","expDate":"07/31/2024","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"Gravity Exp. & Data Analysis","fundsObligated":["FY 2021 = $49,999.00","FY 2022 = $57,100.00","FY 2023 = $50,000.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"157099","histAwd":"false","id":"2110228","initAmendmentDate":"07/08/2021","latestAmendmentDate":"07/24/2023","managingPec":"124300","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"LCYLGVGSEQE3","pdPIName":"Woo-Joong Kim","perfAddress":"901 12th Ave","perfCity":"Seattle","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"07","perfDistrictCode":"WA07","perfLocation":"Seattle University","perfStateCode":"WA","perfZipCode":"981221090","pi":["Woo-Joong Kim kimw@seattleu.edu"],"piEmail":"kimw@seattleu.edu","piFirstName":"Woo-Joong","piId":"269843078","piLastName":"Kim","poEmail":"pmarrone@nsf.gov","poName":"Pedro Marronetti","poPhone":"7032927372","primaryProgram":["01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"124300","program":"RES IN UNDERGRAD INST-RESEARCH","progRefCode":"9229","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
Gravity represents one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. But unlike the other three interactions (electromagnetism, weak, and strong forces), its theoretical descriptions based on Newton's universal gravitation, later expanded by Einstein's General Relativity, are incompatible with the Standard Model, a quantum-mechanical framework that unifies all of the other three interactions. Faced with this dichotomy, some modern proposals in theoretical physics have suggested a possible breakdown of the ISL at experimentally-accessible sub-mm separations, thereby providing a tantalizing prospect for unifying gravity with quantum theory.
\n
This research project investigated various experimental techniques surrounding high-precision tests of short-range gravity. These included: construction of an autocollimator with sub-microradian sensitivity, development of a software-basd lock-in detection to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of torsion balance signals, and adoptation of the multipole formalism of the inverse-square law of gravity. The techniques developed and explored by this research will allow us to conduct a future high-precision experiment below 70 μm for which the roughness and planarity of the interfacing surfaces are the only limiting physical barriers.
\n
Another significant outcome of this research was to provide on-campus, hands-on research opportunities for a number of undergraduate students at Seattle University, enhancing their educational experience. Examples of the laboratory techniques taught and trained in our research lab included: low-noise lock-in measurements, design and construction of electronic circuits, interferometric techniques, such as fiber-optic and Michelson's interferometer to perform precision displacement measurements, various scanning probe microscopy techniques, such as STM, AFM, and KPM in conjunction with the NSF-funded Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF) at the University of Washington.
\n
The project produced two peer-reviewed manuscripts published by the American Journal of Physics. A third manuscript is currently under preparation. We are grateful for the generous support we received from the National Science Foundation under Grant #PHY2110228.
\n
\n
\n Last Modified: 10/13/2024
\nModified by: Woo-Joong Kim
\n
\n
\n","publicAccessMandate":"1","startDate":"08/01/2021","title":"RUI: Search for Non-Newtonian Gravity Using A High-Sensitivity Torsion Balance, A Continuation","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"LCYLGVGSEQE3"},{"abstractText":"According to the quantum theory of physics (which includes Planck black body radiation law and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle) empty space is not truly empty but is filled with zero point energy or quantum fluctuations. This can be related to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, where in empty space the average energy has to be zero, but one can have non-zero energy fluctuations for short periods of time. For the electromagnetic force such fluctuations are referred to as zero point (or \"virtual\") photons (photons being particles of light). The existence of these zero point photons has been conclusively verified by Nobel Prize winning experiments. The presence of physical boundaries (for example by placing mirrors which reflect the light) leads to modifications of the allowed frequencies of the virtual photons and is referred to as the Casimir Effect. The change in the zero point photon energy caused by changing the boundary (i.e mirror) separation results in a force called the Casimir force. Forces resulting from zero point photons (e.g. the so-call \"van der Waals forces\") are central to many fields of science and play a critical role in molecular structure in chemistry, protein structure, and cell biology. In addition, because the Casimir force exceeds normal electromagnetic and gravitational effects in micromechanical devices with moving parts at submicron separations, there is a practical need to understand these effects. This project is quantitatively investigating the nature of these effects under a variety of geometrical configurations and temperatures in order to better understand and control them. The work is providing educational opportunities for a diverse range of students at a Hispanic-serving institution.\r\n\r\nThe objective of this project is to understand zero point photon interaction with real materials. The Casimir force at non-zero temperature can arise from zero point photons as well as Planck black body thermal photons (real photons). Generalizations of the Casimir force for real metal plates follow the same approach for both zero point and real photon interactions. It is based on the fluctuation dissipation theorem where the electromagnetic fluctuations on the boundary are directly related to the dissipation from the imaginary term of the permittivity. Improvements in experimental precision have highlighted disagreements with the theory particularly for surface separations below 1.0 micron. The question that arises is: Are zero point photon interactions with materials the same as real photon interactions? The key differences are: (i) zero point photons cannot transfer net energy on interactions such as the case in Joule heating for real photon interactions with materials, and (ii) zero point photons do not simultaneously conserve energy-momentum relations (ω≠ kc) as they are Heisenberg fluctuations which are not \"on the mass shell”. The photon wavelengths that primarily contribute to the Casimir force are of order the boundary separations. At room temperature and plate separations ~ 1 micron, the Casimir force comes overwhelmingly from zero point photons. As the peak of the Planck thermal spectrum is at a wavelength of 7.6 microns at room temperature (300 K), one intuitively expects that the additional thermal (real) photon contributions add to the force as the separation increases. Strangely, with the inclusion of dissipation, the thermal photon contribution is repulsive up to 6 microns. In this project, precision difference Casimir force measurements at separations up to 5 microns will be attempted in order to understand the long wavelength contributions of the zero point and thermal photons. Experiments to study their contribution together and by isolating the thermal photon contribution by screening out the zero point photon contribution will be attempted. By using different materials and different temperatures the scientists carrying out this project will vary the ratio of the zero point and thermal photon contributions. Instead of two plates, a sphere-plate arrangement avoids issues with keeping the plates perfectly parallel. The difference Casimir force will be measured between a periodically patterned gold plate and gold sphere. The periodic Casimir force will drive the cantilever attached to the sphere into resonance with a large amplitude which is measured with a lock-in. The patterned plate is either rotated or linearly translated under the sphere. The experimental data will be compared to the developed exact theories for the experimental configurations.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA","awardeeAddress":"900 UNIVERSITY AVE","awardeeCity":"RIVERSIDE","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"39","awardeeDistrictCode":"CA39","awardeeName":"University of California-Riverside","awardeePhone":"9518275535","awardeeStateCode":"CA","awardeeZipCode":"925219800","cfdaNumber":"47.049","coPDPI":["Roya Zandi roya.zandi@ucr.edu"],"date":"08/16/2020","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"548768","expDate":"08/31/2025","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"AMO Experiment/Atomic, Molecul","fundsObligated":["FY 2020 = $188,868.00","FY 2021 = $178,053.00","FY 2022 = $181,847.00","FY 2025 = $109,233.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"658001","histAwd":"false","id":"2012201","initAmendmentDate":"08/16/2020","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"A Brief Review of Some Recent Precision Casimir Force Measurements","auth":"Dhital, Madhav and Mohideen, Umar","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.3390/physics6020055","jrnlTitl":"Physics","jrnlVol":"6","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10660914"},{"artTitl":"Measurement of the unusual dielectric response to low-frequency s-polarized evanescent waves in metals with implications for the Casimir effect
(a)","auth":"Dhital, M and Klimchitskaya, G L and Mostepanenko, V M and Mohideen, U","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/adec17","jrnlTitl":"Europhysics Letters","jrnlVol":"151","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10660911"},{"artTitl":"The Casimir effect in graphene systems: Experiment and theory","auth":"Klimchitskaya, G. L. and Mohideen, U. and Mostepanenko, V. M.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X22410032","jrnlTitl":"International Journal of Modern Physics A","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10343019"},{"artTitl":"Demonstration of an Unusual Thermal Effect in the Casimir Force from Graphene","auth":"Liu, M and Zhang, Y and Klimchitskaya, G L and Mostepanenko, V M and Mohideen, U","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.206802","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"126","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10281982"},{"artTitl":"Experimental and theoretical investigation of the thermal effect in the Casimir interaction from graphene","auth":"Liu, M. and Zhang, Y. and Klimchitskaya, G. L. and Mostepanenko, V. M. and Mohideen, U.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.104.085436","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review B","jrnlVol":"104","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10343012"},{"artTitl":"Virus Assembly Pathways Inside a Host Cell","auth":"Panahandeh, Sanaz and Li, Siyu and Dragnea, Bogdan and Zandi, Roya","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c06335","jrnlTitl":"ACS Nano","jrnlVol":"16","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10343026"},{"artTitl":"Key steps in the assembly and characterization of the sphere and graphene surfaces in the precision measurement of the Casimir force from graphene","auth":"Zhang, Yuanzhong and Dhital, Madhav and Liu, Mingyue and Mohideen, Umar","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X25430249","jrnlTitl":"International Journal of Modern Physics A","jrnlVol":"40","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10660913"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"11/12/2024","managingPec":"124100","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"GH98ZGGP6RR5","pdPIName":"Umar Mohideen","perfAddress":"900 University Avenue","perfCity":"RIVERSIDE","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"39","perfDistrictCode":"CA39","perfLocation":"University of California-Riverside","perfStateCode":"CA","perfZipCode":"925210001","pi":["Umar Mohideen umar.mohideen@ucr.edu"],"piEmail":"umar.mohideen@ucr.edu","piFirstName":"Umar","piId":"000235517","piLastName":"Mohideen","poEmail":"jdwillia@nsf.gov","poName":"Jeremiah D. Williams","poPhone":"7032924687","primaryProgram":["01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"124100","program":"PRECISION MEASUREMENTS, Optics and Photonics","progRefCode":"1289, 8990","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
Precision measurements of the Casimir force performed with normal metals as Au and magnetic metals as Ni and using different experimental techniques as a micromechanical torsional oscillator and by an atomic force microscope showed disagreement between experiment and theory when the complete properties of the metal including its dissipation was used in the theory. In all these experiments, the predictions of the Lifshitz theory obtained using the complete permittivity of metals and its extrapolation to low frequencies using the Drude model was excluded by the data. Only one measurement of the Casimir force at large separations stated that the data are in agreement with theory using the Drude model, but this conclusion was reached by omitting the background force of unknown origin which exceeded the Casimir force by an order of magnitude and disregarding the role of imperfections on the surface of a glass lens of centimeter-size radius.
\r\n
According to the Lifshitz formula for the Casimir force written along the real frequency axis, both the propagating (on-the-mass-shell, where for the photon frequency and momentum equation holds) and evanescent (off-the-mass-shell, where the energy momentum conservation relationship for photons does not hold ) waves of both s- and p-polarizations contribute to the result. It has now established that the difference between theoretical predictions and the measurement data is completely determined by the contribution of the s-polarized (transverse electric) evanescent waves.
\r\n
The theoretical description Casimir force in graphene, whose low-frequency dielectric response is found from the first principles of quantum field theory was confirmed by the precison experimental data of the Casimir force measurements in graphene systems made by us. This suggests that this dielectric function of normal metals should be spatially nonlocal and possess a double pole at zero frequency. This realization motivated a careful measurement of the low frequency response of s polarized evanescent waves in metals. The results disagree significantly with that of the theoretical description using the Drude model for the metal response for the s-polarized evanescent wave from the copper plate. This is a demonstration that the Drude model is not a complete description of the electromagnetic response of metals at the low frequencies tested. The performed experimental test for the completeness of the Drude model in the area of s-polarized evanescent waves is entirely classical. By contrast, the Casimir effect at short separations currently tested experimentally is a quantum phenomenon. The lateral component of magnetic field reflected from metallic plate is completely determined by the s-polarized evanescent waves, i.e., in the region where the Drude model lacks experimental confirmation. In the case of the Casimir force, the contribution of s-polarized evanescent waves is responsible for the disagreement between the measurement data and theoretical predictions using the Drude model. In both cases, the strongly evanescent waves are responsible for the disagreement between experiment and theory, but there is a five orders of magnitude difference in their regions of contribution. Given the above, it appears that the understanding of the response of metals to s-polarized evanescent waves is not complete and some modifications in the permittivity given by the Drude model might be necessary. . It should be mentioned that the results of the s-polarized evanescent wave using the plasma model has a stronger disagreement with the measurement data than those found using the Drude model. This means that the successful use of the plasma model for calculation of the Casimir force is merely due to its fortuitous proximity to the true dielectric function in the region of parameters characteristic for the Casimir effect.
\r\n
The search for the complete dielectric response of metals to the s-polarized evanescent waves in different physical systems is currently under active investigation. Future work will enable the development of the spatially nonlocal permittivity that will fully describe the dielectric response of metals to both propagating and evanescent waves of any polarization. The development of such a permittivity will be performed starting from the first principles of quantum electrodynamics alongwith the measurement data of many experimental tests including this experiment and experiments on measuring the Casimir force. The resolution of this problem will impact research in the areas of nanophotonics, optical quantum computing on a chip, near-field optical microscopy and its applications to overcoming the standard resolution limit, physics of total internal reflection and surface plasmon po- laritons, to say nothing of the Casimir effect and related quantum phenomena of atomic friction and radiation heat transfer.
\n
\n Last Modified: 01/23/2026
\nModified by: Umar Mohideen
\n
\n
\n","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Physics~2024~6~Dhital, Madhav and Mohideen, Umar~https://doi.org/10.3390/physics6020055~A Brief Review of Some Recent Precision Casimir Force Measurements~N~10660914~10660914~OSTI~2026-01-23 16:53:51.986","Europhysics Letters~2025~151~Dhital, M and Klimchitskaya, G L and Mostepanenko, V M and Mohideen, U~https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/adec17~Measurement of the unusual dielectric response to low-frequency s-polarized evanescent waves in metals with implications for the Casimir effect
(a)~N~10660911~10660911~OSTI~2026-01-23 16:32:28.906","International Journal of Modern Physics A~2022~Klimchitskaya, G. L. and Mohideen, U. and Mostepanenko, V. M.~https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X22410032~The Casimir effect in graphene systems: Experiment and theory~10343019~10343019~OSTI~2022-07-26 01:03:18.866","Physical Review Letters~2021~126~Liu, M and Zhang, Y and Klimchitskaya, G L and Mostepanenko, V M and Mohideen, U~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.206802~Demonstration of an Unusual Thermal Effect in the Casimir Force from Graphene~10281982~10281982~OSTI~2026-01-23 20:17:37.926","Physical Review B~2021~104~Liu, M. and Zhang, Y. and Klimchitskaya, G. L. and Mostepanenko, V. M. and Mohideen, U.~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.104.085436~Experimental and theoretical investigation of the thermal effect in the Casimir interaction from graphene~10343012~10343012~OSTI~2022-07-26 01:03:27.22","ACS Nano~2022~16~Panahandeh, Sanaz and Li, Siyu and Dragnea, Bogdan and Zandi, Roya~https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c06335~Virus Assembly Pathways Inside a Host Cell~317 to 327~10343026~10343026~OSTI~2022-07-26 01:03:22.3","International Journal of Modern Physics A~2025~40~Zhang, Yuanzhong and Dhital, Madhav and Liu, Mingyue and Mohideen, Umar~https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X25430249~Key steps in the assembly and characterization of the sphere and graphene surfaces in the precision measurement of the Casimir force from graphene~N~10660913~10660913~OSTI~2026-01-23 16:42:07.596"],"startDate":"09/01/2020","title":"Difference Casimir Force Precision Measurements To Probe Long Wavelength Behavior","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"MR5QC5FCAVH5"},{"abstractText":"Representation theory is a study of symmetries of space, such as our 3-dimensional space, or, more generally, a space with any (even infinite number) of dimensions. In this theory, symmetries are represented by linear transformations of this space, or, more explicitly, by matrices. Thus, a representation of a given symmetry structure is basically a collection of matrices which satisfy a certain natural system of nonlinear equations. The equations are determined by the exact type of symmetry structure we are representing - a group, a Lie algebra, or an associative algebra. Representations of a given structure themselves form a quite intricate and rich structure, which encodes relations (or mappings) between different representations. This higher-level structure is called the category of representations. For some type of structures (e.g. for groups, Lie algebras, quantum groups), representations can be multiplied; in this case the corresponding categories are tensor categories (as multiplication of representations is similar to multiplication of tensors). It turns out that the notion of a tensor category is very interesting in its own right, and that many tensor categories don't arise as categories of representations. The PI will investigate ordinary and tensor categories, some of which arise as representation categories and some of which don't, as well as the connections between them. In particular, complex rank generalizations of representation categories proposed by P. Deligne will be investigated. Roughly speaking, this is a generalization in which the number of elements of a set or rows of a matrix is allowed to be non-integer. This seemingly nonsensical setting becomes meaningful and useful when the invariants one is interested in turn out to be polynomials of the number of elements or rows, which is often true. The PI will also investigate quantizations of singular symplectic varieties, for instance symplectic resolutions. These are non-commutative algebras that appear in certain kinds of quantum field theories of recent interest as algebras of quantum observables. This project provides research training opportunities for graduate students.\r\n\r\n\r\nThis project involves research on: tensor categories; quantum groups; representation theory in complex rank; cherednik algebras; short star-products on quantizations; analytic approach to Geometric Langlands program. The plan of PI's work is as follows. 1. Develop a theory of Frobenius functors for symmetric tensor categories in characteristic p and Frobenius exact \r\ncategories; classify exact factorizations of fusion categories, in particular twisted Deligne products; classify fiber functors and module categories over the representation category of the small quantum group; compute the semisimplification of the category of tilting modules for a reductive group in small characteristic, and use it to compute the dimensions of tilting modules modulo p; prove quasi-motivicity of representations of braid groups arising from braided fusion categories; construct new symmetric tensor categories in characteristic p>2 similar to the Etingof-Benson categories in characteristic 2; compute cohomology of these categories; develop Lie theory in the Verlinde category; develop a theory of symplectic reflection fusion categories; continue to develop the theory of actions of finite dimensional Hopf algebras on division algebras (in particular, fields); classify unipotent tensor categories. Work on a discrete analog of the monodromy theorem of Toledano Laredo for the Casimir connection, using dynamical Weyl groups, Study signatures of representations of quantum groups for |q|=1. 2. Continue to develop the ideas of P. Deligne, and extend representation theories of various classical structures (containing the symmetric group S_n or classical Lie groups GL(n),O(n),Sp(2n)) to complex values of the rank parameter n. These structures will include degenerate affine Hecke algebras, rational and trigonometric Cherednik algebras, symplectic reflection algebras, real reductive Lie groups (i.e., symmetric pairs), Lie superalgebras, affine Lie algebras, (parabolic) category O for reductive Lie algebras, Yangians, and other structures. Compute reducibility loci and obtain various character formulas and signature formulas in these representation theories, and answer various other representation theoretic questions which are known to be interesting in the classical setting. 3. Work on the representation theory of double Yangians, the theory of elliptic algebras, representations of cyclotomic Cherednik algebras, signatures of representations of Cherednik algebras, representations of Cherednik algebras in positive characteristic, direct and inverse image functors for Cherednik algebras. 4. Continue to develop the theory of short star-products on filtered quantizations. 5. Continue to work with E. Frenkel and D. Kazhdan on an analytic approach to the geometric Langlands correspondence.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY","awardeeAddress":"77 MASSACHUSETTS AVE","awardeeCity":"CAMBRIDGE","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"07","awardeeDistrictCode":"MA07","awardeeName":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","awardeePhone":"6172531000","awardeeStateCode":"MA","awardeeZipCode":"021394301","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"04/06/2020","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"DMS","estimatedTotalAmt":"650000","expDate":"08/31/2025","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"ALGEBRA,NUMBER THEORY,AND COM","fundsObligated":["FY 2020 = $274,683.00","FY 2021 = $71,588.00","FY 2022 = $72,081.00","FY 2023 = $115,028.00","FY 2024 = $116,620.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"650000","histAwd":"false","id":"2001318","initAmendmentDate":"04/06/2020","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Twisted traces and positive forms on quantized Kleinian singularities of type A","auth":"Etingof P., Klyuev D.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.3842/SIGMA.2021.029","jrnlTitl":"Sigma","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10337111"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"08/26/2024","managingPec":"126400","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03040000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Mathematical Sciences","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=dms","parentUeiNumber":"JDZ5RVF3Y9L9","pdPIName":"Pavel I Etingof","perfAddress":"","perfCity":"","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"07","perfDistrictCode":"MA07","perfLocation":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","perfStateCode":"MA","perfZipCode":"021394301","pi":["Pavel I Etingof etingof@math.mit.edu"],"piEmail":"etingof@math.mit.edu","piFirstName":"Pavel","piId":"000227717","piLastName":"Etingof","piMiddeInitial":"I","poEmail":"mdouglas@nsf.gov","poName":"James Matthew Douglass","poPhone":"7032922467","primaryProgram":["01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"126400","program":"","progRefCode":"","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
Representation theory is a branch of mathematics which studies symmetry in space (of any number of dimensions). Such spaces arise in quantum physics as spaces of states of quantum systems, which is why representation theory is relevant to quantum physics. In fact, the structure of the periodic table (i.e. periodic patterns with periods 2,8,18,etc.), as well as so called quantum numbers (determining chemical properties of substances) can be explained by representation theory.
