Recent PhD Graduates

PhD Graduates

2018

Christine Black
Thesis: Investigating the Late-Time Spectra of Supernova
Advisor: Robert Fesen

Chirstopher Devulder
Thesis: Cosmological Implications of SU(2) Gauge Fields
Advisor: Robert Caldwell

Mackenzie Jones
Thesis: Where Do AGN Hide? Uncovering the Full Population of Growing Black Holes and their Host Galaxies and Halos
Advisor: Ryan Hickox

Dhrubo Jyoti
Thesis: Topics in Theoretical Cosmology
Advisor: Robert Caldwell

Juliang Li
Thesis: Near Quantum Limited Charge Detector and Beyond
Advisor: Alex Rimberg

Sapna Shekhar
Thesis: Spatial Extent of Relativistic Electron Precipitation from the Radiation Belts
Advisor: Robyn Millan

PhD Graduates

2017

Sam Cormack​
Thesis:  Fundamental and Emergent Scalar Fields in Cosmology
Advisor: Marcelo Gleiser

Seth Cohen
Thesis:  Structures and star formation in galaxy clusters
Advisor: Ryan Hickox

Spencer Hatch
Thesis: Stormtime and Interplanetary Magnetic Field Drivers of Wave and Particle Acceleration Processes in the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Transition Region
Advisor: James LaBelle

Nan Jiang​
Thesis:  Stability of Physical Systems: A Configurational Entropic Approach
Advisor: Marcelo Gleiser

Erin O'Malley
Thesis: The Mystery of Globular Clusters: Uncovering the complexities of Their Evolution
Advisor: Brian Chaboyer

Ben Zhu
Thesis:  Global 3D Two-Fluid Simulations of Turbulent Transport at Tokamak Edge Region
Advisor: Barrett Rogers

PhD Graduates

2016

Peter Johnson
Thesis: Aspects of part vs whole relationships in quantum information processing
Advisor: Lorenza Viola

Damian Sowinski
Thesis:  Complexity and Stability for Epistemic Agents: The Foundations and Phenomenology of Configurational Entropy
Advisor: Marcelo Gleiser

Miles Engel
Thesis:  Test Particle Simulations of Inner Belt Protons During Geomagnetic Storm
Advisor: Mary Hudson

Lisa Fisher
Thesis:  Overcoming and Utilizing Plasma Sheaths for Low Energy Plasma Analysis
Advisor: Kristina Lynch

Micah Dombrowski
Thesis:  Sounding-Rocket Studies of Langmuir-Wave Microphysics in the Auroral Ionosphere
Advisor: James LaBelle

Yuxiang Liu
Thesis:  The Numerical Solution of Frequency-Domain Acoustic and Electromagnetic Periodic Scattering Problems
Advisor: Alex Barnett

Erind Brahimi
Thesis:  A Driven Resonator Coupled to a Josephson Junction: An Exploration of the Quantum and Classical Dynamics
Advisor: Miles Blencowe

PhD Graduates

2015

Evan Miller
Thesis: Magnetogenesis Through Relativistic Velocity Shear
Advisor: Barrett Rogers

Dustin Fisher
Thesis: 3D Two-Fluid Simulations of Turbulence in LAPD
Advisor: Barrett Rogers

Zhen Yang
Thesis: Superconducting Single Electron Transistor for Charge Sensing in Si/SiGe-Based Quantum Dots
Advisor: Alex Rimberg

Shou Wu
Thesis: Whistler Chorus Waves: Linear Theory and Nonlinear Simulations in Dipole Geometry 
Advisor: Richard Denton

Philip Fernandes
Thesis: Measuring the Seeds of Thermal Ion Outflow
Advisor: Kristina Lynch

Zan Li
Thesis: Investigation of EMIC Wave Scattering as the Cause for Relativistic Electron Precipitation: A Quantitative Comparison of Simulation with Observations
Advisor: Robyn Millan

Chien-Ting Chen
Thesis: The Growth of Supermassive Black Holes and Connections to Star Formation in Galaxies
Advisor: Ryan Hickox

Jannis Bielefeld
Thesis: The Impact of Weakly Coupled Fields on the Accelerated Expansion and its Observables
Advisor: Robert Caldwell

Rongxaio Zhang
Thesis: Cherenkov Imaging and Biochemical Sensing in Vivo During Radiation Therapy
Advisor: Brian Pogue

Daniel Reeves
Thesis: Nonequilibrium Dynamics of Magnetic Nanoparticles in Biomedical Applications
Advisor: John Weaver

