Amanda Landcastle awarded 2015 SPS Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research

About the Recipient

Zone and Chapter: SUNY-College Brockport

Amanda Landcastle has been an active member of SPS since 2012. During her undergraduate career at SUNY Brockport she served as Treasurer and President of Brockport’s SPS chapter and she was elected to serve as the 2014-2015 SPS Associate Zone Councilor for Zone 2. Amanda has been involved with several undergraduate research projects including two REU programs and six semesters of research at her home institution. Amanda’s most recent REU at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has won her the SPS Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research. As of May 2015, Amanda has completed her undergraduate study in Physics and Chemistry. She is currently attending Purdue University working toward her PhD in Physics. She plans on specializing in Condensed Matter Physics and is interested in research relating to strongly correlated systems.

Project

Project Name: Point Contact Spectroscopy: An Undergraduate Investigation into Superconductivity and Quantum Criticality
Chapter Advisors: Dr. Laura Greene
Project Abstract: A quantum theory of point contact spectroscopy (PCS) was recently developed as a potential filter for non-Fermi liquid behavior in correlated materials. Classically, PCS is an experimental technique which has been used for several decades to determine scattering information on normal metals as well as gap information on superconducting materials. The quantum theory of PCS for correlated materials suggests that a zero bias peak in the dI/dV spectrum can be associated with an excess density of states for non-Fermi liquids. The initial experimental approach to using PCS on YFe2Al10 in order to detect quantum critical fluctuations is presented.

Project Links: Physics Adventures in Croatia (Award Report)

SPS member elected VP of the International Association of Physics Students (News Item)

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