Representation theory was created at the very end of 19th century, and developed rapidly throughout the later part of the 20th century. By now, it is one of the most advanced and sophisticated areas of mathematical research. A new trend in this subject emerged in 1970's and 1980's when ideas from geometry and topology (study of geometric shapes, such as donuts or pretzels, and their algebraic invariants) were used to solve very difficult representation-theoretic problems. Reciprocally, representation theory turned out to have spectacular applications to geometry. This gave rise to a new vibrant subject, called geometric representation theory.
The goal of this project was to solve a number of problems in representation theory (including its geometric aspects) and in neighboring areas, such as the theory of tensor categories and quantum groups.
The most important results of the project were: 1) Continuation of development (in a series of 3 papers) of the analytic Langlands correspondence with E. Frenkel and D. Kazhdan; 2) Continued development, with Coulembier, Ostrik and others, of the theory of symmetric tensor categories in positive characteristic; 3) Proof, with D. Penneys, of the Bakalov-Kirillov conjecture that weak rigidity of modular categories (and more generally, for semisimple braided category of moderate growth) implies rigidity; 4) Development, with Varchenko, of the theory of p-curvature of flat connections coming from representation theory; 5) Preparation of 3 books: \"Lie groups and Lie algebras\", \"Representations of Lie groups\", and \"Mathematical ideas and notions of quantum field theory\".
\r\n
These and other results and new methods developed by the PI in the framework of the project constitute its intellectual merit.
Many graduate students and postdocs were involved in closely related work, thus the project contributed to preparation of the next generation of experts. The PI, his postdocs and graduate students have reported their accomplishments in several international and domestic conferences and seminars.
The project motivated collaboration and exchange of ideas with colleagues in the U.K., Canada, France, Israel, Germany, Australia, thereby promoting international cooperation. The project led to many graduate student papers and several Ph.D. theses. Finally, the project gave rise to many sub-projects for high school and undergraduate research in MIT high school/undergraduate research programs PRIMES, RSI, SPUR and UROP, which won many prizes in national science competitions (such as Regeneron STS, and the Davidson fellows competition) and to many research papers by high school students and undergraduates. This constitutes the broader impacts of the project.
\r\n
\n
\n Last Modified: 10/02/2025
\nModified by: Pavel I Etingof
\n
\n
\n","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Sigma~2021~Etingof P., Klyuev D.~https://doi.org/10.3842/SIGMA.2021.029~Twisted traces and positive forms on quantized Kleinian singularities of type A~10337111~10337111~OSTI~2022-07-01 13:03:43.736"],"startDate":"09/01/2020","title":"Tensor Categories and Representations of Quantized Algebras","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"E2NYLCDML6V1"},{"abstractText":"The quantum vacuum is a busy place, with particles popping into and out of existence for short periods of time. This activity gives rise to amazing phenomena, such as the attractive force between closely-spaced uncharged conducting plates, or between neutral atoms, discovered by Casimir more than 70 years ago. A beginning is being made to see how to exploit these Casimir forces in practical devices and nanomachinery. By changing the properties of the objects that interact, and the environment in which they are immersed, the forces can be repulsive rather than attractive. When the objects and atoms are in motion, quantum frictional forces arise between atoms and surfaces even when they are not in contact. This project advances the progress of science and promotes the education of a diverse group of students and researchers. This interdisciplinary work has significant impacts in biology, chemistry, atomic and nuclear physics, and is even finding applications in planetary science.\r\n\r\nSpecific topics to be considered include: (1) Negative Casimir entropies. It is now well known that the interaction entropy between atoms, or between atoms and metallic surfaces, for example, are often negative. Although it was suggested that the positive self-entropies of the atoms themselves would cancel this effect, we have now discovered that this is in general not the case, and that self interactions typically lead to a region of negative entropy. (2) Quantum vacuum forces between atoms and surfaces in inhomogeneous media. Nearly all work on Casimir forces between bodies assumes they are separated by vacuum, or by a homogeneous dielectric medium. But if they they are separated by a spatially varying medium, divergences appear which are not well understood. The group has made some preliminary proposals as to how to extract meaningful interaction energies, but the general situation will require much more work. (3) Repulsive Casimir forces and nonmonotonic torques. Casimir forces can turn repulsive, and not merely with exotic combinations of materials. This is not unrelated to the negative entropies seen ubiquitously, and reflects the nonmonotonicity of the free energy. With anisotropic materials, Casimir torques can undergo sign changes with the distances between atoms and surfaces. Real-world applications to such long-standing problems such as the freezing of ice, and the interaction of greenhouse gases with substrates are being explored. (4) Casimir friction. When an atom or a dielectric plate is moved parallel to nearby plate, a frictional force is experienced due to the interaction with the fluctuations in the electromagnetic vacuum. This requires understanding nonequilibrium dissipative effects. Systematic ways of treating such phenomena are being developed, with the intent of proposing accessible experimental signatures.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA","awardeeAddress":"660 PARRINGTON OVAL RM 301","awardeeCity":"NORMAN","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"04","awardeeDistrictCode":"OK04","awardeeName":"University of Oklahoma Norman Campus","awardeePhone":"4053254757","awardeeStateCode":"OK","awardeeZipCode":"730193003","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"06/26/2020","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"240000","expDate":"07/31/2025","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"AMO Theory/Atomic, Molecular &","fundsObligated":["FY 2020 = $80,000.00","FY 2021 = $80,000.00","FY 2022 = $80,000.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"240000","histAwd":"false","id":"2008417","initAmendmentDate":"06/26/2020","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Energetics of quantum vacuum friction: Field fluctuations","auth":"Guo, Xin and Milton, Kimball A. and Kennedy, Gerard and McNulty, William P. and Pourtolami, Nima and Li, Yang","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.116006","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"104","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10328564"},{"artTitl":"Perspectives on Quantum Friction: Self-Propulsion and Self-Torque","auth":"Milton, Kimball A and Pourtolami, Nima and Kennedy, Gerald","authIndCode":"N","jrnlTitl":"Physics letters A","jrnlVol":"545","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10646112"},{"artTitl":"Casimir self-entropy of nanoparticles with classical polarizabilities: Electromagnetic field fluctuations","auth":"Li, Yang and Milton, Kimball A. and Parashar, Prachi and Kennedy, Gerard and Pourtolami, Nima and Guo, Xin","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.036002","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"106","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10418757"},{"artTitl":"Thermal Casimir interactions in multiparticle systems: Scattering channel approach","auth":"Li, Yang and Milton, Kimball A. and Brevik, Iver","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.108.032802","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"108","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10504789"},{"artTitl":"Quantum self-propulsion of an inhomogeneous object out of thermal equilibrium","auth":"Milton, Kimball_A and Pourtolami, Nima and Kennedy, Gerard","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.110.042814","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"110","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10551069"},{"artTitl":"Self-force on moving electric and magnetic dipoles: Dipole radiation, Vavilov-erenkov radiation, friction with a conducting surface, and the Einstein-Hopf effect","auth":"Milton, Kimball A. and Day, Hannah and Li, Yang and Guo, Xin and Kennedy, Gerard","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043347","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Research","jrnlVol":"2","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10229808"},{"artTitl":"Energetics of quantum vacuum friction. II. Dipole fluctuations and field fluctuations","auth":"Guo, Xin and Milton, Kimball A. and Kennedy, Gerard and McNulty, William P. and Pourtolami, Nima and Li, Yang","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.016008","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"106","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10418748"},{"artTitl":"Quantum friction in the presence of a perfectly conducting plate","auth":"Guo, Xin and Milton, Kimball A. and Kennedy, Gerard and Pourtolami, Nima","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.107.062812","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"107","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10423427"},{"artTitl":"Quantum torque on a non-reciprocal body out of thermal equilibrium and induced by a magnetic field of arbitrary strength","auth":"Kennedy, Gerard","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-023-01068-0","jrnlTitl":"The European Physical Journal Special Topics","jrnlVol":"232","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10483854"},{"artTitl":"Origin of anomalously stabilizing ice layers on methane gas hydrates near rock surface","auth":"Li, Yang and Corkery, Robert W. and Carretero-Palacios, Sol and Berland, Kristian and Esteso, Victoria and Fiedler, Johannes and Milton, Kimball A. and Brevik, Iver and Boström, Mathias","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CP04883C","jrnlTitl":"Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics","jrnlVol":"25","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10418823"},{"artTitl":"Quantum vacuum self-propulsion and torque","auth":"Milton, Kimball A and Pourtolami, Nima and Kennedy, Gerard","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X25430158","jrnlTitl":"International Journal of Modern Physics A","jrnlVol":"40","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10646021"},{"artTitl":"Spontaneous torque on an inhomogeneous chiral body out of thermal equilibrium","auth":"Milton, Kimball A and Pourtolami, Nima and Kennedy, Gerard","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.111.022815","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"111","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10646111"},{"artTitl":"Premelting and formation of ice due to Casimir-Lifshitz interactions: Impact of improved parameterization for materials","auth":"Li, Yang and Milton, Kimball A. and Brevik, Iver and Malyi, Oleksandr I. and Thiyam, Priyadarshini and Persson, Clas and Parsons, Drew F. and Boström, Mathias","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.014203","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review B","jrnlVol":"105","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10328565"},{"artTitl":"Negativity of the Casimir Self-Entropy in Spherical Geometries","auth":"Li, Yang and Milton, Kimball A. and Parashar, Prachi and Hong, Lujun","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.3390/e23020214","jrnlTitl":"Entropy","jrnlVol":"23","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10229805"},{"artTitl":"Vacuum torque, propulsive forces, and anomalous tangential forces: Effects of nonreciprocal media out of thermal equilibrium","auth":"Milton, Kimball A. and Guo, Xin and Kennedy, Gerard and Pourtolami, Nima and DelCol, Dylan M.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.108.022809","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"108","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10504788"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"06/13/2022","managingPec":"128400","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"","pdPIName":"Kimball A Milton","perfAddress":"Dept. of Physics and Astronomy","perfCity":"Norman","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"04","perfDistrictCode":"OK04","perfLocation":"University of Oklahoma Norman Campus","perfStateCode":"OK","perfZipCode":"730192060","pi":["Kimball A Milton milton@nhn.ou.edu"],"piEmail":"milton@nhn.ou.edu","piFirstName":"Kimball","piId":"000115863","piLastName":"Milton","piMiddeInitial":"A","poEmail":"mcavagne@nsf.gov","poName":"Mike Cavagnero","poPhone":"7032927927","primaryProgram":["01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"128400","program":"NANO NON-SOLIC SCI & ENG AWD, EXP PROG TO STIM COMP RES","progRefCode":"7237, 9150","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
The PI and collaborators have been working on the physics of the quantum vacuum, what is often named the Casimir effect, for many years. \"Empty space,\" or, the vacuum, is not truly empty, but is filled with virtual particles which pop into and out of existence for short periods of time. These fluctuations are an intrinsic consequence of quantum mechanics, and are modified by thermal fluctuations. The macroscopic effect of the quantum vacuum, discovered by Casimir in 1948, says that due to these fluctuations there is a small attractive force between parallel uncharged metal plates. This has been conclusively demonstrated by many experiments in the past thirty years, which, indirectly, therefore validate the picture of the active vacuum.
\r\n
The traditional Casimir effect is a static force. The focus of the current project is to explore dynamical consequences of the quantum vacuum. Casimir, or quantum friction is one such example. For instance, an atom or nanoparticle passing above a metal or insulating plate, will experience a frictional force tending to retard the particle's motion. Even more remarkably, friction even occurs in vacuum far from any other body, a phenomenon predicted theoretically by Einstein and Hopf in 1910! We have carried out a systematic study of such effects, and their dependence on the properties of the particle and its temperature and that of the blackbody radiation surrounding it. These forces result from fluctuations both in the dipole moments of the atoms that make up the body and in the electromagnetic field which is ubiquitous.
\r\n
Thermal effects are indeed very subtle. We have shown in a series of papers that the Casimir entropy, which follows from the (free) Casimir energy, typically can turn negative, which implies a decrease in disorder. This seems to contradict basic thermodynamic principles--Entropy is usually required to increase, not decrease. The contradiction is removed when the much larger positive entropy of the surrounding blackbody radiation is included, but it is still a surprising discovery.
\r\n
We have also explored how the Casimir effect affects phase transitions, such as the melting of ice on surfaces. Ice layers on rocks could be stabilized by such quantum vacuum forces, which might be relevant to the geochemistry of planetary moons.
\r\n
But the primary thrust of our research over the past 5 years has been the exploration of spontaneous forces that act on bodies in vacuum when they are out of equilibrium with the background, that is, they are hotter or colder than the ambient blackbody radiation. Although such effects had been proposed earlier, we have carried out a systematic analysis based on treating the bodies as dilute, that is, the electrical properties of the material making up the bodies is not too different from that of the vacuum. In the first approximation, no net force can emerge, but only a torque, a twist, that will cause the body to spontaneously start to rotate, but only if the body is made up of what is called nonreciprocal material, meaning typically that some external magnetric field must be supplied. In a better approximation, now we find both forces and torques on ordinary bodies in vacuum with no external fields, but the bodes must be non uniform, having at least two parts with different electrical responses. We have proposed a number of scenarios where we think these small forces and torques could be observed. We believe that these forces will lead to observable motions in the laboratory, even including the effects of quantum friction and the tendency of the system to come to thermal equilibrium. We are currently going out to the third order of approximation, where forces and torques on uniform bodies should arise, as long as the system is out of thermal equilibrium. If these effects can be observed in the laboratary, we would like to speculate that they might be scaled up so as to provide self-propulsion of a macroscopic body, such as a spacecraft, provided a mechsnism to maintani the temperature inbalance can be supplied.
\n
\n Last Modified: 11/21/2025
\nModified by: Kimball A Milton
\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tImage\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n- \n
![\"Particle](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2025/2008417/2008417_10680790_1763508830846_sym_fr_fig--rgov-66x44.jpg\")
\n\n
An atom or nanoparticle experiences Casimir fridtion when passing near a conducting or insulating plate.
