This site details my undergraduate honors thesis research on laboratory plasmas. My project involves comparing computer simulations of radiative processes in plasmas to actual emission spectra from the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment (SSX). SSX is currently being used to study magnetic reconnection during the merging of two spheromaks (a spheromak is a donut-shaped plasma configuration that relaxes to an equilibrium confined entirely by its own magnetic fields). I'll be focusing on data from two diagnostics: a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) monochromator, and a low-resolution soft x-ray detector (SXR). The data are compared to model spectra calculated for plasmas with a range of temperatures, densities, and compositions in order to place constraints on the actual properties of the SSX plasma. Most of my simulations will utilize PrismSPECT and other software by Prism Computational Sciences. Research on plasma properties and magnetic reconnection has applications to a variety of branches of science, including solar physics and nuclear fusion research.
The SSX vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) monochromator
(click to see more photos from the lab)
Previous Summer Research 2005: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) Program (mentor: Miguel Furman) Used computer simulations to study the Electron Cloud Effect in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN
Paper published in Physical Review Special Topics: Accelerators and Beams Download my poster
2004: University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Physics Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) (mentor: Perry Gerakines)
Studied grain properties and star formation in interstellar dust clouds
Poster presented at American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting Download my poster
Visitors since 7/6/07:
This page was last updated on 7/6/07
