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Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Undergraduate students in the physics department have the opportunity to get hands-on experience working with our faculty members. Below are some current projects open to interested students.

Research Projects for Undergraduate Students


Accelerator Based Particle Physics (Contact Dr. Stefan Spanier)

The High Energy Particle Physics group of the University of Tennessee (UTK) searches for new fundamental particles and the forces that act between them. Four forces are known to us-- the Electromagnetic, Weak, Strong, and Gravitational force--but their understanding is quite incomplete. We expect that there are other forces and particles that can be observed with high energetic particle collisions or as rare signals at lower energies. We hope to see strong signals with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European particle laboratory CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. The accelerator will start in 2008. LHC will collide protons with unprecedented energies and rates. We prepare software for the commissioning of particle detectors and perform data analysis and simulations of particle reactions here at UTK and at CERN. There are opportunities to visit the laboratory and help get the experiment started during the summer break and to participate in student activities and lectures. Several introductory projects that get you started are available. For more information, please contact Dr. Stefan Spanier by e-mail: spanier@utk.edu, by phone: 865-974-0597, or come to my office: Ayres 226A.

Accelerator based Particle Physics – GRID Computing (Contact Dr. Stefan Spanier)

Are you interested to get involved with the newest development in global computing – the Open Science GRID (OSG)? The GRID links together computer resources around the world to become one huge computing device. We participate in the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, which will produce more than 15 PetaBytes of data per year for analysis by physicists all over the world – a first hand application and development environment for the GRID (CERN was also the birthplace of the World Wide Web). The Open Science Grid is still evolving and expected to be one of the next big advancements in large scale computing. The Open Science Grid brings together computing and storage resources from university campuses and research communities into common, shared GRID infrastructure over research networks via a unified set of middleware. Here at UTK the High Performance Computing (HPC) group of OIT in collaboration with the particle physics group installs such middleware, tests it, and makes it available to researchers at UTK to share computing resources more efficiently. Are you interested to get involved? You should have some experience in Linux software development and be able to approach new challenges in a systematic way. If this is you, please contact Dr. Stefan Spanier by e-mail: spanier@utk.edu, by phone: 865-974-0597, or come to my office: Ayres 226A.

Cosmic Ray Studies (Contact Dr. Yuri Efremenko or Dr. Yuri Kamyshkov)

Construction of the barrel water Cherenkov detector for measurement of the lifetime of cosmic muons and relativistic time dilation using new data aquisition system of electronics (NEM-box).

Experimental Particle Physics (contact Dr. Yuri Kamyshkov)

Study of re-emission of Cherenkov radiation in liquid scintillator Velocity of light in liquid scintillator in smaller that velocity of light in vacuum. Thus, relativistic particles can move in the scintillator faster than in the vacuum. When it happens, the electro-magnetic shock wave arises, called Cherenkov radiation, mostly with a spectrum in ultraviolet (UV). Research project will include measurements of re-emission of Cherenkov UV radiation which makes it detectable in the visible spectrum of light. UV vacuum monochromator will be used to simulate the Cherenkov radiation. To be learned: optical properties of the materials, liquid scintillator detectors, WLS fibers, vacuum, electrical measurements, amplifiers, LabVIEW, programming, data analysis and presentations of the results. Students interested in physics and particularly in optics and particle detectors (not necessarily only physics majors) are welcome to contact for interview Prof. Yuri Kamyshkov at [kamyshkov@utk.edu]. Immediate involvement in the project this semester (Spring, 2012) is possible for 1,2, or 3 research class credits. Students can also apply for summer undergraduate research internship with this project (see http://research.utk.edu/internship for details).

Astrophysics (Contact Dr. Mike Guidry)

  • Theoretical astrophysics, with particular emphasis on computer modeling of stellar explosions: supernova explosions, nova outbursts, X-ray bursts, gamma-ray bursts, calculation of gravitational wave signatures in such events, element production in stellar explosions (r process and rp process) ... Involves collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
  • Theoretical neutrino astrophysics: role of neutrinos in various areas of astrophysics and cosmology, with particular emphasis on their role in supernova explosions. Involves collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
  • Implementation of genetic algorithms (mathematical global minimization based on principles of evolutionary genetics) and neural networks for applications to astrophysics problems such as galaxy collisions or extrasolar planets.