\n
Physics Letter A 545, 130475 (2025)
\n
Creative Commons
\n
Kimball A Milton\n
Particle moving above plate
\n
\n\n
\n
\n","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Physical Review D~2021~104~Guo, Xin and Milton, Kimball A. and Kennedy, Gerard and McNulty, William P. and Pourtolami, Nima and Li, Yang~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.116006~Energetics of quantum vacuum friction: Field fluctuations~10328564~10328564~OSTI~2022-05-29 21:03:24.266","Physics letters A~2025~545~Milton, Kimball A and Pourtolami, Nima and Kennedy, Gerald~Perspectives on Quantum Friction: Self-Propulsion and Self-Torque~N~10646112~10646112~OSTI~2025-11-08 18:04:19.046","Physical Review D~2022~106~Li, Yang and Milton, Kimball A. and Parashar, Prachi and Kennedy, Gerard and Pourtolami, Nima and Guo, Xin~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.036002~Casimir self-entropy of nanoparticles with classical polarizabilities: Electromagnetic field fluctuations~10418757~10418757~OSTI~2023-06-04 13:59:58.63","Physical Review A~2023~108~Li, Yang and Milton, Kimball A. and Brevik, Iver~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.108.032802~Thermal Casimir interactions in multiparticle systems: Scattering channel approach~10504789~10504789~OSTI~2024-05-04 17:40:01.3","Physical Review A~2024~110~Milton, Kimball_A and Pourtolami, Nima and Kennedy, Gerard~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.110.042814~Quantum self-propulsion of an inhomogeneous object out of thermal equilibrium~N~10646020~10551069~OSTI~2025-10-11 00:16:18.256","Physical Review Research~2020~2~Milton, Kimball A. and Day, Hannah and Li, Yang and Guo, Xin and Kennedy, Gerard~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043347~Self-force on moving electric and magnetic dipoles: Dipole radiation, Vavilov-erenkov radiation, friction with a conducting surface, and the Einstein-Hopf effect~10229808~10229808~OSTI~2021-05-20 13:01:55.586","Physical Review D~2022~106~Guo, Xin and Milton, Kimball A. and Kennedy, Gerard and McNulty, William P. and Pourtolami, Nima and Li, Yang~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.016008~Energetics of quantum vacuum friction. II. Dipole fluctuations and field fluctuations~10418748~10418748~OSTI~2023-06-04 13:08:14.256","Physical Review A~2023~107~Guo, Xin and Milton, Kimball A. and Kennedy, Gerard and Pourtolami, Nima~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.107.062812~Quantum friction in the presence of a perfectly conducting plate~10423427~10423427~OSTI~2023-06-18 08:07:28.733","The European Physical Journal Special Topics~2024~232~Kennedy, Gerard~https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-023-01068-0~Quantum torque on a non-reciprocal body out of thermal equilibrium and induced by a magnetic field of arbitrary strength~10505377~10483854~OSTI~2024-02-16 12:00:25","Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics~2023~25~Li, Yang and Corkery, Robert W. and Carretero-Palacios, Sol and Berland, Kristian and Esteso, Victoria and Fiedler, Johannes and Milton, Kimball A. and Brevik, Iver and Boström, Mathias~https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CP04883C~Origin of anomalously stabilizing ice layers on methane gas hydrates near rock surface~6636 to 6652~10418823~10418823~OSTI~2023-06-04 16:14:57.876","International Journal of Modern Physics A~2025~40~Milton, Kimball A and Pourtolami, Nima and Kennedy, Gerard~https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X25430158~Quantum vacuum self-propulsion and torque~N~10646021~10646021~OSTI~2025-11-04 19:01:13.516","Physical Review A~2025~111~Milton, Kimball A and Pourtolami, Nima and Kennedy, Gerard~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.111.022815~Spontaneous torque on an inhomogeneous chiral body out of thermal equilibrium~N~10646111~10646111~OSTI~2025-11-05 13:26:12.156","Physical Review B~2022~105~Li, Yang and Milton, Kimball A. and Brevik, Iver and Malyi, Oleksandr I. and Thiyam, Priyadarshini and Persson, Clas and Parsons, Drew F. and Boström, Mathias~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.014203~Premelting and formation of ice due to Casimir-Lifshitz interactions: Impact of improved parameterization for materials~10328565~10328565~OSTI~2022-05-29 21:03:23.65","Entropy~2021~23~Li, Yang and Milton, Kimball A. and Parashar, Prachi and Hong, Lujun~https://doi.org/10.3390/e23020214~Negativity of the Casimir Self-Entropy in Spherical Geometries~214~10229805~10229805~OSTI~2021-05-20 13:01:54.62","Physical Review A~2023~108~Milton, Kimball A. and Guo, Xin and Kennedy, Gerard and Pourtolami, Nima and DelCol, Dylan M.~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.108.022809~Vacuum torque, propulsive forces, and anomalous tangential forces: Effects of nonreciprocal media out of thermal equilibrium~10504788~10504788~OSTI~2024-05-04 17:23:41.3"],"startDate":"08/01/2020","title":"Advances in Casimir-Polder Interactions between Atoms and Substrates","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"EVTSTTLCEWS5"},{"abstractText":"NONTECHNICAL SUMMARY\r\n\r\nThe interaction between light and matter at the nanoscale can be very different from our daily macroscopic experience. When the dimensions of material structures, or the space separating them, reach the range of nanometers, the quantum nature of light and matter emerges and gives rise to new phenomena. This award supports theoretical research that is aimed at investigating various new phenomena involving the transfer of momentum and energy between nanoscale objects within the context of two novel concepts that have recently emerged in the field of nanophotonics: structures with atomic thickness and spin-orbit interactions of light. The investigation of these phenomena within a common theoretical framework will allow the PI and his team to establish the foundations for new paradigms enabling noncontact transfer of momentum and energy at the nanoscale. \r\n\r\nThe research supported by this award can, in the long run, help in developing novel approaches for manipulating nanoscale objects, including biologically relevant structures. The results on energy transfer can have an impact on the improvement of thermal devices and heat management strategies in nanoelectronics. This award also supports educational and outreach activities aimed at improving the recruitment and retention of students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with a special emphasis on first-generation and low-income students from underrepresented minorities. The PI and his team will implement a range of activities targeting students, from middle school to the graduate level, which aim to generate and foster interest in STEM disciplines, preserve that interest, and mold it into essential skills and experience. \r\n\r\nTECHNICAL SUMMARY\r\n\r\nThis award supports theoretical research with an overarching goal of investigating the transfer of momentum and energy at the nanoscale mediated by the quantum and thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. To that end, the PI and his team will implement a robust theoretical framework by investigating and overcoming the limits of the fluctuational electrodynamics approach, and use it to study two novel nanophotonics concepts within the context of fluctuation-induced phenomena: low-dimensional systems and spin-orbit interactions of light. The investigation will be organized around four research thrusts addressing the following specific goals: (1) explore the limits of the fluctuational electrodynamics approach and implement the necessary improvements to describe fluctuation-induced phenomena involving low-dimensional nanostructures and spin-orbit interactions of light, (2) investigate the Casimir torque between different rotating nanostructures as a mechanism to transfer angular momentum in the nanoscale, paying special attention to low-dimensional systems, and exploit the spin-orbit interactions of light to achieve unidirectional transfer of angular momentum, (3) investigate the Casimir forces acting on low-dimensional nanostructures and their interplay with other relevant interactions, such as electrostatic forces, and (4) study the thermalization of ensembles of nanostructures mediated by radiative heat transfer and explore low-dimensional structures and spin-orbit interactions of light as a path to achieve full temporal control over the transfer of energy at the nanoscale.\r\n\r\nThe research supported by this award can, in the long run, help in developing novel approaches for manipulating nanoscale objects, including biologically relevant structures. The results on energy transfer can have an impact on the improvement of thermal devices and heat management strategies in nanoelectronics. This award also supports educational and outreach activities aimed at improving the recruitment and retention of students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with a special emphasis on first-generation and low-income students from underrepresented minorities. The PI and his team will implement a range of activities targeting students, from middle school to the graduate level, which aim to generate and foster interest in STEM disciplines, preserve that interest, and mold it into essential skills and experience.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO","awardeeAddress":"1 UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO","awardeeCity":"ALBUQUERQUE","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"01","awardeeDistrictCode":"NM01","awardeeName":"University of New Mexico","awardeePhone":"5052774186","awardeeStateCode":"NM","awardeeZipCode":"871310001","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"04/07/2020","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"DMR","estimatedTotalAmt":"499754","expDate":"06/30/2023","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"CONDENSED MATTER & MAT THEORY","fundsObligated":["FY 2020 = $17,261.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"17262","histAwd":"false","id":"1941680","initAmendmentDate":"04/07/2020","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Analysis of the Limits of the Optical Response of a Metallic Nanoparticle with Gain","auth":"Cerdán, Luis and Manjavacas, Alejandro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c07558","jrnlTitl":"The Journal of Physical Chemistry C","jrnlVol":"127","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10401480"},{"artTitl":"Chiral Lattice Resonances in 2.5-Dimensional Periodic Arrays with Achiral Unit Cells","auth":"Cerdán, Luis and Zundel, Lauren and Manjavacas, Alejandro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.3c00369","jrnlTitl":"ACS Photonics","jrnlVol":"10","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10412598"},{"artTitl":"Altering the Reflection Phase for NanoPolaritons: A Case Study of Hyperbolic Surface Polaritons in Hexagonal Boron Nitride","auth":"Chen, Mingyuan and Sanders, Stephen and Shen, Jialiang and Li, Jiahan and Harris, Eli and Chen, ChengChien and Ma, Qiong and H_Edgar, James and Manjavacas, Alejandro and Dai, Siyuan","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202102723","jrnlTitl":"Advanced Optical Materials","jrnlVol":"10","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10368760"},{"artTitl":"Distortion of the local density of states in a plasmonic cavity by a quantum emitter","auth":"Cuartero-González, Alvaro and Manjavacas, Alejandro and Fernández-Domínguez, Antonio I","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac0199","jrnlTitl":"New Journal of Physics","jrnlVol":"23","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10319496"},{"artTitl":"Control of the Radiative Heat Transfer in a Pair of Rotating Nanostructures","auth":"Deop-Ruano, Juan R. and Manjavacas, Alejandro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.133605","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"130","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10404136"},{"artTitl":"Optical Response of Periodic Arrays of Graphene Nanodisks","auth":"Deop-Ruano, Juan R. and Sanders, Stephen and Alabastri, Alessandro and Kort-Kamp, Wilton J. and Dalvit, Diego A. and Manjavacas, Alejandro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.18.044071","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Applied","jrnlVol":"18","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10401477"},{"artTitl":"Two-Photon Spontaneous Emission in Atomically Thin Plasmonic Nanostructures","auth":"Muniz, Y. and Manjavacas, A. and Farina, C. and Dalvit, D.A.R. and Kort-Kamp, W.J.M.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.033601","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"125","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10205728"},{"artTitl":"Lattice Resonances of Nanohole Arrays for Quantum Enhanced Sensing","auth":"Sanders, Stephen and Dowran, Mohammadjavad and Jain, Umang and Lu, Tzu-Ming and Marino, Alberto M. and Manjavacas, Alejandro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.17.014035","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Applied","jrnlVol":"17","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10319495"},{"artTitl":"Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer Eigenmodes","auth":"Sanders, Stephen and Zundel, Lauren and Kort-Kamp, Wilton J.M. and Dalvit, Diego A.R. and Manjavacas, Alejandro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.193601","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"126","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10213817"},{"artTitl":"Green Tensor Analysis of Lattice Resonances in Periodic Arrays of Nanoparticles","auth":"Zundel, Lauren and Cuartero-González, Alvaro and Sanders, Stephen and Fernández-Domínguez, Antonio I. and Manjavacas, Alejandro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.1c01463","jrnlTitl":"ACS Photonics","jrnlVol":"9","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10319497"},{"artTitl":"Lattice Resonances Excited by Finite-Width Light Beams","auth":"Zundel, Lauren and Deop-Ruano, Juan R. and Martinez-Herrero, Rosario and Manjavacas, Alejandro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c03847","jrnlTitl":"ACS Omega","jrnlVol":"7","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10370653"},{"artTitl":"Comparative Analysis of the Near and FarField Optical Response of Thin Plasmonic Nanostructures","auth":"Zundel, Lauren and Gieri, Paul and Sanders, Stephen and Manjavacas, Alejandro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202102550","jrnlTitl":"Advanced Optical Materials","jrnlVol":"10","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10446107"},{"artTitl":"Lattice Resonances for Thermoplasmonics","auth":"Zundel, Lauren and Malone, Kellen and Cerdán, Luis and Martínez-Herrero, Rosario and Manjavacas, Alejandro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.2c01610","jrnlTitl":"ACS Photonics","jrnlVol":"10","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10401478"},{"artTitl":"Active Temporal Control of Radiative Heat Transfer with Graphene Nanodisks","auth":"Zundel, Lauren and Manjavacas, Alejandro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.13.054054","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Applied","jrnlVol":"13","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10158650"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"08/31/2023","managingPec":"176500","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03070000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Materials Research","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=dmr","parentUeiNumber":"","pdPIName":"Alejandro Manjavacas","perfAddress":"","perfCity":"","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"01","perfDistrictCode":"NM01","perfLocation":"University of New Mexico","perfStateCode":"NM","perfZipCode":"871310001","pi":["Alejandro Manjavacas manjavacas@unm.edu"],"piEmail":"manjavacas@unm.edu","piFirstName":"Alejandro","piId":"269986470","piLastName":"Manjavacas","poEmail":"sogut@nsf.gov","poName":"Serdar Ogut","poPhone":"7032924429","primaryProgram":["01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"176500","program":"CAREER-Faculty Erly Career Dev, SEBML-MOORE'S LAW, NANO NON-SOLIC SCI & ENG AWD, CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE/SCIENCE, CDS&E, Nanomaterials, Optics and Photonics, EXP PROG TO STIM COMP RES","progRefCode":"1045, 6863, 7237, 7569, 8084, 8614, 8990, 9150","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
The interaction between light and matter in the nanoscale can be extremely different from our daily macroscopic experience. When the dimensions of the material structures, or the space separating them, reach the range of nanometers, the quantum nature of light and matter emerges, giving rise to new phenomena. In that limit, Casimir forces, which arise from quantum and thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field, play a dominant role and can overcome other interactions, such as gravitational forces, thus conditioning the dynamics of nanoscale objects. These same fluctuations are also at the origin of the radiative transfer of energy between bodies at different temperatures. In the macroscopic world, the emission and transfer of thermal radiation are correctly described by the Planck and Stefan-Boltzmann laws. However, once again, the rules governing these phenomena in the nanoscale are very different, which has important consequences for technology. In this context, the overarching goal of this project has been to investigate the transfer of momentum and energy mediated by the quantum and thermal fluctuations of the electromagnetic field, with the aim of developing novel approaches for the manipulation of light and matter in the nanoscale. Among other achievements, we have developed the theoretical tools necessary to characterize the radiative heat transfer in ensembles of nanostructures, as well as the transfer of energy and momentum in pairs of rotating nanostructures. In a parallel effort, we have investigated the properties of the collective modes supported by periodic arrays and demonstrated that these modes can mediate a long-range energy transfer as well as act as light-to-heat transducers. We have also advanced in the characterization of the response of low-dimensional structures and their interaction with the fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. The outcomes of this research, which have been made public through the publication of 14 peer-reviewed articles and 18 invited contributions at international conferences, have laid the grounds for the development of new approaches to manipulate light-matter interactions based on the control of the fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. In addition to these advances, the training component of this project has had a significant impact. The direct participation of several students in the research tasks of this project has provided them with essential skills, particularly in problem-solving and computational modeling, that will undeniably enhance their prospects for future employment in research, academia, and industry.
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t \tLast Modified: 11/01/2023
\n\t\t\t\t\tModified by: Alejandro Manjavacas
\n
\n
\n
","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["The Journal of Physical Chemistry C~2023~127~Cerdán, Luis and Manjavacas, Alejandro~https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c07558~Analysis of the Limits of the Optical Response of a Metallic Nanoparticle with Gain~2371 to 2378~10401480~10401480~OSTI~2023-03-14 08:04:36.36","ACS Photonics~2023~10~Cerdán, Luis and Zundel, Lauren and Manjavacas, Alejandro~https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.3c00369~Chiral Lattice Resonances in 2.5-Dimensional Periodic Arrays with Achiral Unit Cells~10471777~10412598~OSTI~2024-10-20 04:00:31.116","Advanced Optical Materials~2022~10~Chen, Mingyuan and Sanders, Stephen and Shen, Jialiang and Li, Jiahan and Harris, Eli and Chen, ChengChien and Ma, Qiong and H_Edgar, James and Manjavacas, Alejandro and Dai, Siyuan~https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202102723~Altering the Reflection Phase for NanoPolaritons: A Case Study of Hyperbolic Surface Polaritons in Hexagonal Boron Nitride~10339492~10368760~OSTI~2025-10-06 08:00:43.846","New Journal of Physics~2021~23~Cuartero-González, Alvaro and Manjavacas, Alejandro and Fernández-Domínguez, Antonio I~https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac0199~Distortion of the local density of states in a plasmonic cavity by a quantum emitter~10319496~10319496~OSTI~2022-03-25 09:03:16.003","Physical Review Letters~2023~130~Deop-Ruano, Juan R. and Manjavacas, Alejandro~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.133605~Control of the Radiative Heat Transfer in a Pair of Rotating Nanostructures~10401482~10404136~OSTI~2024-03-29 00:07:30.103","Physical Review Applied~2022~18~Deop-Ruano, Juan R. and Sanders, Stephen and Alabastri, Alessandro and Kort-Kamp, Wilton J. and Dalvit, Diego A. and Manjavacas, Alejandro~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.18.044071~Optical Response of Periodic Arrays of Graphene Nanodisks~10401477~10401477~OSTI~2023-03-14 08:02:19.046","Physical Review Letters~2020~125~Muniz, Y. and Manjavacas, A. and Farina, C. and Dalvit, D.A.R. and Kort-Kamp, W.J.M.~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.033601~Two-Photon Spontaneous Emission in Atomically Thin Plasmonic Nanostructures~10205728~10205728~OSTI~2021-02-17 17:01:49.81","Physical Review Applied~2022~17~Sanders, Stephen and Dowran, Mohammadjavad and Jain, Umang and Lu, Tzu-Ming and Marino, Alberto M. and Manjavacas, Alejandro~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.17.014035~Lattice Resonances of Nanohole Arrays for Quantum Enhanced Sensing~10319495~10319495~OSTI~2022-03-25 09:03:14.903","Physical Review Letters~2021~126~Sanders, Stephen and Zundel, Lauren and Kort-Kamp, Wilton J.M. and Dalvit, Diego A.R. and Manjavacas, Alejandro~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.193601~Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer Eigenmodes~10213817~10213817~OSTI~2021-02-17 17:01:47.28","ACS Photonics~2022~9~Zundel, Lauren and Cuartero-González, Alvaro and Sanders, Stephen and Fernández-Domínguez, Antonio I. and Manjavacas, Alejandro~https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.1c01463~Green Tensor Analysis of Lattice Resonances in Periodic Arrays of Nanoparticles~10319497~10319497~OSTI~2022-03-25 09:03:14.736","ACS Omega~2022~7~Zundel, Lauren and Deop-Ruano, Juan R. and Martinez-Herrero, Rosario and Manjavacas, Alejandro~https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c03847~Lattice Resonances Excited by Finite-Width Light Beams~p. 31431-31441~10401479~10370653~OSTI~2023-04-27 08:01:09.306","Advanced Optical Materials~2022~10~Zundel, Lauren and Gieri, Paul and Sanders, Stephen and Manjavacas, Alejandro~https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202102550~Comparative Analysis of the Near and FarField Optical Response of Thin Plasmonic Nanostructures~10319494~10446107~OSTI~2025-10-07 00:05:10.006","ACS Photonics~2023~10~Zundel, Lauren and Malone, Kellen and Cerdán, Luis and Martínez-Herrero, Rosario and Manjavacas, Alejandro~https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.2c01610~Lattice Resonances for Thermoplasmonics~274 to 282~10401478~10401478~OSTI~2023-03-14 08:03:11.606","Physical Review Applied~2020~13~Zundel, Lauren and Manjavacas, Alejandro~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.13.054054~Active Temporal Control of Radiative Heat Transfer with Graphene Nanodisks~10158650~10158650~OSTI~2021-02-17 17:01:50.173"],"startDate":"05/01/2020","title":"CAREER: Transfer of Momentum and Energy in the Nanoscale Using Quantum and Thermal Fluctuations","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"F6XLTRUQJEN4"},{"abstractText":"This award funds the research activities of Professor Dimitra Karabali at Lehman College of the City University of New York. \r\n\r\nHigh-energy physics focuses on the fundamental building blocks of matter and their interactions. As part of her research, Professor Karabali aims to advance our understanding of the underlying theories describing these interactions, in particular Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the theory describing the forces between the quarks and gluons making up all atomic nuclei. Although QCD has been very successful in explaining a host of experimental data, there are certain effects to which these forces give rise which are of central importance and yet poorly understood. These include the mechanism by which quarks are bound together, producing massive composite objects. As part of this project, the PI will continue her work developing techniques that can lead to a better understanding of these effects. This project also aims to explore connections with fundamental problems in condensed-matter physics, such as the quantum Hall effect (QHE). The celebrated QHE, which is associated with systems of electrons in the presence of a strong magnetic field, has, over the years, provided a framework in which to study the interplay of many important theoretical ideas which are critical for eventually unifying gravity with the other fundamental forces of nature. As a result, the proposed research will advance the national interest by improving our knowledge of fundamental science. This project is also expected to have significant broader impacts. It will play an important role in fostering an active, scientifically oriented research environment at Lehman College, CUNY, a predominantly undergraduate, minority-serving institution, and in attracting students to physics and to undergraduate research. The project will also provide graduate-student training and foster collaboration between researchers at Lehman and City Colleges, CUNY. \r\n\r\nIn more technical terms, the key objectives of this proposal can be organized in two topics. The first is the Casimir effect and Yang-Mills theory. Here it will extend the study of Casimir energy within the framework of the Hamiltonian approach for Yang-Mills theories in two spatial dimensions, as another probe to study the nonperturbative features of the theory. The second is the quantum Hall effect on curved spaces and pair production. Here it will use the quantum Hall effect on curved spaces as a tool to study the effect of curvature on pair creation and vacuum instability.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK","awardeeAddress":"250 BEDFORD PARK BLVD W","awardeeCity":"BRONX","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"13","awardeeDistrictCode":"NY13","awardeeName":"Research Foundation Of The City University Of New York (Lehman)","awardeePhone":"7189608107","awardeeStateCode":"NY","awardeeZipCode":"104681527","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"08/16/2019","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"135000","expDate":"08/31/2023","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"Elem. Particle Physics/Theory","fundsObligated":["FY 2019 = $45,000.00","FY 2020 = $45,000.00","FY 2021 = $45,000.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"135000","histAwd":"false","id":"1915053","initAmendmentDate":"08/16/2019","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Magnetic field and curvature effects on pair production. II. Vectors and implications for chromodynamics","auth":"Karabali, D. and Kürkçüolu, S. and Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"10.1103/PhysRevD.100.065006","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"100","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10166684"},{"artTitl":"Magnetic field and curvature effects on pair production. I. Scalars and spinors","auth":"Karabali, D. and Kürkçüolu, S. and Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"10.1103/PhysRevD.100.065005","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"100","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10166678"},{"artTitl":"Aspects of higher dimensional quantum Hall effect: Bosonization, entanglement entropy","auth":"Karabali, Dimitra","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.22323/1.406.0237","jrnlTitl":"Corfu Summer Institute 2021 \"School and Workshops on Elementary Particle Physics and Gravity\" (CORFU2021) - Workshop on Quantum Geometry, Field Theory and Gravity","jrnlVol":"406","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10463454"},{"artTitl":"Entanglement entropy for integer quantum Hall effect in two and higher dimensions","auth":"Karabali, Dimitra","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.025016","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"102","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10274700"},{"artTitl":"Gauge and scalar fields on
: A gauge-invariant analysis. I. The effective action from","auth":"Karabali, Dimitra and Maj, Antonina and Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.085012","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"106","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10386216"},{"artTitl":"Gauge and scalar fields on
: A gauge-invariant analysis. II. The measure for gauge fields and a 4d WZW theory","auth":"Karabali, Dimitra and Maj, Antonina and Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.085013","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"106","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10440432"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"07/13/2021","managingPec":"128600","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"","pdPIName":"Dimitra Karabali","perfAddress":"250 Bedford Park Boulevard West","perfCity":"Bronx","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"13","perfDistrictCode":"NY13","perfLocation":"CUNY Herbert H. Lehman College","perfStateCode":"NY","perfZipCode":"104681589","pi":["Dimitra Karabali dimitra.karabali@lehman.cuny.edu"],"piEmail":"dimitra.karabali@lehman.cuny.edu","piFirstName":"Dimitra","piId":"000179866","piLastName":"Karabali","poEmail":"kdienes@nsf.gov","poName":"Keith Dienes","poPhone":"7032925314","primaryProgram":["01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"128600","program":"RES IN UNDERGRAD INST-RESEARCH","progRefCode":"9229","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
The main outcomes of this project are focused on two areas: nonperturbative aspects of gauge theories and higher dimensional quantum Hall effect (QHE).