PhD Graduates

2014

Robert Holt
Thesis: Image Reconstruction Optimization and Quantification for Image-Guided Luminescence Tomography
Advisor: Brian Pogue

Zhao Li
Thesis: Modeling Geomagnetic Storms on Prompt and Diffusive Time Scales
Advisor: Mary Hudson

Julie N. Skinner
Thesis: Cataclysmic Variables and White Dwarf-M Dwarf Binaries From the Superblink Proper Motion Survey
Advisor: John Thorstensen

Matthew Broughton
Thesis: Ground and Space Observations of Medium Frequency Auroral Radio Emissions.
Advisor: James LaBelle

Latchezar Benatov
Thesis: The Quantum-to-Classical Transition in Strongly Interacting Nanoscale Systems
Advisor: Miles Blencowe

Jerod Parrent
Thesis: Spectroscopic Analyses of Type Ia Supernovae
Advisor: Robert Fesen

Thiago Brito
Thesis: Precipitation and Energization of Relativistic Radiation Belt Electrons Induced by ULF Oscillations in the Magnetosphere
Advisor: Mary Hudson

PhD Graduates

2013

Idan Ginsburg
Thesis: On the Nature of Hypervelocity Stars
Advisor: Gary Wegner

Dane Owen
Thesis: A Computational Study of Radio Relics in Galaxy Cluster Mergers
Advisor: Gary Wegner

Fei Chen
Thesis: The Cavity-Embedded-Cooper Pair Transistor
Advisor: Alex Rimberg

Gregory Feiden
Thesis: Dartmouth Magnetic Evolutionary Stellar Tracks and Relations
Advisor: Brian Chaboyer

Mingyun Yuan
Thesis: Silicon/Silicon –Germanium Quantum Dots with Single-Electron Transistor Charge Sensors
Advisor: Alex Rimberg

Joel Stettenheim
Thesis: Macroscopic Manifestations and Coherent Manipulations of Quantum Mesoscopic Systems
Advisor: Alex Rimberg

PhD Graduates

2012

Leslie Woodger
Thesis: Investigating EMIC Waves as a Precipitation Mechanism for Relativistic Electrons
Advisor: Robyn Millan

Leonardo Dias Da Motta
Thesis: Cosmological Magnetic Fields From Inflation
Advisor: Robert Caldwell

Meghan Mella
Thesis: In Situ Analysis of Measurements of Auroral Dynamics and Structure
Advisor: Kristina Lynch

Nikitas Stamatopoulos
Thesis: Nonlinear Emergent Complexity During Cosmological Symmetry Breaking
Advisor: Marcelo Gleiser

Lucas Thatcher
Thesis: Four Solar Cycle Ecliptic Solar Wind Data Set Generated From the OMNI Data Set
Advisor: Hans Mueller

PhD Graduates

2011

James Lundberg
Thesis: Observations and Analysis of High Photon Bursts From Lightning
Advisor: Robyn Millan

Shusa Deng
Thesis: Dynamical scaling behavior in non-equilibrium quantum phase transitions
Advisor: Lorenza Viola

Ryan Johnson
Thesis: The nature of core gas sloshing in galaxy clusters
Advisor: Gary Wegner

Dan Milisavljevic
Thesis: Kinematic and chemical properties of core-collapse supernova ejecta
Advisor: Robert Fesen

Laura Gilbert Remus
Thesis: Damping and decoherence of a nanomechanical resonator due to two-level systems
Advisor: Miles Blencowe

David Sicilia
Thesis: Analytical characterization of scalar-field oscillons in quartic potentials
Advisor: Marcelo Gleiser

PhD Graduates

2010

Winton Brown
Thesis: Random Quantum Dynamics: From Random Quantum Circuits to Quantum Chaos
Advisor: Lorenza Viola

Hwa Jung Kang
Thesis: Cosmic Velocity Flows in the Large Scale with SDSS DR7 Early Type Galaxies
Advisor: Gary Wegner

Nicholas Bunch
Thesis: Ground Based Studies of Auroral Medium Frequency Burst Radio Emissions
Advisor: James LaBelle

Yonggang Hu
Thesis: Hybrid Code Simulation of Electromagnetic Ion Cyclonic Waves in Curvilinear Coordinates
Advisor: Richard Denton

Sumire Kobayashi
Thesis: Gyrokinetic Simulations of Closed Field Line Systems
Advisor: Barrett Rogers

Paul Nation
Thesis: Quantum Dynamics of Nonlinear Cavity Systems
Advisor: Miles Blencowe

Sara Walker
Thesis: Theoretical Models for the Emergence of Biomolecular Homochirality
Advisor: Marcelo Gleiser