Crystal Growth Capability (Contact Dr. Pengcheng Dai)

In my lab, I am looking for an undergraduate who is willing to learn crystal growth capability using the infrared floating zone furnace. In addition, the student will learn how to detwinn single crystal samples of high-temperature superconductors. If all works well, we hope such a student will stay for a Ph.D. degree at UT using neutrons to study strongly correlated electron materials. For our group's activities and publications, please see http://pdai.phys.utk.edu for more information.

Experimental Condensed Matter Physics – X-ray spectroscopy Data Analysis (Contact Dr. Norman Manella)

The activity of Dr. Mannella's group is based on the study of the electronic structure of strongly correlated electron systems such as high Tc superconductors, thermoelectric materials and giant magnetoresistive materials. Experiments are carried out at synchrotron radiation facilities due to the availability of different soft x-ray spectroscopy such as Angle Resolved Phototemission (ARPES), x-ray absorption (XAS) and x-ray emission (XES). At present, the data analysis is based on a collection of macros running under IGOR software, one of the most common data analysis software. All these macros have been independently developed by the various group that manage the the end stations at synchrotron facilities such as the ALS (Berkeley, CA), APS (Argonne, IL) and Elettra (Trieste, Italy). It is desirable to compile a user-friendly software that could handle the analysis of the data collected in different experiments in only one workbench. Available is a position for a motivated undergraduate student who will be responsible for the design and testing of such as a user-friendly interface, and for writing a new collection of macros based on the existing ones. The project constitutes an opportunity for undergraduate students to learn how different soft x-ray spectroscopic experiments are used to unveil different properties of solids. This experience would also constitute an opportunity for students to acquire a sound knowledge of the basis of data treatment, possibly turning in the near future in an RA position for a Ph.D. degree at UT to study complex electron systems with x-ray based spectroscopies. See http://www.phys.utk.edu/faculty_mannella.htm for a more detailed description of the activities.

Interactive Animations in Science (Contact Dr. Mike Guidry)

Development of state-of-the-art programming for interactive animation in the sciences. Present efforts center on object-oriented programming in languages like Java and Flash + Actionscript in the fields of astronomy, physics, biology, and genetics. These efforts underlie the development of a next generation of interactive and web-deliverable interactive textbooks in these fields for several major publishers. They also provide the basis for a variety of practical applications such as demonstration for non-specialist audiences of how drugs work in the body, the principles of DNA fingerprinting, science issues in bioterrorism, or how various high-tech medical devices function. Students will participate in the development of those interactive projects and gain extensive practical scientific and programming experience in the process. These projects can have strong overlap with areas 2, 3, and 4 listed under Topics in Computational Science, and the scientific problem depends partially on the interests of the student. Involves programming in some combination of Java, Flash Actionscript, JavaScript, XML technologies such as XML, SVG, or MathML, and database technologies such as PostGresSQL.

Mathematical Physics: Symmetries and Algebras (Contact Dr. Mike Guidry)

Symmetry in mathematical physics: application of algebraic symmetry principles to the understanding of problems in various fields of physics (condensed matter, particle physics, nuclear physics). Present efforts center on a new theory of high-temperature superconductivity based on Lie algebras defined in the fermion degrees of freedom, and other possible applications in condensed matter physics.

Neutrino Detector R&D (Contact Dr. Yuri Kamyshkov)

Study properties of scintillator by Compton scattering Neutrino oscillation experiment NOvA at Fermilab will employ huge volume of liquid scintillator with mass ~ 10,000 tons where neutrino energies will be measured. A small prototype of this precision detector was built at UT in order to calibrate the linearity of detector energy response with the help of Compton gamma-spectrometer, where monoenergetic gamma-rays scattered at fixed angle will produce in the scintillator the monoenergetic electrons. Research project will include measurements of NOvA scintillator with the Compton gamma spectrometer at UT lab and the data analysis. To be learned: Compton effect, liquid scintillator detectors, WLS fibers, radioactive gamma source, germanium detector, electronics, trigger, computer data acquisition, LabVIEW, programming, data analysis and presentations of the results. Students interested in physics (not necessarily only physics majors) are welcome to contact for interview Prof. Yuri Kamyshkov at [kamyshkov@utk.edu]. Immediate involvement in the project this semester (Spring, 2012) is possible for 1,2, or 3 research class credits. Students can also apply for summer undergraduate research internship with this project (see http://research.utk.edu/internship for details).