\n
All fundamental interactions in nature are described in terms of gauge theories. One of them, Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), describes the nuclear forces binding the quarks and gluons into the protons and neutrons which in turn make up the atomic nuclei. QCD has been extensively studied over the last sixty years and its behavior at short distances, which can be considered as a perturbation on free quark and gluon dynamics, has been well understood and in agreement with experimental data. There are however many important phenomena, which go beyond such a perturbative analysis, such as the mechanism for confinement of quarks and gluons (namely the fact that they are not observed as free particles at large separations) and the generation of mass gap (the fact that all the excitations in the theory have a mass). The analytical understanding of such phenomena is one of the outstanding problems in high energy physics.
\n
The PI and collaborators introduced a special parametrization of the gauge fields in four dimensions which makes a nonperturbative calculation of important features of the theory more tractable. In particular we identified two important new terms: a gauge-invariant mass term and a Wess-Zumino-Witten term, which seems to be dominant in the long wavelength limit of the theory. We expect these terms to play a crucial role in understanding the emergence of mass gap and confinement in QCD and we are further investigating this.
\n
Another nonperturbative phenomenon in gauge theories is related to the Schwinger pair production. In this case the quantum vacuum in unstable in the presence of a strong external electric field, leading to a spontaneous production of electron-positron pairs. The PI and collaborators undertook a systematic study of how the presence of a magnetic field and the curvature of space itself influence the pair production rates for particles of different spin. Our results for spin-1 particles are suggestive of a dynamical view of confinement.
\n
This project also explored connections with fundamental problems in condensed matter physics, in particular aspects of quantum Hall effect (QHE). QHE is associated with systems of electrons in two spatial dimensions in the presence of a strong perpendicular magnetic field and low temperatures. The remarkable properties of QHE, such as the quantization of the Hall conductivity are tightly related to various topological properties. The PI and collaborators developed a framework to systematically extend QHE to higher dimensions, analyzed its dynamics and calculated various response functions to external fields. These results can in principle be tested in recent experimental realizations of higher dimensional QHE using synthetic dimensions. We believe our work provides a possible interface between theory and experiment for higher dimensional QHE ideas.
\n
This project also contributed towards the training of a graduate student who worked on parts of the project and further played an important role in fostering an active research environment at Lehman College, CUNY, a predominantly undergraduate, minority-serving institution.
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t \tLast Modified: 10/30/2023
\n\t\t\t\t\tModified by: Dimitra Karabali
\n
\n
\n
","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Physical Review D~2019~100~Karabali, D. and Kürkçüolu, S. and Nair, V. P.~10.1103/PhysRevD.100.065006~Magnetic field and curvature effects on pair production. II. Vectors and implications for chromodynamics~10166684~10166684~OSTI~2020-06-30 21:02:06.386","Physical Review D~2019~100~Karabali, D. and Kürkçüolu, S. and Nair, V. P.~10.1103/PhysRevD.100.065005~Magnetic field and curvature effects on pair production. I. Scalars and spinors~10166678~10166678~OSTI~2020-06-30 21:02:06.336","Corfu Summer Institute 2021 \"School and Workshops on Elementary Particle Physics and Gravity\" (CORFU2021) - Workshop on Quantum Geometry, Field Theory and Gravity~2022~406~Karabali, Dimitra~https://doi.org/10.22323/1.406.0237~Aspects of higher dimensional quantum Hall effect: Bosonization, entanglement entropy~237~10463454~10463454~OSTI~2023-09-18 12:59:50.833","Physical Review D~2020~102~Karabali, Dimitra~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.025016~Entanglement entropy for integer quantum Hall effect in two and higher dimensions~10274700~10274700~OSTI~2021-07-12 21:04:23.233","Physical Review D~2022~106~Karabali, Dimitra and Maj, Antonina and Nair, V. P.~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.085012~Gauge and scalar fields on
: A gauge-invariant analysis. I. The effective action from~10386216~10386216~OSTI~2023-10-30 06:17:44.676","Physical Review D~2022~106~Karabali, Dimitra and Maj, Antonina and Nair, V. P.~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.085013~Gauge and scalar fields on
: A gauge-invariant analysis. II. The measure for gauge fields and a 4d WZW theory~10440432~10440432~OSTI~2023-10-30 06:20:00.906"],"startDate":"09/01/2019","title":"RUI: Nonperturbative Analyses in Field Theory","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"DJ4SM8UQBHT7"},{"abstractText":"Our understanding of electrical charges and forces can break down when quantum effects play a role. For example, when two conductive plates or surfaces are brought together they either repel or attract each other depending on whether they have the same or opposite electric charges. If they are uncharged, there is no electrical force between them. However, this classical picture breaks down when the surfaces are brought very close together with a gap of a few nanometers. At that small distance the electric field between the surfaces exhibits quantum effects and there is a small but measureable force between them. This is called the Casimir effect, named after the scientist who explained how the quantized electromagnetic field results in a force between uncharged surfaces. Understanding various types of Casimir forces is important for our fundamental knowledge of quantum physics and for applications to materials used in micro- and nano-technologies. This project will study a phenomenon referred to as the Casimir torque in which the two surfaces are caused to rotate. The research team will demonstrate and quantify how materials with different optical properties experience the Casimir torque. \r\n \r\nDespite the pervasive nature of quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field and their influence on nanoscale science and engineering, control of fluctuation-induced phenomena is difficult. Here it is proposed to test several hypotheses and predictions related to the Casimir torque, which will lead to the generation of new knowledge about controlling these interactions. The first test will be of the hypothesis that the measured torque can be strengthened by increasing the optical anisotropy of the two materials. The second test will be of the hypothesis that the direction of rotation depends on whether the optical axis of a birefringent material has an index of refraction that is higher or lower than that of its extraordinary axis. The third will be to explore the idea of using the Casimir force to translate lateral motion into rotational motion. These experiments will not only advance the science related to quantum phenomena but will also lead to new experimental techniques.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS","awardeeAddress":"1850 RESEARCH PARK DR STE 300","awardeeCity":"DAVIS","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"04","awardeeDistrictCode":"CA04","awardeeName":"University of California-Davis","awardeePhone":"5307547700","awardeeStateCode":"CA","awardeeZipCode":"956186153","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"04/17/2020","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"156467","expDate":"08/31/2022","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"AMO Experiment/Atomic, Molecul","fundsObligated":["FY 2019 = $69,568.00","FY 2020 = $81,965.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"151533","histAwd":"false","id":"2019288","initAmendmentDate":"04/17/2020","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Recent progress in engineering the Casimir effect applications to nanophotonics, nanomechanics, and chemistry","auth":"Gong, Tao and Corrado, Matthew R. and Mahbub, Ahmed R. and Shelden, Calum and Munday, Jeremy N.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2020-0425","jrnlTitl":"Nanophotonics","jrnlVol":"10","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10292900"},{"artTitl":"A new twist on the quantum vacuum","auth":"Munday, Jeremy N.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4327","jrnlTitl":"Physics Today","jrnlVol":"72","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10388790"},{"artTitl":"Measurement of the Casimir torque","auth":"Somers, David A. and Garrett, Joseph L. and Palm, Kevin J. and Munday, Jeremy N.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0777-8","jrnlTitl":"Nature","jrnlVol":"564","jrnlYr":"2018","parPblcId":"10107968"},{"artTitl":"Recent developments on the Casimir torque","auth":"Spreng, Benjamin and Gong, Tao and Munday, Jeremy N.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X22410111","jrnlTitl":"International Journal of Modern Physics A","jrnlVol":"37","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10388789"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"10/20/2020","managingPec":"124100","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"","pdPIName":"Jeremy Munday","perfAddress":"","perfCity":"Davis","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"04","perfDistrictCode":"CA04","perfLocation":"University of California-Davis","perfStateCode":"CA","perfZipCode":"956186134","pi":["Jeremy Munday jnmunday@ucdavis.edu"],"piEmail":"jnmunday@ucdavis.edu","piFirstName":"Jeremy","piId":"269919509","piLastName":"Munday","poEmail":"","poName":"John D. Gillaspy","poPhone":"","primaryProgram":["01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"124100","program":"NANO NON-SOLIC SCI & ENG AWD, Optics and Photonics","progRefCode":"7237, 8990","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
The main focus of this project was to study a phenomenon known as the Casimir torque, which causes the rotation of an optically anisotropic material in close proximity to another anisotropic object. This torque is caused by quantum fluctuations of electromagnetic fields and can be controlled by modifying the material boundary conditions. During the project, we improved the sensitivity of our experimental setup and tested several hypotheses related to the Casimir torque.
\n
We found ways to engineer the torque by considering the strength of the dielectric anisotropy, the thickness of the plates being tested, and the effects of temperature. Thinner plates can lead to stronger torques, and the torque can be enhanced or suppressed by modifying the temperature. Further, the torque can be strengthened by increasing the optical anisotropy of the two materials being tested and that the direction of rotation depends on whether the optical axis of the birefringent material has an index of refraction that is higher or lower than that of its other axes.
\n
We found that by using two specific materials (barium borate and calcite), the sign of the torque (the direction of rotation) can be changed with separation. For example, at small separations, the high frequency terms contribute the most to the overall torque, resulting in rotation in a particular direction. At larger separations, the lower frequencies can give rise to a torque causing rotation in the opposite direction. We also found that the use of these two materials can give rise to two sign changes, meaning that at the closest separations (<100 nm) and the farthest separations (>500 nm) the torque is clockwise, whereas for intermediate separations it is counter-clockwise.
\n
In addition to the publications that resulted from this project, the PI also provided mentorship and training to graduate students and other researchers. One graduate student completed their PhD as part of the project, having received training in the lab as well as professional development skills such as writing, presenting, and mentoring. The project's PI gave several invited talks on the topic at various conferences and universities. The PI also developed and taught a new undergraduate course in quantum mechanics for engineers, which received high evaluations for its educational value and teaching effectiveness. In addition, the PI developed a webinar for Physics Today on the topic of Casimir forces and torques, which was widely viewed.
\n
Overall, the results of this project have broad implications for the understanding of quantum phenomena and the potential for developing new technologies based on the control of the Casimir torque and have furthered in the development and training of the next generation of researchers.
\n
\n\t\t\t\t \tLast Modified: 01/01/2023
\n\t\t\t\t\tModified by: Jeremy Munday
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tImage\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n- \n
![\"Casimir](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2022/2019288/2019288_10576079_1672511864212_Torque_image--rgov-66x44.jpg\")
\n\n
Depiction of the Casimir torque.
\n
Jeremy Munday
\n
Copyrighted
\n
Jeremy Munday
\n
Casimir torque
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Nanophotonics~2020~10~Gong, Tao and Corrado, Matthew R. and Mahbub, Ahmed R. and Shelden, Calum and Munday, Jeremy N.~https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2020-0425~Recent progress in engineering the Casimir effect applications to nanophotonics, nanomechanics, and chemistry~523 to 536~10292900~10292900~OSTI~2022-12-31 07:20:31.156","Physics Today~2019~72~Munday, Jeremy N.~https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4327~A new twist on the quantum vacuum~74 to 75~10388790~10388790~OSTI~2022-12-31 12:26:18.28","Nature~2018~564~Somers, David A. and Garrett, Joseph L. and Palm, Kevin J. and Munday, Jeremy N.~https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0777-8~Measurement of the Casimir torque~386 to 389~10107968~10107968~OSTI~2022-12-31 12:26:57.113","International Journal of Modern Physics A~2022~37~Spreng, Benjamin and Gong, Tao and Munday, Jeremy N.~https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X22410111~Recent developments on the Casimir torque~10388789~10388789~OSTI~2022-12-31 07:15:23.51"],"startDate":"09/01/2019","title":"Controlling the Casimir Torque","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"TX2DAGQPENZ5"},{"abstractText":"The subject of representation theory forms the mathematical basis for discussing symmetry. As an example, there are eight symmetries of a square, consisting of transformations like \"rotate by 90 degrees,\" or \"reflect across a diagonal line,\" and combinations of these. Each of these symmetries represents a transformation of the plane that leaves the square unchanged, and we say that the transformations of the plane form a representation of the symmetry group of the square. The symmetries of the square and other polygons are special examples of a family of groups called Coxeter groups, which capture and generalize the intuitive notion of a reflection group. In recent decades, mathematicians have discovered a rich theory of representations in which the object being acted on is not a plane (or some higher dimensional analogue), but rather a more structured sort of object, called a category. This project is concerned with the categorical representation theory of Coxeter groups and some closely related objects, called Hecke algebras, and connections to other areas of mathematics, such as the study of knots and links in topology.\r\n\r\nIn more detail, three interrelated objects will be studied: (a) categories of Soergel bimodules, (b) Hilbert schemes of points in the plane, and (c) Khovanov-Rozansky link homology. First, the investogator will continue to develop the theory of categorical diagonalization and apply the results to the categorified representation theory of Hecke algebras and quantum groups. This includes work on the categorified Casimir operator. As an application of categorical diagonalization, the full-twist Rouquier complex acting on categories of Soergel bimodules will be diagonalized, extending work already accomplished in type A. The resulting eigendecompositions present a method for approaching recent conjectures of Gorsky, Negut, and Rasmussen regarding a deep correspondence between Soergel bimodules and Hilbert schemes. The investigator will utilize categorical diagonalization, as well as recent computational breakthroughs, to work toward a proof of this correspondence. Finally, the Gorsky-Negut-Rasmussen correspondence makes several predictions regarding the structure of the triply graded Khovanov-Rozansky homology, which the investigator will explore using insights from the connection with Hilbert schemes.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY","awardeeAddress":"360 HUNTINGTON AVE","awardeeCity":"BOSTON","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"07","awardeeDistrictCode":"MA07","awardeeName":"Northeastern University","awardeePhone":"6173735600","awardeeStateCode":"MA","awardeeZipCode":"021155005","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"07/08/2020","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"DMS","estimatedTotalAmt":"21699","expDate":"11/30/2020","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"ALGEBRA,NUMBER THEORY,AND COM","fundsObligated":["FY 2017 = $21,699.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"21699","histAwd":"false","id":"2034516","initAmendmentDate":"07/08/2020","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Derived Traces of Soergel Categories","auth":"Gorsky, Eugene and Hogancamp, Matthew and Wedrich, Paul","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1093/imrn/rnab019","jrnlTitl":"International Mathematics Research Notices","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10228830"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"07/08/2020","managingPec":"126400","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03040000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Mathematical Sciences","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=dms","parentUeiNumber":"","pdPIName":"Matthew T Hogancamp","perfAddress":"360 Huntington Ave.","perfCity":"Boston","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"07","perfDistrictCode":"MA07","perfLocation":"Northeastern University","perfStateCode":"MA","perfZipCode":"021155005","pi":["Matthew T Hogancamp m.hogancamp@northeastern.edu"],"piEmail":"m.hogancamp@northeastern.edu","piFirstName":"Matthew","piId":"269891029","piLastName":"Hogancamp","piMiddeInitial":"T","poEmail":"mdouglas@nsf.gov","poName":"James Matthew Douglass","poPhone":"7032922467","primaryProgram":["01001718DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"126400","program":"","progRefCode":"","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
The objectives of this NSF funded project were to develop the theory of diagonalization of functors and apply this theory to categories appearing higher representation theory. In particular, the theory of categorical diagonalization should elucidate a connection (conjectured by Gorsky-Negut-Rasmussen) between Soergel bimodules and Hilbert schemes of points in the plane. Below we summarize the outcomes of NSF funded resesarch.
\n
With Ben Elias the PI provided a sufficient condition under which an endofunctor F acting on a category C is \"categorically diagonalizable\". This provides a deeper and more structured analogue of a well-known fact from linear algebra. We applied this theory to give a decomposition of the category of Soergel bimodules in type A into its eigencategories for the full-twist Rouquier complex. This construction also produces categorical analogues of Young idempotents in symmetric group algebras.
\n
With Eugene Gorsky, the PI constructed a new category, consisting of complexes of Soergel bimodules \"with curvature\". Rouquier complexes have curved analogues, from which one can build an analogue of Khovanov-Rozansky link homology (called \"y-ified Khovanov-Rozansky homology\"). We discovered that the y-ified Khovanov-Rozansky homology is better behaved (and easier to compute in some instances) than the usual Khovanov-Rozansky homology. We then gave an explicit relation between our link homology theory and Hilbert schemes of points in the plane. The precise connection involves our link homology theory evaluated on certain torus links (specifically, closures of positive powers of the full twist braid).
