Tag: Physics and Engineering

Few-Body Quantum Systems in Harmonic Traps (Son Nguyen)

Hybrid: this project is scheduled to begin on 6/8/2026 and run for 8 weeks, finishing on 7/31/2026.

Project Description

The problem of few-body interactions in the presence of external confining potentials is motivated by recent advances in both experimental atomic physics and theory. Many realistic confining potentials, such as optical traps, are well approximated by a harmonic form (elastic potential). Increasing the number of interacting particles from two to three or more involves a tremendous leap in the complexity of the theoretical description. In this project, students will work on extending the Gaussian Expansion Method (GEM) to study strongly interacting three-body systems in a harmonic trap. The GEM is a variational technique that approximates the wave function using a superposition of Gaussian basis functions. Building on established two-body results, where universal behavior emerges near the unitary limit, this project will investigate how three-body correlations arise and how Coulomb interactions lead to a breakdown of universality. Students will gain hands-on experience solving the few-body Schrödinger equation numerically, analyzing the energy spectrum, and interpreting results in a broader physics context.

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Prerequisites

PHYS 210 – Modern Physics

Special Comments

Project Information (subject to change)

Estimated Start Date: 6/8/2026

Estimated End Date: 7/31/2026

Estimated Project Duration: 8 weeks

Maximum Number of Students Sought: 2

Research Location: Hybrid

Travel Required? No (If “yes”: )

Contact Information: Son Nguyen (email: snguyen@wlu.edu)

Toward a hyper-empirical gravitational wave source localization pipeline (Tom McClain)

On campus: this project is scheduled to begin on 6/8/2026 and run for 6 weeks, finishing on 7/17/2026.

Project Description

When binary black hole systems produce gravitational waves that are eventually observed at the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra gravitational wave detectors, a key question is: where in the sky did those gravitational waves come from? This question is of particular interest to electromagnetic astronomers, who might like to point their telescopes at the appropriate place to see what else might have been happening at that location when the black holes merged. This summer research project in computational physics aims to build a full data processing pipeline for the rapid localization of gravitational wave sources. While some of this pipeline has been the subject of previous summer research projects, opportunities remain for students interested in database design, fast and accurate signal processing in high noise environments, GPU-accelerated cloud computing, algorithm optimization, and Bayesian inference.

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Prerequisites

PHYS 111, PHYS 112

Special Comments

Project Information (subject to change)

Estimated Start Date: 6/8/2026

Estimated End Date: 7/17/2026

Estimated Project Duration: 6 weeks

Maximum Number of Students Sought: 5

Research Location: On campus

Travel Required? No (If “yes”: )

Contact Information: Tom McClain (email: mcclaint@wlu.edu)

CLOSED: Electric Propulsion and Convective Fluid Mechanics (Joel Kuehner)

On campus: this project is scheduled to begin on 6/08/2026 and run for 8 weeks, finishing on 7/31/2026.

Project Description

Electric propulsion is often applied in satellite navigation and space exploration and involves the acceleration of ions using electric fields. Students will have the opportunity to continue the design, fabrication, and characterization of an existing ion thruster. Students will learn about an ion thruster, design physical components, make measurements, and investigate the thrust developed. Students will also engage with a convective fluid mechanics experiment in which the buoyant plume above a heated cylinder will be investigated. Students will learn how to apply particle image velocimetry, a laser-based velocity measurement technique, to observe the starting transients in the buoyant plume. The goal is to identify flow characteristics that eventually lead to a previously discovered periodic swaying motion.

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Prerequisites

PHYS 112 or equivalent

Special Comments

Project Information (subject to change)

Estimated Start Date: 6/08/2026

Estimated End Date: 7/31/2026

Estimated Project Duration: 8 weeks

Maximum Number of Students Sought: 3

Research Location: On campus

Travel Required? No (If “yes”: )

Contact Information: Joel Kuehner (email: kuehnerj@wlu.edu)

CLOSED: Building an automated polarized light microscope for rock crystallographic texture analysis (Mengying Liu)

On campus: this project is scheduled to begin on 6/01/2026 and run for 9 weeks, finishing on 7/31/2026.

Project Description

This project aims to build a customized polarized light microscope system for automated rock texture analysis, advancing beyond traditional methods that are either labor-intensive (U-stage microscopy) or time-consuming (EBSD). Building on our preliminary findings that crystal optical axis orientation can be determined through intensity variations under polarized reflective light during 360-degree rotation, students will develop a fully integrated measurement system. The research objectives include designing and fabricating an automated sample stage with precise tilt and rotation control, design and implementing accurate automated positioning mechanisms for polarizer, analyzer and light source components, as well as developing the control electronics and software interface. Students will engage in hands-on engineering through mechanical design using CAD software, circuit design for stepper motor control and sensor integration, optical system alignment and calibration, and programming automated measurement sequences. Students will work from component selection through system integration and validation testing. The successful development of this automated microscope could transform geological texture analysis, reducing measurement time from days to minutes while maintaining spatial resolution advantages over current methods.

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Prerequisites

Preferred but not required: Experience with machine design or circuits design, or experience with MATLAB or Python

Special Comments

Student will have the opportunity to start research as early as winter or spring.

Project Information (subject to change)

Estimated Start Date: 6/01/2026

Estimated End Date: 7/31/2026

Estimated Project Duration: 9 weeks

Maximum Number of Students Sought: 3

Research Location: On campus

Travel Required? No (If “yes”: )

Contact Information: Mengying Liu (email: mliu@wlu.edu)