Nuclear Many-Body Theory (Contact Dr. Thomas Papenbrock)

An approximate model for a neutron gas consists of fermions with a short-range interaction and an infinite scattering length. This model captures some of the essential properties of the nucleon-nucleon interaction and is presently investigated experimentally in ultracold atom gases. We want to investigate such systems theoretically and compute their ground-state energies and densities. Undergraduate students who want to participate in this project should have an interest in theory, and a basic understanding of quantum mechanics.

Particle Physics, Detector R&D (Contact Dr. Yuri Efremenko)

I'm looking for a student who would like to get extensive hands-on experience while working on R&D on novel light collection technique. This research is related to the future neutron EDM experiment , which will be conducted at the Spallation Neutron Source (Oak Ridge National Laboratory).

Shapes of Rotation Neutron-Rich Exotic Nuclei (Contact Dr. Witek Nazarewicz)

Developing a comprehensive description of all nuclei, a long-standing goal of nuclear physics, requires theoretical and experimental investigations of rare atomic nuclei, i.e. systems with neutron-to-proton ratios larger and smaller than those naturally occurring on earth. In this project, we want to investigate shapes of extremely neutron-rich nuclei at low and high angular momenta. The calculations will be carried uout within the nuclear density functional theory. Undergraduate students who want to participate in this project should have an interest in theory, and a basic understanding of quantum mechanics and programming.

Shielding of Earth Magnetic Field (contact Dr. Yuri Kamyshkov)

In a new fundamental physics experiment at Fermilab where transformation of matter to antimatter will be searched for the magnetic field of Earth should be reduced by 50,000 times down to ~ 1 nano Tesla level. A small prototype of the shielding system was built at UT Physics lab to learn how different shielding methods and materials can be efficient for magnetic field suppression. Research project will include measurements and analysis of residual magnetic field for different configurations of the shielding system with the purpose of finding the optimum shielding solution in the maximum volume. To be learned: measurement of weak magnetic fields, properties of ferromagnetics, hysteresis, demagnetization, programming, data analysis and presentation of the results. Students interested in physics (not necessarily only physics majors) are welcome to contact for interview Prof. Yuri Kamyshkov at [kamyshkov@utk.edu]. Immediate involvement in the project this semester (Spring, 2012) is possible for 1,2, or 3 research class credits. Students can also apply for summer undergraduate research internship with this project (see http://research.utk.edu/internship for details).

Simulations of Neutron Source with Spallation Target (contact Dr. Yuri Kamyshkov)

One of the directions of the modern particle physics development is known as "Intensity Frontier". That employs new accelerators with very high beam intensity. Such new accelerator planned for Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory will be called "Project X". One of the functions of the Project X will be to make an intensive source of "cold" and "ultra-cold" neutrons for fundamental physics research experiments. One of these experiments will be searching for neutron to antineutron transformation in vacuum. Research project will include computational simulations of the process of cold and ultra-cold neutron production with the spallation target. This is a project where experts from Spallation Neutron Source (at ORNL) and faculty from Nuclear Engineering and Physics Department will collaborate for the conceptual design of the neutron source. To be learned: neutron physics, computational Monte-Carlo methods, Fortran programming, MNCPX neutron transport code, data analysis and presentations of the results. Students interested in physics (with physics and nuclear engineering majors) are welcome to contact for interview Prof. Yuri Kamyshkov at [kamyshkov@utk.edu]. Immediate involvement in the project this semester (Spring, 2012) is possible for 1,2, or 3 research class credits. Students can also apply for summer undergraduate research internship with this project (see http://research.utk.edu/internship for details).