\n
With Eugene Gorsky and Paul Wedrich, the PI introduced a derived version of the \"horizontal trace\" construction, and showed by direct calculuation that the derived horizontal trace of the Soergel category in type A bears certain similarities with some category associated to Hilbert schemes of points in the plane.
\n
With Eugene Gorsky, Keita Nagane, Anton Mellit, the PI showed that the full-twist Rouquier complex has a special role from the perspective of category theory, namely, it is the Serre functor of the Soergel category. This further bolsters the importance of the full twist.
\n
With Anton Mellit, the PI has computed Khovanov-Rozansky homology of all positive torus links. These homologies are the main subjects in a series of conjectures by various authors (Gorsky, Negut, Oblomkov, Rasmessuen, Shende) relating homologies of torus links with certain constructions in algebraic geometry and representation theory. Our work builds on earlier work of Elias and the PI. Interestingly, a crucial role is played by the categorified symmetrizing idempotent, which appears as the eigenprojector with the \"largest\" eigenvalue in the categorical diagonalization of the full twist.
\n
In a solo project, the PI has developed a theory for producing categorical idempotents easily, which is similar in spirit to the bar construction for producing projective resolutions of modules.
\n
In another solo project, the PI has extended homological perturbation theory to complexes \"with curvature\". This technical work will support future investigations into the curved Soergel category and more.
\n
\n\t\t\t\t \tLast Modified: 11/30/2022
\n\t\t\t\t\tModified by: Matthew T Hogancamp
\n
\n
\n
","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["International Mathematics Research Notices~2021~Gorsky, Eugene and Hogancamp, Matthew and Wedrich, Paul~https://doi.org/10.1093/imrn/rnab019~Derived Traces of Soergel Categories~10228830~10228830~OSTI~2021-05-19 13:01:56.196"],"startDate":"07/31/2019","title":"Categorical Diagonalization, Representation Theory, and Link Homology","transType":"Standard Grant","ueiNumber":"HLTMVS2JZBS6"},{"abstractText":"Non-technical summary\r\nUnderstanding non-equilibrium dynamics in quantum systems has been a major focus in quantum physics and materials research. Applications range from manipulating thermal and electronic transport in solids to controlling information propagation in a quantum network that behaves like an interacting quantum system. Non-equilibrium dynamics is however not very well-understood in certain quantum materials, especially for those with strong interactions between constituents. To gain precise knowledge on the quantum dynamics of interest, a quantum material with precise local probes and control is highly desired. This CAREER award supports an experimental research and education program to assemble a designer quantum material for the exploration of elusive non-equilibrium quantum dynamics. The proposed material consists of an array of cold neutral atoms, each cooled to its quantum mechanical ground state, and controlled by novel potentials formed by optical, phononic and nanophotonic lattices to mimic various types of quantum materials. The project aims at inducing and probing a variety of quantum dynamical phenomena not previously realized. Success in this project will lead to advancement in controlling atomic quantum materials and in deeper understanding of quantum many-body and statistical physics. Due to broad experimental techniques involved in this research program, the project will provide solid research training for both graduate and undergraduate students. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Purdue Physics and Astronomy Outreach office, the project will initiate a secondary-grade outreach program aimed at improving the learning capital and STEM career orientation of underrepresented minority students.\r\n\r\nTechnical summary\r\nThis CAREER award supports an experimental research and education program to explore non-equilibrium dynamics in an atomic quantum gas using a state-of-the-art cold atom toolbox for optical, phononic, and nanophotonic lattice engineering. One thrust of this CAREER project is probing quantum critical dynamics of an atomic quantum gas in an optical lattice. In particular, the PI will employ a new experimental scheme to access a superfluid-to-Mott insulator quantum critical point, enabling various ways to explore critical thermodynamics and transport problems that have remained elusive to date. Furthermore, the PI will explore quasiparticle control to engineer a phononic band gap crystal in a superfluid quantum gas that can inhibit phonon transport, just as electronic band gaps do to electrons in solid state crystals. It can be engineered to manipulate thermal and entropy transport in a superfluid sample. The PI will perform dynamical control of the phononic crystals, therefore allowing for the exploration of phononic analogues of electrodynamics phenomena. For a long-term goal of this CAREER project on probing novel quantum dynamics, the PI will aim at further integrating ultracold atoms with nanophotonic lattices to form a designer hybrid material, where the atom-surface Casimir-Polder interaction provides a deep subwavelength lattice potential for entering new regimes of quantum dynamics. Success in this project will advance our knowledge in understanding quantum critical dynamics, provide valuable insights to quantum transport in phononic bandgap materials, and potentially lead to the observation of unexpected new quantum phenomena with a designer hybrid quantum material. The broad experimental techniques involved in this research program will provide solid research training for both graduate and undergraduate students. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Purdue Physics and Astronomy Outreach office, the project will initiate a secondary-grade outreach program, aimed at improving the learning capital and STEM career orientation of underrepresented minority students.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"PURDUE UNIVERSITY","awardeeAddress":"2550 NORTHWESTERN AVE # 1100","awardeeCity":"WEST LAFAYETTE","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"04","awardeeDistrictCode":"IN04","awardeeName":"Purdue University","awardeePhone":"7654941055","awardeeStateCode":"IN","awardeeZipCode":"47906","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"03/11/2019","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"550000","expDate":"07/31/2024","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"AMO Experiment/Atomic, Molecul","fundsObligated":["FY 2019 = $149,166.00","FY 2020 = $97,302.00","FY 2021 = $99,214.00","FY 2022 = $101,162.00","FY 2023 = $103,156.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"550000","histAwd":"false","id":"1848316","initAmendmentDate":"03/11/2019","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Observation of Quasiparticle Pair Production and Quantum Entanglement in Atomic Quantum Gases Quenched to an Attractive Interaction","auth":"Chen, Cheng-An and Khlebnikov, Sergei and Hung, Chen-Lung","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.060404","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"127","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10312986"},{"artTitl":"Trapped Atoms and Superradiance on an Integrated Nanophotonic Microring Circuit","auth":"Zhou, Xinchao and Tamura, Hikaru and Chang, Tzu-Han and Hung, Chen-Lung","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.031004","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review X","jrnlVol":"14","jrnlYr":"2024","parPblcId":"10537700"},{"artTitl":"Observation of self-oscillating supersonic flow across an acoustic horizon in two dimensions","auth":"Tamura, Hikaru and Khlebnikov, Sergei and Chen, Cheng-An and Hung, Chen-Lung","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/t2sn-kx99","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review A","jrnlVol":"112","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10704492"},{"artTitl":"Observation of Self-Patterned Defect Formation in Atomic Superfluidsfrom Ring Dark Solitons to Vortex Dipole Necklaces","auth":"Tamura, Hikaru and Chen, Cheng-An and Hung, Chen-Lung","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.13.031029","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review X","jrnlVol":"13","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10493374"},{"artTitl":"Observation of Scale Invariance in Two-Dimensional Matter-Wave Townes Solitons","auth":"Chen, Cheng-An and Hung, Chen-Lung","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.023604","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"127","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10312985"},{"artTitl":"Observation of Universal Quench Dynamics and Townes Soliton Formation from Modulational Instability in Two-Dimensional Bose Gases","auth":"Chen, Cheng-An and Hung, Chen-Lung","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.250401","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"125","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10208666"},{"artTitl":"Coupling Single Atoms to a Nanophotonic Whispering-Gallery-Mode Resonator via Optical Guiding","auth":"Zhou, Xinchao and Tamura, Hikaru and Chang, Tzu-Han and Hung, Chen-Lung","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.103601","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"130","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10493429"},{"artTitl":"Collapse of a Quantum Vortex in an Attractive Two-Dimensional Bose Gas","auth":"Banerjee, Sambit and Zhou, Kai and Tiwari, Shiva Kant and Tamura, Hikaru and Li, Rongjie and Kevrekidis, Panayotis and Mistakidis, Simeon I and Walther, Valentin and Hung, Chen-Lung","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/c6wx-zc9x","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"135","jrnlYr":"2025","parPblcId":"10634545"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"02/06/2023","managingPec":"124100","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"YRXVL4JYCEF5","pdPIName":"Chen-Lung Hung","perfAddress":"525 Northwestern Ave","perfCity":"West Lafayette","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"04","perfDistrictCode":"IN04","perfLocation":"Purdue University","perfStateCode":"IN","perfZipCode":"479072036","pi":["Chen-Lung Hung clhung@purdue.edu"],"piEmail":"clhung@purdue.edu","piFirstName":"Chen-Lung","piId":"269981626","piLastName":"Hung","poEmail":"","poName":"John D. Gillaspy","poPhone":"","primaryProgram":["01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"124100","program":"CAREER-Faculty Erly Career Dev, QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE, Optics and Photonics","progRefCode":"1045, 7203, 8990","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
This CAREER award developed a research program for exploring nonequilibrium dynamics of ultracold atoms trapped inside an optical box as well as on a photonic circuit. The supported research explored quantum quench dynamics of two-dimensional atomic superfluids and reported the first observations of multidimensional bright and dark solitons that are unstable to form under equilibrium—the so-called Townes solitons and ring dark solitons. The project measured the conditions leading to soliton and defect formation and studied the underlying self-patterning dynamics. The methodology and experiment techniques developed in this project open new possibilities to study nonequilibrium many-body dynamics and to access unstable quasi-stationary states through nonequilibrium quench dynamics. These findings advanced our understanding of nonlinear effects and self-patterning dynamics in quantum systems. Many observed phenomena could also find their classical counterparts in nonlinear optics, plasma physics, wave physics, and oceanography, thus offering us a broader view of quantum physics and classical nonlinear physics.
\n
Moreover, the research program supported the development of new laser cooling techniques to localize cold atoms on a nanophotonic optical circuit. The project observed large atom-photon interaction on a resonator formed by photonic ‘nanowires’ and realized cold atom-gated single photon routing on a photonic circuit. This research program opened a possible route for interdisciplinary collaboration between atomic physics and nanophotonics for future research in quantum science and technology.
\n
In addition, the CAREER award supported education programs for several Broader Impacts. The research component offered training opportunities for two postdoctoral scholars, six PhD theses, and eleven undergraduate research projects, preparing students and junior researchers for future careers in quantum science and technology. In collaboration with the Purdue Physics and Astronomy Outreach office, we developed two half-day outreach programs, and a 3D-printed Michelson Interferometer based on a prototype developed by the LIGO laboratory for broader outreach services. Specifically, we developed outreach instrument programs targeting middle and high school learners from central Indiana. To broaden the impact on a larger base of STEM learners, we held an instrument workshop at the AAPT Summer Meeting for college and high-school physics instructors, providing demo units and instructions on replicating the instrument in their own teaching labs.
\n
\n Last Modified: 09/04/2024
\nModified by: Chen-Lung Hung
\n
\n
\n","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Physical Review Letters~2021~127~Chen, Cheng-An and Khlebnikov, Sergei and Hung, Chen-Lung~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.060404~Observation of Quasiparticle Pair Production and Quantum Entanglement in Atomic Quantum Gases Quenched to an Attractive Interaction~10312986~10312986~OSTI~2024-03-04 17:39:47.976","Physical Review X~2024~14~Zhou, Xinchao and Tamura, Hikaru and Chang, Tzu-Han and Hung, Chen-Lung~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.031004~Trapped Atoms and Superradiance on an Integrated Nanophotonic Microring Circuit~N~10537700~10537700~OSTI~2024-09-03 00:42:10.056","Physical Review A~2025~112~Tamura, Hikaru and Khlebnikov, Sergei and Chen, Cheng-An and Hung, Chen-Lung~https://doi.org/10.1103/t2sn-kx99~Observation of self-oscillating supersonic flow across an acoustic horizon in two dimensions~N~10704492~10704492~OSTI~2026-08-06 16:27:23.11","Physical Review X~2023~13~Tamura, Hikaru and Chen, Cheng-An and Hung, Chen-Lung~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.13.031029~Observation of Self-Patterned Defect Formation in Atomic Superfluidsfrom Ring Dark Solitons to Vortex Dipole Necklaces~10493374~10493374~OSTI~2024-03-04 17:39:47.963","Physical Review Letters~2021~127~Chen, Cheng-An and Hung, Chen-Lung~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.023604~Observation of Scale Invariance in Two-Dimensional Matter-Wave Townes Solitons~10312985~10312985~OSTI~2024-03-04 17:39:47.983","Physical Review Letters~2020~125~Chen, Cheng-An and Hung, Chen-Lung~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.250401~Observation of Universal Quench Dynamics and Townes Soliton Formation from Modulational Instability in Two-Dimensional Bose Gases~10208666~10208666~OSTI~2024-03-04 17:39:47.986","Physical Review Letters~2023~130~Zhou, Xinchao and Tamura, Hikaru and Chang, Tzu-Han and Hung, Chen-Lung~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.103601~Coupling Single Atoms to a Nanophotonic Whispering-Gallery-Mode Resonator via Optical Guiding~10493429~10493429~OSTI~2024-03-04 17:39:47.97","Physical Review Letters~2025~135~Banerjee, Sambit and Zhou, Kai and Tiwari, Shiva Kant and Tamura, Hikaru and Li, Rongjie and Kevrekidis, Panayotis and Mistakidis, Simeon I and Walther, Valentin and Hung, Chen-Lung~https://doi.org/10.1103/c6wx-zc9x~Collapse of a Quantum Vortex in an Attractive Two-Dimensional Bose Gas~N~10634545~10634545~OSTI~2026-08-06 16:10:55.736"],"startDate":"03/15/2019","title":"CAREER: Probing Non-Equilibrium Dynamics with Ultracold Atoms in Optical, Phononic, and Photonic Lattices","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"YRXVL4JYCEF5"},{"abstractText":"This collaborative award funds the research activities of Professors Sebastian Franco and V.P. Nair at the City College of the City University of New York, and Professor Daniel Kabat at Lehman College of the City University of New York. \r\n\r\nThis project aims to further our understanding of nature at its most fundamental level, tackling questions in quantum field theory (QFT), gravity, and string theory. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will study the dynamics of QFT's in various dimensions, a topic of fundamental importance since QFT's provide a general framework through which physicists study subjects ranging from the behavior of the elementary particles to the physics of condensed matter. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will approach this problem from multiple perspectives, including the use of string-theoretic tools. They will also investigate the entanglement of quantum states --- a mysterious phenomenon that has bearing on diverse topics such as quantum computing and strange new phases of matter. As such, research in these directions advances the national interest by pushing forward the boundaries of fundamental science within the United States. This research also has significant broader impact components. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will actively involve undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral associates in their research, providing ideal training to junior physicists entering research in this field. This research project will also strengthen the close collaboration between City College and Lehman College. Maintaining a joint research program has had a positive impact on attracting students to these research areas, especially from minority and underrepresented groups which constitute a large part of the student body at both colleges. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will also continue and expand a broad outreach program that they established in recent years at City College, building partnerships with several local institutions which serve underprivileged populations. \r\n\r\nMore technically, the key objectives of this research can be organized into three areas: 1) Quantum field theory, its applications and variants including the Casimir effect, entanglement, noncommutative geometry and gravity, and infrared behavior of non-abelian gauge theories; 2) The dynamics and dualities of QFT's in various dimensions, and development and application of novel brane constructions for these purposes; and 3) String-theoretic investigations into nonperturbative D-brane instanton effects, reconstruction of bulk physics in the AdS/CFT correspondence, and holographic cosmology.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK","awardeeAddress":"160 CONVENT AVE","awardeeCity":"NEW YORK","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"13","awardeeDistrictCode":"NY13","awardeeName":"CUNY City College","awardeePhone":"2126505418","awardeeStateCode":"NY","awardeeZipCode":"100319101","cfdaNumber":"47.049","coPDPI":["Sebastian Franco sfranco@ccny.cuny.edu"],"date":"08/31/2018","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"480000","expDate":"08/31/2022","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"Elem. Particle Physics/Theory","fundsObligated":["FY 2018 = $480,000.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"480000","histAwd":"false","id":"1820721","initAmendmentDate":"08/31/2018","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"2d $$ \\mathcal{N} $$ = (0, 1) gauge theories and Spin(7) orientifolds","auth":"Franco, Sebastián and Mininno, Alessandro and Uranga, Ángel M. and Yu, Xingyang","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP03(2022)150","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2022","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10348253"},{"artTitl":"Magnetic field and curvature effects on pair production. II. Vectors and implications for chromodynamics","auth":"Karabali, D. and Kürkçüolu, S. and Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"10.1103/PhysRevD.100.065006","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"100","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10166684"},{"artTitl":"Calabi-Yau products: graded quivers for general toric Calabi-Yaus","auth":"Franco, Sebastián and Hasan, Azeem","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2021)174","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2021","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10232609"},{"artTitl":"Lagrangian disks in M-theory","auth":"Franco, Sebastían and Gukov, Sergei and Lee, Sangmin and Seong, Rak-Kyeong and Sparks, James","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP11(2020)033","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2020","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10285342"},{"artTitl":"Quivers, Lattice Gauge Theories, and Fractons","auth":"Franco, Sebastián and Rodríguez-Gómez, Diego","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.241603","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"128","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10348263"},{"artTitl":"Gauge and scalar fields on
: A gauge-invariant analysis. I. The effective action from","auth":"Karabali, Dimitra and Maj, Antonina and Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.085012","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"106","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10386216"},{"artTitl":"Casimir effect in (
)-dimensional Yang-Mills theory as a probe of the magnetic mass","auth":"Karabali, Dimitra and Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"10.1103/PhysRevD.98.105009","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"98","jrnlYr":"2018","parPblcId":"10109331"},{"artTitl":"Landau-Hall states and Berezin-Toeplitz quantization of matrix algebras","auth":"Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"10.1103/PhysRevD.102.025015","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"102","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10173117"},{"artTitl":"The Octagon and the non-supersymmetric string landscape","auth":"Argurio, Riccardo and Bertolini, Matteo and Franco, Sebastián and García-Valdecasas, Eduardo and Meynet, Shani and Pasternak, Antoine and Tatitscheff, Valdo","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2021.136153","jrnlTitl":"Physics Letters B","jrnlVol":"815","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10285344"},{"artTitl":"Dimers, orientifolds and stability of supersymmetry breaking vacua","auth":"Argurio, Riccardo and Bertolini, Matteo and Franco, Sebastián and García-Valdecasas, Eduardo and Meynet, Shani and Pasternak, Antoine and Tatitscheff, Valdo","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2021)061","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2021","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10232612"},{"artTitl":"Matter-gravity coupling for fuzzy geometry and the Landau-Hall problem","auth":"Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.105008","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"102","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10282211"},{"artTitl":"Quiver mutations, Seiberg duality, and machine learning","auth":"Bao, Jiakang and Franco, Sebastián and He, Yang-Hui and Hirst, Edward and Musiker, Gregg and Xiao, Yan","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.086013","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"102","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10232640"},{"artTitl":"Spin(7) orientifolds and 2d $$ \\mathcal{N} $$ = (0, 1) triality","auth":"Franco, Sebastián and Mininno, Alessandro and Uranga, Ángel M. and Yu, Xingyang","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2022)058","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2022","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10348254"},{"artTitl":"The Octagon at large M","auth":"Argurio, Riccardo and Bertolini, Matteo and Franco, Sebastián and García-Valdecasas, Eduardo and Meynet, Shani and Pasternak, Antoine and Tatitscheff, Valdo","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP11(2022)114","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2022","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10387020"},{"artTitl":"Entanglement for quantum Hall states and a generalized Chern-Simons form","auth":"Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"10.1103/PhysRevD.101.125021","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"101","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10173116"},{"artTitl":"2d Supersymmetric Gauge Theories, D-branes and Trialities","auth":"S. Franco","jrnlTitl":"Proceedings of Nankai Symposium on Mathematical Dialogues, celebrating the 110th anniversary of the birth of Prof. S.-S. Chern","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10387577"},{"artTitl":"Magnetic field and curvature effects on pair production. I. Scalars and spinors","auth":"Karabali, D. and Kürkçüolu, S. and Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"10.1103/PhysRevD.100.065005","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"100","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10166678"},{"artTitl":"BFT2: a general class of 2d $$ \\mathcal{N} $$ = (0, 2) theories, 3-manifolds and toric geometry","auth":"Franco, Sebastián and Yu, Xingyang","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP08(2022)277","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2022","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10387021"},{"artTitl":"Dimers, orientifolds and anomalies","auth":"Argurio, Riccardo and Bertolini, Matteo and Franco, Sebastián and García-Valdecasas, Eduardo and Meynet, Shani and Pasternak, Antoine and Tatitscheff, Valdo","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2021)153","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2021","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10232614"},{"artTitl":"Graded quivers, generalized dimer models and toric geometry","auth":"Franco, Sebastían and Hasan, Azeem","dgtlObjId":"10.1007/JHEP11(2019)104","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2019","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10163497"},{"artTitl":"Fano 3-folds, reflexive polytopes and brane brick models","auth":"Franco, Sebastián and Seong, Rak-Kyeong","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP08(2022)008","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2022","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10348265"},{"artTitl":"Topological terms and diffeomorphism anomalies in fluid dynamics and sigma models","auth":"Nair, V. P.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.103.085017","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"103","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10282213"},{"artTitl":"On the classification of duality webs for graded quivers","auth":"Franco, Sebastián and Hasan, Azeem and Yu, Xingyang","dgtlObjId":"10.1007/JHEP06(2020)130","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2020","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10165248"},{"artTitl":"Graded quivers and B-branes at Calabi-Yau singularities","auth":"Closset, Cyril and Franco, Sebastián and Guo, Jirui and Hasan, Azeem","dgtlObjId":"10.1007/JHEP03(2019)053","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2019","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10108038"},{"artTitl":"Aspects of boundary conditions for non-Abelian gauge theories","auth":"Balachandran, A. P. and Nair, V. P. and Vaidya, Sachindeo","dgtlObjId":"10.1103/PhysRevD.100.045001","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"100","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10109332"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"08/31/2018","managingPec":"128600","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"","pdPIName":"Parameswaran Nair","perfAddress":"Convent Avenue at 138th St","perfCity":"New York","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"13","perfDistrictCode":"NY13","perfLocation":"CUNY City College","perfStateCode":"NY","perfZipCode":"100319101","pi":["Parameswaran Nair vpnair@ccny.cuny.edu"],"piEmail":"vpnair@ccny.cuny.edu","piFirstName":"Parameswaran","piId":"000223965","piLastName":"Nair","poEmail":"kdienes@nsf.gov","poName":"Keith Dienes","poPhone":"7032925314","primaryProgram":["01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"128600","program":"","progRefCode":"","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
The basic paradigm for the interactions of fundamental particles is a gauge theory, which is a generalization of the symmetry structures behind electromagnetism. Except for the context of numerical simulations on a computer, the mathematical analysis of such theories has generally been based on perturbation theory, where one regards them as describing free particles with small corrections due to interactions. The method involves what is known as gauge-fixing and is inherently limited in scope. While adequate in certain contexts, it fails for many phenomena involving strong nuclear forces. Nair and collaborators introduced a new parametrization of the relevant fields on a complex projective space using techniques of group theory. (The transition from the projective space to ordinary flat space can be made in a straightforward way.) This has revealed some new features such as a possible mass term and a regime of the theory which could be described by what is known as a Wess-Zumino-Witten theory. These new features are currently being investigated further, and although technical, it is expected that they can help understand the theory beyond the perturbative limits.