Qun Wei
Thesis: Macroscopic Quantum Vacuum Effects Due to Boundary Conditions
Advisor: Roberto Onofrio / Kristina Lynch

Weiwei Xue
Thesis: On-Chip Superconducting LC Matching Networks and Coplanar Waveguides for Radio-Frequency Single Electron Transistors
Advisor: Alex Rimberg

PhD Graduates

2009

Christopher Colpitts
Thesis: Examinations of Structured Dispersive Features of Auroral HF Waves Observed with Sounding Rockets
Advisor: James LaBelle

Scott Daniel
Thesis: Gravitational Slip as a Test of Alternative Gravity Theories
Advisor: Robert Caldwell

Andrea Kunder
Thesis: RR Lyrae Stars as Tracers of Stellar Populations in the Galactic Bulge and Satellite Galaxies
Advisor: Brian Chaboyer

Rebecca Lindstrom
Thesis: Detectability of the Late-Time Departure from Exponential Decay of Metastable Quantum Systems and Impacts of an Environment
Advisor: Jay Lawrence

Jeremy Ouellette
Thesis: Dayside Magnetic Reconnection in Global Simulations of Earth's Magnetosphere
Advisor: Barrett Rogers

Jia Wang
Thesis: Broadband Near-Infrared Tomography for Breast Cancer Imaging
Advisor: Brian Pogue

PhD Graduates

2008

Timothy Gilheart
Thesis: Developing Robust Fabrication of Si/SiGe Quantum Dots with Integrated RF-SET Charge Detectors
Advisor: Alex Rimberg

Christopher Peters
Thesis: Kinematics and Space Densities for the Local Cataclysmic Variable Population
Advisor: John Thorstensen

Brian Sullivan
Thesis: The Scaling of Forced Magnetic Reconnection in Two and Three Dimensions
Advisor: Barrett Rogers

Joel Thorarinson
Thesis: Emergent Coherent Structures in Non-Equilibrium Field Theory
Advisor: Marcelo Gleiser

PhD Graduates

2007

Aaron Dotter
Thesis: Self-Consistent Stellar Evolution Models with Applications to Milky Way Globular Clusters and Population Synthesis
Advisor: Brian Chaboyer

Robert Michell
Thesis: Examining Auroral Downward-Current Region Processes Using Ground-Based Data
Advisor: Kristina Lynch

Michael Brown-Hayes
Thesis: Development of an Apparatus for Simultaneous Trapping of Lithium-6 and Rubidium-87 Fermi-Bose Mixtures
Advisor: Roberto Onofrio

Woo-Joong Kim
Thesis: Towards the Experimental Verification of Macroscopic Phenomena in Quantum Electrodynamics
Advisor: Roberto Onofrio

Xin Wang
Thesis: Estimation of Effective Scatterer Size and Number Density in Near-Infrared Tomography
Advisor: Brian Pogue

Shengyi Ye
Thesis: Structure in Auroral Radio Emissions
Advisor: James LaBelle

Peng Peng Yu
Thesis: Studies of the Limiting Behavior of the Liu-Yau Quasi-Local Energy
Advisor: Robert Caldwell

PhD Graduates

2006

Kristin Frederick-Frost
Thesis: In SITU and Laboratory Measurements of Cold Plasmas
Advisor: Kristina Lynch

Kyoung-Joo Hwang
Thesis: Structure, Evolution, and Boundary Conditions for Auroral Downward Current Region Potential Drops
Advisor: Kristina Lynch

Nathaniel Paust
Thesis: Testing Stellar Evolution Models with Globular Clusters
Advisor: Brian Chaboyer

PhD Graduates

2005

Jenica Nelan
Thesis: Early-Type Galaxies in a Cluster Environment: Characteristics of the Stellar Populations and Sources of X-Ray Emission
Advisor: Gary Wegner

Dan Patnaude
Thesis: Modeling of Shocks in Young and Old Supernova Remnants
Advisor: Rob Fesen

Marilia Samara
Thesis: Sounding Rocket Investigations of Whistler, Upper Hybrid and Langmuir Waves in the Auroral Ionosphere
Advisor: James LaBelle

Yong Zhang
Thesis: Sensitivity of Single-electron Transistor-Based Displacement Detector and Fabrication of Single-Electron Transistor Using Au Nanoparticles
Advisor: Miles Blencowe

PhD Graduates

2004

Israel Owens
Thesis: Superradiant Cerenkov Source: Theory and Experiment
Advisor: James Brownell

Kara Perry
Thesis: Radial Diffusion of Radiation Belt Electrons in Three Dimensions
Advisor: Mary Hudson