Soft Matter Physics and Biophysics (contact Dr. Alexei P. Sokolov)

Soft Matter Physics is a relatively new but very fast growing and exciting field of Physics. It studies phenomena in complex materials with many degrees of freedom and strong interplay between enthalpy and entropy. These materials have broad applications from energy to biomedical fields. There are four major direction of research in our group:

  • Polymer Dynamics, Glass Transition: Molecular motion is the key to many macroscopic properties of soft materials (polymers, colloids, glass-forming and biological systems, etc.). The main goal of our studies in this direction is fundamental understanding of molecular motions and their relationship to macroscopic properties of polymers and other glass-forming materials. Among the major topics, we study the glass transition phenomenon, viscoelastic and mechanical properties, electrical conductivity, influence of chemical structure of the molecules on the dynamics and macroscopic properties of the materials.
  • Dynamics of Biological Macromolecules: Activity and function of biological systems are defined by their dynamics. Understanding the basic parameters that control molecular motions in biological systems, and understanding the relationship between molecular dynamics and biological functions are the main goals of our research in this direction. Among major topics, we also study role of solvents in protein dynamics, activity and stability and we are developing formulations for long-term preservation of biological molecules.
  • Nano-composite and Nano-structured Materials: Addition of small nano-particles to polymers can tremendously affect their properties. We study the influence of nano-fillers (carbon nano-tubes, silica and polymeric particles, graphene) on mechanical and electrical properties of polymers, their dynamics and glass transition. We also study how confinement to small volume (various nanostructures) affects mechanical properties and dynamics of the materials. We analyze various kinds of nano-structures, including polymeric and biological (e.g. viruses).
  • Nano-optics, Plasmonics: We are developing scanning nano-Raman spectroscopy based on the apertureless near-field optics. It employs gigantic local enhancement of electrical field of light by plasmonic (particular metallic) structures. We already achieved Raman imaging of semiconducting structures with spatial resolution ~20 nm, far beyond the diffraction limit of light. We are also developing plasmonic structures for molecular-level sensing based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering. In our studies we use neutron and light scattering techniques, dielectric and mechanical relaxation spectroscopy, and we actively collaborate with groups performing MD-simulations. Our group is a part of Soft Materials Group at ORNL.

Talented students who are not afraid of scientific challenges are welcome to join our group, which has a Web site here: http://www.chem.utk.edu/sokolov/index.html.

Alexei P. Sokolov
Governor’s Chair, Professor of Chemistry and Physics
663 Buehler Hall, e-mail: sokolov@utk.edu
The best way to contact me is via e-mail.

Topics in Computational Science (Contact Dr. Mike Guidry)

  • Development of parallel programming for scientific applications. Students will participate in developing code and implementing it on our parallel cluster, using Message Passing Interface (MPI) with Linux running on the nodes. Possible programming languages include F90, C, C++, and Java.The particular scientific application depends partially on the interests of the student. Depending on application, students may also be given access to larger supercomputers at Oak Ridge National Lab and other high-performance computational centers.
  • Development of a next generation of lightweight, interactive tools for scientific visualization. These tools will exploit the power of Java distributed network programming and vector graphics technologies (SWF and SVG formats). They are intended to be accessible through desktop PCs and standard networks, thus making high-quality collaborative visualization tools available even to research projects with limited budgets and computational resources. (Though our interests are serious, there is strong overlap of these issues with games programming technology. ) The particular scientific application depends partially on the interests of the student. Involves programming in Java and possibly C or C++ , and in XML (Extensible Markup Language) technologies such as scalable vector graphics (SVG).
  • Many workhorse programs in physics and astronomy have crude command-line interfaces that are cumbersome to use compared with modern graphical user interface (GUI) tools that we now expect as standard in non-scientific software. This project, which is closely related to the visualization project of the previous paragraph, develops sophisticated graphical user interfaces for such programs. Although the actual computational programs may be written in various languages (e.g., F90, C, or C++), graphical user interfaces to control them are typically written in Java or C++.
  • Application of high-end data visualization techniques for large-scale simulations of neutron-star mergers, gamma-ray bursts, gravitational wave production, and core-collapse supernovae. Involves collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
  • Development of new methods for solving large systems of coupled differential equations for application in astrophysics, oceanography, geochemistry, and other fields of science. Involves collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.