\n
Another feature of gauge theories regarding nonperturbative phenomena is the duality between electric and magnetic type descriptions of the same theory. Although this fact has been appreciated for many years, a description with manifest duality has not been obtained. The work by Nair and collaborators has provided such a description albeit still restricted to the degrees of freedom on the boundary of the region of interest.
\n
A symmetry is labeled as anomalous if it is broken purely by quantum effects. The work by Nair and collaborators showed how anomalous symmetries can impact possible choices for the boundary values of various fluid variables such as density and velocity. This will be of import in physical situations for which a fluid description is a good approximation.
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t \tLast Modified: 12/22/2022
\n\t\t\t\t\tModified by: Sebastian Franco
\n
\n
\n
","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Journal of High Energy Physics~2022~2022~Franco, Sebastián and Mininno, Alessandro and Uranga, Ángel M. and Yu, Xingyang~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP03(2022)150~2d $$ \\mathcal{N} $$ = (0, 1) gauge theories and Spin(7) orientifolds~10348253~10348253~OSTI~2022-12-24 15:16:39.173","Physical Review D~2019~100~Karabali, D. and Kürkçüolu, S. and Nair, V. P.~10.1103/PhysRevD.100.065006~Magnetic field and curvature effects on pair production. II. Vectors and implications for chromodynamics~10166684~10166684~OSTI~2020-07-19 13:01:54.643","Journal of High Energy Physics~2021~2021~Franco, Sebastián and Hasan, Azeem~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2021)174~Calabi-Yau products: graded quivers for general toric Calabi-Yaus~10232609~10232609~OSTI~2021-08-09 01:03:25.233","Journal of High Energy Physics~2020~2020~Franco, Sebastían and Gukov, Sergei and Lee, Sangmin and Seong, Rak-Kyeong and Sparks, James~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP11(2020)033~Lagrangian disks in M-theory~10285342~10285342~OSTI~2021-08-09 01:03:27.61","Physical Review Letters~2022~128~Franco, Sebastián and Rodríguez-Gómez, Diego~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.241603~Quivers, Lattice Gauge Theories, and Fractons~10348263~10348263~OSTI~2023-06-01 21:33:41.596","Physical Review D~2022~106~Karabali, Dimitra and Maj, Antonina and Nair, V. P.~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.085012~Gauge and scalar fields on
: A gauge-invariant analysis. I. The effective action from~10386216~10386216~OSTI~2023-10-30 06:17:44.676","Physical Review D~2018~98~Karabali, Dimitra and Nair, V. P.~10.1103/PhysRevD.98.105009~Casimir effect in (
)-dimensional Yang-Mills theory as a probe of the magnetic mass~10109331~10109331~OSTI~2019-08-12 17:01:57.83","Physical Review D~2020~102~Nair, V. P.~10.1103/PhysRevD.102.025015~Landau-Hall states and Berezin-Toeplitz quantization of matrix algebras~10173117~10173117~OSTI~2020-07-19 13:01:50.24","Physics Letters B~2021~815~Argurio, Riccardo and Bertolini, Matteo and Franco, Sebastián and García-Valdecasas, Eduardo and Meynet, Shani and Pasternak, Antoine and Tatitscheff, Valdo~https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2021.136153~The Octagon and the non-supersymmetric string landscape~136153~10285344~10285344~OSTI~2021-08-09 01:03:24.18","Journal of High Energy Physics~2021~2021~Argurio, Riccardo and Bertolini, Matteo and Franco, Sebastián and García-Valdecasas, Eduardo and Meynet, Shani and Pasternak, Antoine and Tatitscheff, Valdo~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2021)061~Dimers, orientifolds and stability of supersymmetry breaking vacua~10232612~10232612~OSTI~2021-08-09 01:03:26.06","Physical Review D~2020~102~Nair, V. P.~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.105008~Matter-gravity coupling for fuzzy geometry and the Landau-Hall problem~10282211~10282211~OSTI~2021-07-31 17:03:29.626","Physical Review D~2020~102~Bao, Jiakang and Franco, Sebastián and He, Yang-Hui and Hirst, Edward and Musiker, Gregg and Xiao, Yan~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.086013~Quiver mutations, Seiberg duality, and machine learning~10232640~10232640~OSTI~2021-08-09 01:03:28.033","Journal of High Energy Physics~2022~2022~Franco, Sebastián and Mininno, Alessandro and Uranga, Ángel M. and Yu, Xingyang~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP01(2022)058~Spin(7) orientifolds and 2d $$ \\mathcal{N} $$ = (0, 1) triality~10348254~10348254~OSTI~2022-12-24 15:15:50.68","Journal of High Energy Physics~2022~2022~Argurio, Riccardo and Bertolini, Matteo and Franco, Sebastián and García-Valdecasas, Eduardo and Meynet, Shani and Pasternak, Antoine and Tatitscheff, Valdo~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP11(2022)114~The Octagon at large M~10387020~10387020~OSTI~2023-08-10 15:35:31.893","Physical Review D~2020~101~Nair, V. P.~10.1103/PhysRevD.101.125021~Entanglement for quantum Hall states and a generalized Chern-Simons form~10173116~10173116~OSTI~2020-07-19 13:01:50.853","Proceedings of Nankai Symposium on Mathematical Dialogues, celebrating the 110th anniversary of the birth of Prof. S.-S. Chern~2022~S. Franco~2d Supersymmetric Gauge Theories, D-branes and Trialities~10387577~10387577~OSTI~2022-12-24 15:24:17.623","Physical Review D~2019~100~Karabali, D. and Kürkçüolu, S. and Nair, V. P.~10.1103/PhysRevD.100.065005~Magnetic field and curvature effects on pair production. I. Scalars and spinors~10166678~10166678~OSTI~2020-07-19 13:01:54.61","Journal of High Energy Physics~2022~2022~Franco, Sebastián and Yu, Xingyang~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP08(2022)277~BFT2: a general class of 2d $$ \\mathcal{N} $$ = (0, 2) theories, 3-manifolds and toric geometry~10387021~10387021~OSTI~2023-06-01 21:32:09.013","Journal of High Energy Physics~2021~2021~Argurio, Riccardo and Bertolini, Matteo and Franco, Sebastián and García-Valdecasas, Eduardo and Meynet, Shani and Pasternak, Antoine and Tatitscheff, Valdo~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2021)153~Dimers, orientifolds and anomalies~10232614~10232614~OSTI~2021-08-09 01:03:24.923","Journal of High Energy Physics~2019~2019~Franco, Sebastían and Hasan, Azeem~10.1007/JHEP11(2019)104~Graded quivers, generalized dimer models and toric geometry~10163497~10163497~OSTI~2020-08-27 17:02:05.093","Journal of High Energy Physics~2022~2022~Franco, Sebastián and Seong, Rak-Kyeong~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP08(2022)008~Fano 3-folds, reflexive polytopes and brane brick models~10348265~10348265~OSTI~2023-06-01 21:30:08.13","Physical Review D~2021~103~Nair, V. P.~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.103.085017~Topological terms and diffeomorphism anomalies in fluid dynamics and sigma models~10282213~10282213~OSTI~2021-07-31 17:03:24.713","Journal of High Energy Physics~2020~2020~Franco, Sebastián and Hasan, Azeem and Yu, Xingyang~10.1007/JHEP06(2020)130~On the classification of duality webs for graded quivers~10165248~10165248~OSTI~2020-08-27 17:02:00.013","Journal of High Energy Physics~2019~2019~Closset, Cyril and Franco, Sebastián and Guo, Jirui and Hasan, Azeem~10.1007/JHEP03(2019)053~Graded quivers and B-branes at Calabi-Yau singularities~10108038~10108038~OSTI~2019-08-05 01:01:58.756","Physical Review D~2019~100~Balachandran, A. P. and Nair, V. P. and Vaidya, Sachindeo~10.1103/PhysRevD.100.045001~Aspects of boundary conditions for non-Abelian gauge theories~10109332~10109332~OSTI~2019-08-12 17:01:53.456"],"startDate":"09/01/2018","title":"Collaborative Research: Investigations in Strings, Fields and Gravity","transType":"Standard Grant","ueiNumber":"L952KGDMSLV5"},{"abstractText":"Our understanding of electrical charges and forces can break down when quantum effects play a role. For example, when two conductive plates or surfaces are brought together they either repel or attract each other depending on whether they have the same or opposite electric charges. If they are uncharged, there is no electrical force between them. However, this classical picture breaks down when the surfaces are brought very close together with a gap of a few nanometers. At that small distance the electric field between the surfaces exhibits quantum effects and there is a small but measureable force between them. This is called the Casimir effect, named after the scientist who explained how the quantized electromagnetic field results in a force between uncharged surfaces. Understanding various types of Casimir forces is important for our fundamental knowledge of quantum physics and for applications to materials used in micro- and nano-technologies. This project will study a phenomenon referred to as the Casimir torque in which the two surfaces are caused to rotate. The research team will demonstrate and quantify how materials with different optical properties experience the Casimir torque. \r\n \r\nDespite the pervasive nature of quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field and their influence on nanoscale science and engineering, control of fluctuation-induced phenomena is difficult. Here it is proposed to test several hypotheses and predictions related to the Casimir torque, which will lead to the generation of new knowledge about controlling these interactions. The first test will be of the hypothesis that the measured torque can be strengthened by increasing the optical anisotropy of the two materials. The second test will be of the hypothesis that the direction of rotation depends on whether the optical axis of a birefringent material has an index of refraction that is higher or lower than that of its extraordinary axis. The third will be to explore the idea of using the Casimir force to translate lateral motion into rotational motion. These experiments will not only advance the science related to quantum phenomena but will also lead to new experimental techniques.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK","awardeeAddress":"3112 LEE BUILDING","awardeeCity":"COLLEGE PARK","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"04","awardeeDistrictCode":"MD04","awardeeName":"University of Maryland, College Park","awardeePhone":"3014056269","awardeeStateCode":"MD","awardeeZipCode":"207425100","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"08/25/2018","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"240000","expDate":"05/31/2020","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"AMO Experiment/Atomic, Molecul","fundsObligated":["FY 2018 = $78,074.00","FY 2019 = $10,393.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"158035","histAwd":"false","id":"1806768","initAmendmentDate":"08/25/2018","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Measurement of the Casimir torque","auth":"Somers, David A. and Garrett, Joseph L. and Palm, Kevin J. and Munday, Jeremy N.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0777-8","jrnlTitl":"Nature","jrnlVol":"564","jrnlYr":"2018","parPblcId":"10107968"},{"artTitl":"A new twist on the quantum vacuum","auth":"Munday, Jeremy N.","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4327","jrnlTitl":"Physics Today","jrnlVol":"72","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10388790"},{"artTitl":"Recent progress in engineering the Casimir effect applications to nanophotonics, nanomechanics, and chemistry","auth":"Gong, Tao and Corrado, Matthew R. and Mahbub, Ahmed R. and Shelden, Calum and Munday, Jeremy N.","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2020-0425","jrnlTitl":"Nanophotonics","jrnlVol":"10","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10292900"},{"artTitl":"Recent developments on the Casimir torque","auth":"Spreng, Benjamin and Gong, Tao and Munday, Jeremy N.","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X22410111","jrnlTitl":"International Journal of Modern Physics A","jrnlVol":"37","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10388789"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"08/05/2019","managingPec":"124100","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"NPU8ULVAAS23","pdPIName":"Jeremy Munday","perfAddress":"Bldg. 223, 8279 Paint Branch Dr.","perfCity":"College Park","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"","perfDistrictCode":"MD","perfLocation":"University of Maryland College Park","perfStateCode":"MD","perfZipCode":"207423511","pi":["Jeremy Munday jnmunday@ucdavis.edu"],"piEmail":"jnmunday@ucdavis.edu","piFirstName":"Jeremy","piId":"269919509","piLastName":"Munday","poEmail":"","poName":"John D. Gillaspy","poPhone":"","primaryProgram":["01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"124100","program":"NANO NON-SOLIC SCI & ENG AWD, Optics and Photonics","progRefCode":"7237, 8990","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Nature~2018~564~Somers, David A. and Garrett, Joseph L. and Palm, Kevin J. and Munday, Jeremy N.~https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0777-8~Measurement of the Casimir torque~386 to 389~10107968~10107968~OSTI~2022-12-31 12:26:57.113","Physics Today~2019~72~Munday, Jeremy N.~https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.4327~A new twist on the quantum vacuum~N~74 to 75~10388790~10388790~OSTI~2022-12-31 12:26:18.28","Nanophotonics~2020~10~Gong, Tao and Corrado, Matthew R. and Mahbub, Ahmed R. and Shelden, Calum and Munday, Jeremy N.~https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2020-0425~Recent progress in engineering the Casimir effect applications to nanophotonics, nanomechanics, and chemistry~N~523 to 536~10292900~10292900~OSTI~2022-12-31 07:20:31.156","International Journal of Modern Physics A~2022~37~Spreng, Benjamin and Gong, Tao and Munday, Jeremy N.~https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X22410111~Recent developments on the Casimir torque~N~10388789~10388789~OSTI~2022-12-31 07:15:23.51"],"startDate":"09/01/2018","title":"Controlling the Casimir Torque","transType":"Continuing Grant","ueiNumber":"NPU8ULVAAS23"},{"abstractText":"This RUI award funds the research activities of Professor Noah Graham at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. \r\n\r\nWe learn about our world via the reflection, transmission, and absorption of waves, from the light scattered by a blue sky to the rumble of seismic waves through the earth. As a result, the mathematical and computational tools for analyzing wave scattering play an essential role in our scientific and technological infrastructure. This research will develop and extend techniques of scattering theory and apply them both to answer questions about fundamental laws of physics and to analyze and design experiments studying microelectromechanical systems in nanotechnology. Because of the fundamental role scattering theory plays across science and engineering, this research is accessible to and provides valuable training for undergraduate students planning careers in a wide range of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The project will thus promote key national priorities through both advances in fundamental and applied research and in building the core technical capabilities of the next generation of scientists and engineers. Through education and outreach, the impact of this project will extend beyond the students directly involved to the broader college and local community as well.\r\n\r\nMore specifically, this research will develop extensions of the variable phase method in analytic scattering theory and then use these techniques to address subtle questions in quantum field theory. These applications include computations of quantum corrections to the energies and charges of magnetic monopoles in models of particle physics, analysis of the effects of quantum fluctuations in curved spacetime and their consequences for general relativity and quantum gravity, and precise determination of Casimir forces in systems relevant to nanotechnology. Because it reduces problems in quantum field theory to the simpler and more familiar properties of wave scattering, this approach offers significant opportunities for undergraduate students working on this research to build broadly applicable scientific and technical skills, as well as opportunities for pedagogical integration of this research with the physics curriculum.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE","awardeeAddress":"9 OLD CHAPEL RD","awardeeCity":"MIDDLEBURY","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"00","awardeeDistrictCode":"VT00","awardeeName":"Middlebury College","awardeePhone":"8024435000","awardeeStateCode":"VT","awardeeZipCode":"05753","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"08/28/2018","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"120000","expDate":"08/31/2022","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"Integrative Activities in Phys, Elem. Particle Physics/Theory","fundsObligated":["FY 2018 = $120,000.00","FY 2021 = $23,026.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"143026","histAwd":"false","id":"1820700","initAmendmentDate":"08/28/2018","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Something Can Come of Nothing: Surface Approaches to Quantum Fluctuations and the Casimir Force","auth":"Bimonte, Giuseppe and Emig, Thorsten and Graham, Noah and Kardar, Mehran","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-nucl-111119-012402","jrnlTitl":"Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science","jrnlVol":"72","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10354599"},{"artTitl":"Equilibrium forces on nonreciprocal materials","auth":"Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, David and Graham, Noah and Kardar, Mehran and Krüger, Matthias","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.115106","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review B","jrnlVol":"106","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10354581"},{"artTitl":"Near Field Propulsion Forces from Nonreciprocal Media","auth":"Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, David and Graham, Noah and Kardar, Mehran and Krüger, Matthias","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.170401","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"126","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10267268"},{"artTitl":"Quantum corrections to soliton energies","auth":"Graham, N. and Weigel, H.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X22410044","jrnlTitl":"International Journal of Modern Physics A","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10353730"},{"artTitl":"Quantum energies of BPS vortices in
and
","auth":"Graham, N. and Weigel, H.","authIndCode":"N","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.076013","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"106","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10410516"},{"artTitl":"Vacuum polarization energy of a complex scalar field in a vortex background","auth":"Graham, N. and Weigel, H.","dgtlObjId":"10.1103/PhysRevD.101.076006","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"101","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10157971"},{"artTitl":"Winding number dependence of quantum vortex energies at one-loop","auth":"Graham, N. and Weigel, H.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.L011901","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"104","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10273880"},{"artTitl":"Schwarzschild quantum fluctuations from Regge-Wheeler scattering","auth":"Graham, Noah","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.99.025005","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"99","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10082873"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"06/24/2021","managingPec":"128600","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"N1ACHB9PNN93","pdPIName":"Noah M Graham","perfAddress":"14 OLD CHAPEL ROAD","perfCity":"MIDDLEBURY","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"00","perfDistrictCode":"VT00","perfLocation":"Middlebury College","perfStateCode":"VT","perfZipCode":"057536000","pi":["Noah M Graham ngraham@middlebury.edu"],"piEmail":"ngraham@middlebury.edu","piFirstName":"Noah","piId":"269734797","piLastName":"Graham","piMiddeInitial":"M","poEmail":"kdienes@nsf.gov","poName":"Keith Dienes","poPhone":"7032925314","primaryProgram":["01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"913400, 128600","program":"COVID-Disproportionate Impcts Inst-Indiv, Nanoscale Research-for PHY use only, RES IN UNDERGRAD INST-RESEARCH","progRefCode":"102Z, 1767, 9229","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
This award has supported advances in quantum field theory and provided opportunities for undergraduate physics students to participate meaningfully in research.
