OPPORTUNITIES AT CARLETON

At Carleton, hiring for 40-50 summer student-faculty research positions in the sciences is carried out at the level of the department or individual faculty member. The college-wide research stipend for students who work ten weeks full time in summer 2008 is $4,200. Visit the CISMI webpage for information on hiring in each department at Carleton.

Summer 2008 in the Physics and Astronomy Department

Cindy Blaha is looking for two summer research assistants to help analyze the evolutionary history of the nearby spiral galaxies M33 and M31. This summer the study will continue the analysis of optical observations of ten large fields that span M31 and continue analysis of our survey results for M33. Each field has a set of B, V and R (blue, green and red) broadband images as well as three images taken through narrow interference filters centered on specific emission lines of ionized hydrogen, sulfur and oxygen. These images will be used to perform a “galactic census” to identify the newly born stars(or HII regions), middle-aged stars (as planetary nebula) and the newly deceased (in the form of supernova remnants). This will help us piece together the galactic “life history” of M33 and M31 and to compare star-formation rates and chemical abundance variations in these two different galactic environments.

Data analysis will involve use of the IRAF (Image Reduction and Analysis Facility), IDL (Interactive Data Language) and other image processing software on several operating systems. Summer work will also include conducting open houses at Goodsell Observatory as well as developing new curricular materials to be used with our CCD cameras and spectrograph. Students interested in working on this project will be asked to do a special project in the spring to get ready for summer work. Please contact Cindy for further details if you are interested in applying.

Melissa Eblen-Zayas plans on hiring two students for the summer of 2008 who are interested in working as summer research assistants on a project to explore the unusual magnetic and electronic properties of a class of materials known as correlated electron materials, with a focus on colossal magnetoresistive materials. We will grow Eu-rich EuO films to study the metal-insulator transition in these materials as well as searching for evidence of phase inhomogeneity, a growing paradigm in understanding correlated electron materials. Students will gain experience in low temperature experimental methods, high vacuum techniques, thin film growth, and transport and magnetization measurements.

First-years and sophomores are encouraged to apply. Being an experimentalist is, in part, about being creative, patient, detail-oriented, self-motivated, and able to solve real-life, messy (quite literally!) problems, and these characteristics are more important in the lab than the number of physics classes you have taken. Contact Melissa if you are interested in applying or want to learn more.

Nelson Christensen will be hiring 2 students for the summer of 2008 who will work with him on the analysis of the data from the LIGO gravitational wave detectors. The work will involve programing, so experience there would be a preference. The immediate task will be to develop techniques whereby various environmental disturbances in the data can be identified. Sophomores and juniors are encouraged to apply. One student has already been identified. Interested students should contact Nelson.

Arjendu Pattanayak is hiring 2, and possibly 3, students for summer research for various projects in nonlinear quantum dynamics (see his web-page for more details). Previous training in dynamics, numerical methods, and/or quantum mechanics is preferred. Please contact him by Monday the 12th of March if interested, with information about classes and grades in Physics, Math, and CS. Students interested in working with Arjendu will be asked to do a special project in the spring. Contact Arjendu for further details if you are interested in applying.

Bill Titus will probably hire one student to work on a research project that attempts to create a probabilistic, theoretical framework to determine physical properties of a gravitational anomaly embedded in the earth by analyzing data determined from measurements of the combined gravitational field of the earth and the anomaly. This theoretical work has primarily been in two dimensions and Bill would like to start to extend the analysis to three dimensions. Well-developed analytical and mathematical skills and a tolerance for computational work in Mathematica and/or C are required. A background in geology is a definite plus.

Joel Weisberg has hired students for summer pulsar research to study general relativity, the interstellar medium, and pulsars’ emission processes: Carleton students, colleagues elsewhere, and Joel are observing pulsars at Green Bank, WV, Arecibo, PR, and Parkes, Australia for a variety of projects. They are studying the properties of pulsars in an effort to understand the underlying emission mechanism; measuring the density, turbulence, and magnetization of the interstellar medium by watching its effects on pulsar signals; and studying Einstein's General Theory of Relativity by carefully observing the orbit and pulseshape of a binary pulsar. The projects involve the use of unix, fortran, IDL, and C programs to plan the observations and to analyze the data we collect on these objects.Astrophysics I or II is a suggested prerequisite but we can be flexible. Work may include trips to Arecibo, Green Bank, or Parkes. The positions are already filled however, by students who are starting the research during winter and spring terms (Special Projects in physics and astronomy. For more information on Special Projects see https://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/physics/for_students/ResearchatCarleton/projects/ ) This is the case most years, so that we can hit the ground running in the summer.