While the laws of classical physics are usually adequate to describe the world as we encounter it in everyday life, we know that they are only an approximation to the more accurate picture provided by quantum mechanics. This project has focused on research into a variety of phenomena for which these quantum effects can play a pivotal role. The central tool used in these analyses is scattering theory, which describes how an incident light beam or other wave is reflected and transmitted from an object. Scattering data form a bridge between the classical and quantum worlds, by expressing the effects of quantum fluctuations in terms of the set of all possible scattering events.
At distances comparable to the wavelength of visible light, quantum fluctuations give rise to Casimir forces between uncharged bodies that classically would not interact with one another. Modern experimental technology has made precision measurements of these forces possible, allowing for investigations of the role they could play in the design of the next generation of microelectromechanical devices. Casimir forces and associated heat transfer can both provide novel mechanisms for the functioning of these devices and give rise to unwanted frictional effects. My collaborators and I have carried out calculations showing the capabilities and limitations of non-reciprocal materials, for which the reflection and transmission amplitudes for wave scattering are not the same when the process is reversed. Because such materials break symmetries obeyed by ordinary materials, they can give rise to Casimir effects that those symmetries prohibit. We showed how to use non-reciprocal Casimir forces to construct a heat engine from bodies at different temperatures, while for objects at the same temperature we showed that the resulting force remains reciprocal, but can give rise to repulsion and stable equilibrium in situations where these phenomena are ruled out for reciprocal objects.
When a strong magnetic field is applied to a superconductor, the field can penetrate the superconductor in quantized filaments known as Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen vortices. They are characterized by their magnetic flux, which mathematically is described through a topological winding number. Depending on the properties of the superconductor, these vortices will attract, coalescing into a single flux tube, or repel, forming a lattice of evenly separated unit vortices. At the classical borderline between these cases, this behavior is determined by quantum corrections to the classical picture. This research has carried out the first calculations of quantum corrections in which one can study the dependence of these quantum corrections on winding number. We find that that, like the classical energy, they scale linearly with magnetic flux but favor vortex binding. The scattering theory approach makes feasible the complex calculations in renormalized quantum field theory, which require careful combination of formally divergent quantities to obtain an unambiguous finite result.
Quantum fluctuations outside of a black hole probe the interface between quantum mechanics and general relativity as illustrated by the appearance of Hawking radiation. New scattering theory approaches developed in this research have expanded and generalized the capabilities of previous calculations for a Schwarzschild black hole, while reducing the need for complex intermediate approximations.
A total of four summer research students were supported by this grant, one of whom continued work over two summers. All were able to build directly on their physics coursework, extending both their knowledge of that material and their broader intellectual capabilities in carrying out independent research. Along the way, they also gained practical experience in programming and computer science. Two are now in graduate school pursuing Ph. D. degrees, one in physics and one in mathematics, while the other two are current Middlebury students, one of whom is planning a dual undergraduate degree in engineering.
\n
\n\t\t\t\t \tLast Modified: 09/19/2022
\n\t\t\t\t\tModified by: Noah M Graham
\n
\n
\n
","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science~2022~72~Bimonte, Giuseppe and Emig, Thorsten and Graham, Noah and Kardar, Mehran~https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-nucl-111119-012402~Something Can Come of Nothing: Surface Approaches to Quantum Fluctuations and the Casimir Force~10354599~10354599~OSTI~2022-09-07 13:03:15.343","Physical Review B~2022~106~Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, David and Graham, Noah and Kardar, Mehran and Krüger, Matthias~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.115106~Equilibrium forces on nonreciprocal materials~10354581~10354581~OSTI~2022-09-07 01:03:17.82","Physical Review Letters~2021~126~Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, David and Graham, Noah and Kardar, Mehran and Krüger, Matthias~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.170401~Near Field Propulsion Forces from Nonreciprocal Media~10267268~10267268~OSTI~2021-07-02 17:03:30.336","International Journal of Modern Physics A~2022~Graham, N. and Weigel, H.~https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217751X22410044~Quantum corrections to soliton energies~10353730~10353730~OSTI~2022-09-01 21:03:35.01","Physical Review D~2022~106~Graham, N. and Weigel, H.~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.076013~Quantum energies of BPS vortices in
and
~N~10410516~10410516~OSTI~2023-05-02 09:46:08.08","Physical Review D~2020~101~Graham, N. and Weigel, H.~10.1103/PhysRevD.101.076006~Vacuum polarization energy of a complex scalar field in a vortex background~10157971~10157971~OSTI~2020-06-02 13:01:55.836","Physical Review D~2021~104~Graham, N. and Weigel, H.~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.L011901~Winding number dependence of quantum vortex energies at one-loop~10273880~10273880~OSTI~2021-07-09 13:03:22.09","Physical Review D~2019~99~Graham, Noah~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.99.025005~Schwarzschild quantum fluctuations from Regge-Wheeler scattering~10096164~10082873~OSTI~2019-06-03 13:01:57.633"],"startDate":"09/01/2018","title":"RUI: Scattering Approach to Quantum Fluctuations: Casimir Forces, Curved Spacetime, and Solitons","transType":"Standard Grant","ueiNumber":"N1ACHB9PNN93"},{"abstractText":"This collaborative award funds the research activities of Professors Sebastian Franco and V.P. Nair at the City College of the City University of New York, and Professor Daniel Kabat at Lehman College of the City University of New York. \r\n\r\nThis project aims to further our understanding of nature at its most fundamental level, tackling questions in quantum field theory (QFT), gravity, and string theory. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will study the dynamics of QFT's in various dimensions, a topic of fundamental importance since QFT's provide a general framework through which physicists study subjects ranging from the behavior of the elementary particles to the physics of condensed matter. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will approach this problem from multiple perspectives, including the use of string-theoretic tools. They will also investigate the entanglement of quantum states --- a mysterious phenomenon that has bearing on diverse topics such as quantum computing and strange new phases of matter. As such, research in these directions advances the national interest by pushing forward the boundaries of fundamental science within the United States. This research also has significant broader impact components. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will actively involve undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral associates in their research, providing ideal training to junior physicists entering research in this field. This research project will also strengthen the close collaboration between City College and Lehman College. Maintaining a joint research program has had a positive impact on attracting students to these research areas, especially from minority and underrepresented groups which constitute a large part of the student body at both colleges. Professors Franco, Nair, and Kabat will also continue and expand a broad outreach program that they established in recent years at City College, building partnerships with several local institutions which serve underprivileged populations. \r\n\r\nMore technically, the key objectives of this research can be organized into three areas: 1) Quantum field theory, its applications and variants including the Casimir effect, entanglement, noncommutative geometry and gravity, and infrared behavior of non-abelian gauge theories; 2) The dynamics and dualities of QFT's in various dimensions, and development and application of novel brane constructions for these purposes; and 3) String-theoretic investigations into nonperturbative D-brane instanton effects, reconstruction of bulk physics in the AdS/CFT correspondence, and holographic cosmology.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK","awardeeAddress":"250 BEDFORD PARK BLVD W","awardeeCity":"BRONX","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"13","awardeeDistrictCode":"NY13","awardeeName":"Research Foundation Of The City University Of New York (Lehman)","awardeePhone":"7189608107","awardeeStateCode":"NY","awardeeZipCode":"104681527","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"08/31/2018","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"PHY","estimatedTotalAmt":"210000","expDate":"08/31/2022","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"Elem. Particle Physics/Theory","fundsObligated":["FY 2018 = $210,000.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"210000","histAwd":"false","id":"1820734","initAmendmentDate":"08/31/2018","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Quantum chaos in a weakly-coupled field theory with nonlocality","auth":"Fischler, Willy and Guglielmo, Tyler and Nguyen, Phuc","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2022)097","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2022","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10356354"},{"artTitl":"Bulk reconstruction for spinor fields in AdS/CFT","auth":"Foit, Valentino F. and Kabat, Daniel and Lifschytz, Gilad","dgtlObjId":"10.1007/JHEP02(2020)129","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2020","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10181196"},{"artTitl":"Checking volume-law entropy with Hubeny-Rangamani-Takayanagi surfaces","auth":"Guglielmo, Tyler and Nguyen, Phuc","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.126004","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review D","jrnlVol":"105","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10344814"},{"artTitl":"Black hole hair from scalar dark matter","auth":"Hui, Lam and Kabat, Daniel and Li, Xinyu and Santoni, Luca and Wong, Sam S.C.","dgtlObjId":"10.1088/1475-7516/2019/06/038","jrnlTitl":"Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics","jrnlVol":"2019","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10110708"},{"artTitl":"Quasinormal modes, echoes and the causal structure of the Green's function","auth":"Hui, Lam and Kabat, Daniel and Wong, Sam S.C.","dgtlObjId":"10.1088/1475-7516/2019/12/020","jrnlTitl":"Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics","jrnlVol":"2019","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10181191"},{"artTitl":"Light-ray moments as endpoint contributions to modular Hamiltonians","auth":"Kabat, Daniel and Lifschyt, Gilad and Nguyen, Phuc and Sarkar, Debajyoti","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2021)074","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2021","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10344815"},{"artTitl":"Dressing bulk fields in AdS3","auth":"Kabat, Daniel and Lifschytz, Gilad","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2020)189","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2020","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10285035"},{"artTitl":"Emergence of spacetime from the algebra of total modular Hamiltonians","auth":"Kabat, Daniel and Lifschytz, Gilad","dgtlObjId":"10.1007/JHEP05(2019)017","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2019","jrnlYr":"2019","parPblcId":"10110709"},{"artTitl":"Endpoint contributions to excited-state modular Hamiltonians","auth":"Kabat, Daniel and Lifschytz, Gilad and Nguyen, Phuc and Sarkar, Debajyoti","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP12(2020)128","jrnlTitl":"Journal of High Energy Physics","jrnlVol":"2020","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10285037"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"08/31/2018","managingPec":"128600","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03010000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Physics","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=phy","parentUeiNumber":"","pdPIName":"Daniel Kabat","perfAddress":"250 Bedford Park Blvd W","perfCity":"Bronx","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"13","perfDistrictCode":"NY13","perfLocation":"Lehman College","perfStateCode":"NY","perfZipCode":"104681527","pi":["Daniel Kabat daniel.kabat@lehman.cuny.edu"],"piEmail":"daniel.kabat@lehman.cuny.edu","piFirstName":"Daniel","piId":"269692470","piLastName":"Kabat","poEmail":"kdienes@nsf.gov","poName":"Keith Dienes","poPhone":"7032925314","primaryProgram":["01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT"],"progEleCode":"128600","program":"","progRefCode":"","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
Gravity is both the simplest and most familiar, and the most involved and mysterious, of all the fundamental forces in nature.
\n
Gravity is surely the most familiar force as it's the one we experience in everyday life. At first it seems pretty simple, since in everyday life gravity can be summarized by saying that all objects fall to earth with the same constant acceleration.
\n
Extrapolating to large distances Einstein found that gravity can be understood as the bending of space and time. This means gravity controls the overall shape and growth of our universe, and it opens up the possibility of regions (black holes) where gravity is so strong that even light can't escape.
\n
Extrapolating to small distances we know that gravity must merge into the quantum world. How it does this is a mystery. A particularly promising approach to reconciling gravity and quantum mechanics developed out of string theory. It is known as the \"AdS/CFT correspondence\".
\n
The research funded by this award sought to improve our understanding of gravity through a series of theoretical investigations. For the most part we focused on the AdS/CFT correspondence. One significant development was a new understanding of how space and time arise from the correspondence. The correspondence can be set up using an \"operator algebra\" -- a sort of generalization of the familiar rules of algebra to a new and more complicated setting -- and in this approach the shape of space and time captures certain aspects of the structure of the operator algebra.
\n
Most of the research focused on the AdS/CFT correspondence. For example we carried out mathematical work to understand the structure of the algebra better, and we showed how a \"spin-1/2\" particle like an electron can be described using the correspondence.
\n
In addition to the AdS/CFT correspondence, we explored several other aspects of gravity. In particular we explored the interplay of gravity with dark matter. We know that most matter in our galaxy is invisible or \"dark\". Although it emits no light, dark matter should still feel the pull of gravity. It should be attracted to the black hole at the center of our galaxy. We studied this theoretically and developed a quite general understanding of the way in which a particular type of \"axion-like\" dark matter builds up around (and falls into) a black hole.
\n
This award had significant broader impacts, in particular in education and training. Three postdocs and two graduate students were involved in the research, receiving valuable training and experience as a result. There was outreach beyond the scientific community as well, including guest lectures at college classes and public talks at Bronx institutions. By providing students with exposure to advanced scientific research, especially at a minority-serving institution like Lehman College, this award helped develop a broad and deep interest in science that will pay dividends for years to come.
\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t \tLast Modified: 09/19/2022
\n\t\t\t\t\tModified by: Daniel Kabat
\n
\n
\n
","publicAccessMandate":"1","publicationResearch":["Journal of High Energy Physics~2022~2022~Fischler, Willy and Guglielmo, Tyler and Nguyen, Phuc~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2022)097~Quantum chaos in a weakly-coupled field theory with nonlocality~10356354~10356354~OSTI~2023-12-21 10:22:32.193","Journal of High Energy Physics~2020~2020~Foit, Valentino F. and Kabat, Daniel and Lifschytz, Gilad~10.1007/JHEP02(2020)129~Bulk reconstruction for spinor fields in AdS/CFT~10181196~10181196~OSTI~2020-08-05 13:02:04.56","Physical Review D~2022~105~Guglielmo, Tyler and Nguyen, Phuc~https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.126004~Checking volume-law entropy with Hubeny-Rangamani-Takayanagi surfaces~10344814~10344814~OSTI~2022-07-31 17:03:16.71","Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics~2019~2019~Hui, Lam and Kabat, Daniel and Li, Xinyu and Santoni, Luca and Wong, Sam S.C.~10.1088/1475-7516/2019/06/038~Black hole hair from scalar dark matter~038 to 038~10110708~10110708~OSTI~2019-08-23 03:01:51.76","Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics~2019~2019~Hui, Lam and Kabat, Daniel and Wong, Sam S.C.~10.1088/1475-7516/2019/12/020~Quasinormal modes, echoes and the causal structure of the Green's function~020 to 020~10181191~10181191~OSTI~2020-08-05 13:02:07.423","Journal of High Energy Physics~2021~2021~Kabat, Daniel and Lifschyt, Gilad and Nguyen, Phuc and Sarkar, Debajyoti~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2021)074~Light-ray moments as endpoint contributions to modular Hamiltonians~10344815~10344815~OSTI~2022-07-31 17:03:22.833","Journal of High Energy Physics~2020~2020~Kabat, Daniel and Lifschytz, Gilad~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP10(2020)189~Dressing bulk fields in AdS3~10285035~10285035~OSTI~2021-08-06 21:03:45.09","Journal of High Energy Physics~2019~2019~Kabat, Daniel and Lifschytz, Gilad~10.1007/JHEP05(2019)017~Emergence of spacetime from the algebra of total modular Hamiltonians~10110709~10110709~OSTI~2019-08-23 03:01:52.253","Journal of High Energy Physics~2020~2020~Kabat, Daniel and Lifschytz, Gilad and Nguyen, Phuc and Sarkar, Debajyoti~https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP12(2020)128~Endpoint contributions to excited-state modular Hamiltonians~10285037~10285037~OSTI~2021-08-06 21:03:43.016"],"startDate":"09/01/2018","title":"Collaborative Research: Investigations in Strings, Fields and Gravity","transType":"Standard Grant","ueiNumber":"DJ4SM8UQBHT7"},{"abstractText":"NONTECHNICAL SUMMARY\r\nThis award supports theoretical and computational research and education to advance understanding of how the spectrum of light from atoms, molecules, quantum dots, and other nanostructures is affected by interaction with a substrate. The PI will focus on a substrate that is made of an array of closely packed nanoscale cylinders of carbon with diameters on the scale of nanometers and up to about a centimeter in length. These carbon nanotubes resemble rolled \"chicken wire\" on the nanoscale with carbon atoms at the vertices. By adjusting the carbon nanotube structure, the electronic properties of the substrate can be controlled and so the properties, including the optical properties, of the nearby molecule or quantum dot, including how they emit light, can also be controlled. The PI will use a theoretical approach based on quantum mechanics, solid state physics, and optics combined with computer simulations to understand qualitatively and quantitatively how this system may be used for molecular sensing, controlling chemical reactions, as a sensitive probe of the electromagnetic and optical properties of molecules and nanostructures, tunable light sources, and other possible applications. \r\nThis project is aimed to provide theoretical understanding of capabilities and practical guidance for the experimental development of these closely packed periodically aligned carbon nanotube arrays - ultrathin multifunctional metasurfaces - a new flexible advanced photonic metamaterial platform with the near-field characteristics adjustable on demand by means of the nanotube diameter, chirality and periodicity variation. \r\nThis award supports training a new generation of scientists and engineers capable of harnessing the opportunities presented by nanomaterials for new technologies and to better understand the world around us. This theory and simulation project will help to shape the graduate curriculum of the Department of Mathematics and Physics at North Carolina Central University, the nation's first state-supported public liberal arts college for African Americans. Relevant graduate courses offered by the Department will be revised and enhanced to include aspects of low-dimensional carbon nanomaterials inspired in part by the research. Advanced graduate students will have opportunities to participate in cutting-edge research, attend research symposia, present seminars, and develop Master's theses. Increased exposure of students to this exciting and rapidly expanding field of nanotechnology will lead to increased participation of underrepresented minority students in scientific careers and in graduate studies in scientific fields. This project will thus contribute to broadening the diversity of the next generation of scientists, researchers and engineers and to directly address national needs in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.\r\n\r\nNONTECHNICAL SUMMARY\r\nThis award supports theoretical and computational research and education to advance the fundamental theoretical understanding of near-field interactions and quantum processes in planar closely packed periodically aligned carbon nanotube arrays. Intrinsic mechanisms of plasmon enhanced spectroscopic detection, molecular sensing, and control will be studied using rigorous methods of theoretical solid-state physics, quantum electrodynamics and quantum optics, combined with computer modeling and simulations. Carbon nanotubes have been successfully integrated into miniaturized electronic, electromechanical, and chemical devices, scanning probes, and into nanocomposite materials, offering extraordinary stability, flexibility, and precise tunability of their physical properties. Recent progress in the fabrication of closely packed periodically aligned carbon nanotube arrays opens new opportunities and challenges to develop new material functionalities with these highly anisotropic ultrathin metamaterial structures. Plasmonic bands form because of the nanotube array periodicity, and so the planar closely packed periodic carbon nanotube arrays should behave as epsilon-near-zero plasmonic metasurfaces in the near field while remaining strong light absorbers and polarizers in the far field. The spatial anisotropy and the periodic in-plane transverse inhomogeneity of the array make the electromagnetic field in its vicinity anisotropic and nonlocal, adding both extra flexibility in designing the arrays with desired electromagnetic properties and extra challenges in developing the problem theoretically. Plasmon generated near fields can strengthen weak electronic and/or vibrational molecular transitions to enhance low-energy absorption, scattering and chemical reactivity features for molecules near the planar nanotube array. This project will be focusing on the quantum theory development for near-field electromagnetic absorption and far-field reflection/scattering by extrinsic emitters coupled to spatially anisotropic, periodically inhomogeneous, dissipative magneto-dielectric environment in close proximity to the periodic carbon nanotube array. Process cross-sections will be derived in universal forms suitable both for the experimental interpretation and for the practical guidance of the experimental development to uncover novel functionalities of the planar periodic carbon nanotube arrays as a new flexible advanced photonic metamaterial platform with near-field characteristics adjustable on demand by means of the nanotube diameter, chirality, and array periodicity. Particular practical applications of this theoretical effort include: (a) efficient Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering substrate development for single atom/ ion/molecule detection, trapping and manipulation; (b) precision control of spontaneous emission, absorption and scattering by atomic type emitters trapped near the planar nanotube array metasurfaces; (c) near-field control of molecular chemical reactivity and peculiar Casimir-Polder forces in close proximity to the periodic carbon nanotube arrays.\r\n\r\nThis award supports training a new generation of scientists and engineers capable of harnessing the opportunities presented by nanomaterials for new technologies and to better understand the world around us. This theory and simulation project will help to shape the graduate curriculum of the Department of Mathematics and Physics at North Carolina Central University, the nation's first state-supported public liberal arts college for African Americans. Relevant graduate courses offered by the Department will be revised and enhanced to include aspects of low-dimensional carbon nanomaterials inspired in part by the research. Advanced graduate students will have opportunities to participate in the cutting-edge research, attend research symposia, present seminars, and develop Master's theses. Increased exposure of students to this exciting and rapidly expanding field of nanotechnology will lead to increased participation of underrepresented minority students in scientific careers and in graduate studies in scientific fields. This project will thus contribute to broadening the diversity of the next generation of scientists, researchers and engineers and to directly address national needs in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.\r\n\r\nThis award is made on a proposal to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) under the HBCU Excellence in Research track. Funds from the HBCU-UP program in the Division of Human Resource Development in the Human Resource Development Directorate and from the Division Materials Research in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate.\r\n\r\nThis award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.","activeAwd":"false","agency":"NSF","awardAgencyCode":"4900","awardee":"NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY","awardeeAddress":"1801 FAYETTEVILLE ST","awardeeCity":"DURHAM","awardeeCountryCode":"US","awardeeDistrict":"04","awardeeDistrictCode":"NC04","awardeeName":"North Carolina Central University","awardeePhone":"9195307333","awardeeStateCode":"NC","awardeeZipCode":"277073129","cfdaNumber":"47.049","date":"08/20/2018","dirAbbr":"MPS","divAbbr":"DMR","estimatedTotalAmt":"486157","expDate":"08/31/2023","fundAgencyCode":"4900","fundProgramName":"Hist Black Colleges and Univ, CONDENSED MATTER & MAT THEORY","fundsObligated":["FY 2018 = $486,157.00"],"fundsObligatedAmt":"486157","histAwd":"false","id":"1830874","initAmendmentDate":"08/20/2018","jrnl":[{"artTitl":"Optical response of ultrathin periodically aligned single-wall carbon nanotube films","auth":"Adhikari, Chandra M and Bondarev, Igor V","dgtlObjId":"10.1557/adv.2020.234","jrnlTitl":"MRS advances","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10188891"},{"artTitl":"Controlled excitonplasmon coupling in a mixture of ultrathin periodically aligned single-wall carbon nanotube arrays","auth":"Adhikari, C. M. and Bondarev, I. V.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0031212","jrnlTitl":"Journal of Applied Physics","jrnlVol":"129","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10208615"},{"artTitl":"Far and NearField Heat Transfer in Transdimensional Plasmonic Film Systems","auth":"Biehs, SvendAge and Bondarev, Igor_V","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202202712","jrnlTitl":"Advanced Optical Materials","jrnlVol":"11","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10403053"},{"artTitl":"Controlling SinglePhoton Emission with Ultrathin Transdimensional Plasmonic Films","auth":"Bondarev, Igor V.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1002/andp.202200331","jrnlTitl":"Annalen der Physik","jrnlVol":"535","jrnlYr":"2022","parPblcId":"10441989"},{"artTitl":"Finite-thickness effects in plasmonic films with periodic cylindrical anisotropy [Invited]","auth":"Bondarev, Igor V.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1364/OME.9.000285","jrnlTitl":"Optical Materials Express","jrnlVol":"9","jrnlYr":"2018","parPblcId":"10082009"},{"artTitl":"Collective excitations and optical response of ultrathin carbon nanotube films","auth":"Bondarev, Igor V. and Adhikari, Chandra M.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2594007","jrnlTitl":"Proc. SPIE 11795, Metamaterials, Metadevices, and Metasystems","jrnlVol":"11795","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10293926"},{"artTitl":"Collective Excitations and Optical Response of Ultrathin Carbon-Nanotube Films","auth":"Bondarev, Igor V. and Adhikari, Chandra M.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.15.034001","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Applied","jrnlVol":"15","jrnlYr":"2021","parPblcId":"10293917"},{"artTitl":"Transdimensional epsilon-near-zero modes in planar plasmonic nanostructures","auth":"Bondarev, Igor V and Mousavi, Hamze and Shalaev, Vladimir M","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.013070","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Research","jrnlVol":"2","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10188882"},{"artTitl":"Optical response of finite-thickness ultrathin plasmonic films","auth":"Bondarev, Igor V. and Mousavi, Hamze and Shalaev, Vladimir M.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2018.153","jrnlTitl":"MRS Communications","jrnlVol":"8","jrnlYr":"2018","parPblcId":"10476982"},{"artTitl":"Transdimensional epsilon-near-zero modes in planar plasmonic nanostructures","auth":"Bondarev, Igor V. and Mousavi, Hamze and Shalaev, Vladimir M.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2567241","jrnlTitl":"Proc. SPIE 11461, Active Photonic Platforms XII, 114611I (2020);","jrnlYr":"2020","parPblcId":"10477548"},{"artTitl":"Confinement-induced nonlocality and casimir force in transdimensional systems","auth":"Bondarev, Igor V. and Pugh, Michael D. and Rodriguez-Lopez, Pablo and Woods, Lilia M. and Antezza, Mauro","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d3cp03706a","jrnlTitl":"Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics","jrnlVol":"25","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10477053"},{"artTitl":"Nonlocal Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer by Transdimensional Plasmonics","auth":"Salihoglu, H. and Shi, J. and Li, Z. and Wang, Z. and Luo, X. and Bondarev, I. V. and Biehs, S.-A. and Shen, S.","dgtlObjId":"https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.086901","jrnlTitl":"Physical Review Letters","jrnlVol":"131","jrnlYr":"2023","parPblcId":"10477054"}],"latestAmendmentDate":"08/20/2018","managingPec":"176500","orgCodeDir":"03000000","orgCodeDiv":"03070000","orgLongName":"Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences","orgLongName2":"Division Of Materials Research","orgUrl":"http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=dmr","parentUeiNumber":"","pdPIName":"Igor Bondarev","perfAddress":"1801 Fayetteville Street","perfCity":"Durham","perfCountryCode":"US","perfDistrict":"04","perfDistrictCode":"NC04","perfLocation":"North Carolina Central University","perfStateCode":"NC","perfZipCode":"277073129","pi":["Igor Bondarev ibondarev@nccu.edu"],"piEmail":"ibondarev@nccu.edu","piFirstName":"Igor","piId":"269773883","piLastName":"Bondarev","poEmail":"dhess@nsf.gov","poName":"Daryl Hess","poPhone":"7032924942","primaryProgram":["01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT","04001819DB NSF Education & Human Resource"],"progEleCode":"159400, 176500","program":"NANO NON-SOLIC SCI & ENG AWD, Nanomaterials, Optics and Photonics, UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION","progRefCode":"7237, 8614, 8990, 9178","projectOutComesReport":"
\n
At the focus of this theoretical study have been the intrinsic mechanisms of the plasmon enhanced spectroscopic detection, molecular sensing, and control with transdimenionsional (TD) plasmonic materials, either made of anisotropic parallel-aligned, densely packed single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCN) arrays, or of ultrathin isotropic metallic layers. Present-day nanofabrication techniques make it possible to produce ultrathin films of metals and semiconductors of precisely controlled thickness down to a few monolayers. Often referred to as TD materials, such films offer tailorability of their optoelectronic properties not only by altering their chemical and electronic composition but also by varying their thickness (number of monolayers). Their quantum properties can be understood in terms of confinement-induced nonlocal electromagnetic (EM) response models which allow one to study what the 3D-to-2D continuous transition has to offer to improve material functionalities.
\n
Thin self-assembled quasiperiodic SWCN arrays and films have recently been experimentally shown to exhibit extraordinary optoplasmonic properties. To facilitate experimental research of these new emerging quantum materials, we study the collective quasiparticle excitations responsible for their EM response. For ultrathin single-type SWCN arrays we show that the real part of their collective dynamical EM response has a negative refraction band near a quantum transition of constituent SWCNs, whereby the system behaves as a hyperbolic metamaterial at much higher frequencies than those provided by classical plasma oscillations. By decreasing SWCN diameters one can push this negative refraction band into the visible region, and using of weakly inhomogeneous multi-type SWCN films can broaden its bandwidth. Our theory exhibits periodically aligned, homogeneous and weakly inhomogeneous SWCN films as excellent candidates for the development of multifunctional optical hyperbolic metasurfaces with characteristics adjustable on demand by means of the nanotube diameter, chirality, periodicity, and film thickness variation.
\n
We compute spontaneous and stimulated emission intensity lineshape profiles for a quantum dipole emitter (DE) near the surface of a TD film as functions of laser excitation energy, film thickness, and DE distance from the film surface, followed by the analysis of two-photon intensity correlations to explore the quantum effect of photon antibunching. We show that the film thickness can be used to tune the DE coupling to the plasma modes of the film. Controllable thickness reduction greatly improves the quantum effect of photon antibunching and nonclassical sub-Poissonian photon counting statistics. Knowledge of these features is advantageous for solid-state single-photon source device engineering and for the development of the new TD material platform for quantum nanophotonics.
\n
We perform a comparative study of the basic heat transfer processes in TD systems using the confinement-induced nonlocal EM response model developed by the PI and the standard local Drude EM response model (an old \"workhorse\" used in plasmonics). Our study suggests that the theoretical analysis and experimental data interpretation for radiative heat transfer in TD structures must include the confinement-induced nonlocal effect to provide reliable results. We advance our study to include the long-range Casimir force for in-plane isotropic and anisotropic TD material slabs. We show that the confinement-induced nonlocality not only weakens the attraction of ultrathin in-plane isotropic slabs but also changes the distance dependence of the material-dependent correction to the Casimir force. We use closely packed array of parallel aligned SWCNs in a dielectric layer of finite thickness to show strong orientational anisotropy and crossover behavior for the inter-slab attractive force in addition to its reduction with decreasing slab thickness. We give physical insight as to why such a pair of ultrathin slabs prefers to stick together in the perpendicularly oriented manner, rather than in the parallel relative orientation as one would customarily expect.
\n
This NSF project has provided great opportunities for professional development and physics curriculum upgrade at NCCU. Graduate physics majors were given the opportunities to participate in cutting-edge research, present their research seminars, attend conferences, and work on their master theses. The project ignited their interest in taking more advanced physics courses such as Quantum and Statistical Mechanics II offered by the PI as electives with the coverage of the key theory concepts, approaches, and methods used or developed during this project implementation. Participation of the minority students from NCCU in the project has broadened the diversity of the next generation workforce of scientists, researchers, and engineers groomed in a dynamical academic environment where ideas and perspectives are shared across diverse fields. Project PI Bondarev was awarded a competitive Fellowship from the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP), University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) for the academic year 2022-23. This competitive and prestigious KITP Fellowship program is designed to allow faculty at minority-serving institutions to devote time to their research and to collaborate with UCSB and KITP faculty, visitors, and postdocs. As a KITP Fellow, the PI has established productive research collaborations with KITP Fluctuational Quantum Electrodynamics group of direct relevance to this project.
\n
\n Last Modified: 12/07/2023
\nModified by: Igor Bondarev
\n
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tImages (1 of )\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n- \n
![\"Fig.5\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992674427_Picture5--rgov-66x44.jpg\")
\n\n
Activities and accomplishments of the Condensed Matter Theory group (Prof. Igor Bondarev, lead) in the Department of Mathematics and Physics at North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC.
\n
NCCU
\n
Copyrighted
\n
\n
- \n
![\"Fig.3\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992563326_Picture3--rgov-66x44.jpg\")
\n\n
Comparison of outgoing heat flux (A) and heat transfer coefficients (B) computed for transdimensional free-standing films within the frameworks of the standard local Drude model (an old 'workhorse' usually used in plasmonics) and the confinement-induced nonlocal model studied in this project.
\n
NCCU
\n
Copyrighted
\n
\n
- \n
![\"Fig.4\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992616069_Picture4--rgov-66x44.jpg\")
\n\n
Demonstration of the role of the confinement-induced nonlocality in the Casimir interactions for transdimensional film systems. See Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 25, 29257 (2023) for details.
\n
NCCU
\n
Copyrighted
\n
\n
- \n
![\"Fig.2\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992502283_Picture2--rgov-66x44.jpg\")
\n\n
Spontaneous emission rate enhancement, plasma mode degeneracy lifting, and second-order photon correlations calculated for an optically excited quantum dipole emitter as functions of its position and film thickness in close vicinity of the surface of an ultrathin transdimensional plasmonic film.
\n
NCCU
\n
Copyrighted
\n
\n
- \n
![\"Fig.1\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992413475_Picture1--rgov-66x44.jpg\")
\n\n
Dispersion of collective quasiparticle excitations and electromagnetic response in the alignment direction calculated for plane-parallel periodic arrays (homogeneous and inhomogeneous) of semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes embedded in an ultrathin dielectric layer (sketched on top left).
\n
NCCU
\n
Copyrighted
\n
\n
- \n
![\"Fig.6\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992749284_Picture6--rgov-66x44.jpg\")
\n\n
Research seminar given by Prof. Igor Bondarev, project PI, in the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) as a KITP Fellow 2022-23 at University of California Santa-Barbara, CA.
\n
NCCU
\n
Copyrighted
\n
\n\n
\n
PI. Woo-Joong Kim developed a torsion balance to study the inverse-square law of gravity under the NSF Award (#1806680) titled RUI: Search for Non-Newtonian gravity using a high-sensitivity torsion balance. As of writing this outcome report (November 2022), the PI's torsion balance is fully operating and collecting preliminary data.
\n
The goal of this project was to carry out high-precision, short-range force measurements using a table-top instrument in search for non-Newtonian gravity. The proposed research utilizes one of the most sensitive instruments, a torsional balance, to directly probe the ISL below 100 μm. Our approach, as detailed in the proposal, will substantially tighten Yukawa constraints, thereby making a great contribution to ongoing efforts to understand Non-Newtonian gravity at short range. Below is a list of accomplishments made during the grant period (2018-2021).
\n
(1) The PI worked with four undergraduate students: Neipori Pelle (2018-2019), Lucas Ehinger (2019-2020), and Matthew Kolmanovsky (2020-2021), and Olivia Gabanek (2020-2021). They worked on a variety of projects that are geared towards the completion of the PI’s torsion experiment;
\n
(2) One paper was published in a peer-reviewed journal, the American Journal of Physics (AJP 88 586, 2020) in 2020, with three undergraduate students as co-authors. The paper reported on a high-prevision autocollimator that had been developed in PI’s lab; it has recently been deployed for angle readouts for the torsion experiment. Another paper was submitted for review and is currently under revision.
\n
(3) One of the PI’s research students Lucas Ehinger has been awarded a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, Gaithersburg, MD) after successfully completing his summer research in PI’s lab. He is currently attending a graduate program in experimental nuclear physics at MIT.
\n
(4) The PI’s torsion experiment is fully operating and has begun taking preliminary data. With continued support from the NSF, the PI would be able to study non-Newtonian gravity at a range of distances that were previously unexplored.
\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t \tLast Modified: 11/11/2022
\n\t\t\t\t\tModified by: Woo-Joong Kim
\n
\n
\n
![\"Generation](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2024/2423233/2423233_10921819_1735676465328_gen3_chip--rgov-214x142.jpg\")
![\"Particle](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2025/2008417/2008417_10680790_1763508830846_sym_fr_fig--rgov-214x142.jpg\")
![\"Casimir](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2022/2019288/2019288_10576079_1672511864212_Torque_image--rgov-214x142.jpg\")
![\"Fig.5\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992674427_Picture5--rgov-214x142.jpg\")
![\"Fig.3\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992563326_Picture3--rgov-214x142.jpg\")
![\"Fig.4\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992616069_Picture4--rgov-214x142.jpg\")
![\"Fig.2\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992502283_Picture2--rgov-214x142.jpg\")
![\"Fig.1\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992413475_Picture1--rgov-214x142.jpg\")
![\"Fig.6\"](\"/por/images/Reports/POR/2023/1830874/1830874_10573316_1701992749284_Picture6--rgov-214x142.jpg\")