Janessa Slone, 2023 NIST Research Intern

Biography

SPS Chapter: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Arizona

Hello Everyone!! My name is Janessa Slone, and you may recognize me from last years group of interns (SOCK). I am a recent graduate from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where I received my Bachelor’s in Space Physics with a Minor in Computer Science. Before graduating I was ERAU’s SPS President for 2 years while also serving as an Associate Zone Councilor (Zone 16) in the SPS National Council. I am so happy to be returning as a NIST Intern this summer and I am so excited to meet everyone.

Internship

Host: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Project

Abstract

Nanoscale Device Characterization advances as researchers begin to dive deeper into the theory side of polariton dynamics in a semiconductor microcavity. Multidimensional optical spectroscopy allows physicists to isolate subtle effects in light-matter interactions. It relies on exciting a sample with a series of ultrashort optical pulses and measuring the coherent emission as a function of the time delay between the pulses. Semiconductors have quasiparticles called excitons, or bound electron-hole pairs, that strongly interact with photons and each other (the latter through “many-body” interactions). In specially-designed nanostructures called microcavities, the interaction between excitons and an optical cavity mode is enhanced further and hybrid particles called exciton-polaritons are formed. Understanding the dynamics of this system is important for developing new optoelectronic devices, but many-body interactions between these polariton states have only recently begun to be studied. Here we develop a model of the nonlinear response of a gallium arsenide semiconductor nanostructure. In the polariton basis, 2D Feynman Diagrams were deconstructed into a set of expressions, leading to a simulation of a 2-quantum spectrum. The next step will be to add many-body interactions to this simulation and compare it to experimental spectra.

Final Presentation

Internship Blog

Week 1: Remember Me?

As Eminem once said: Guess who’s back?? Back again.

I’m so happy and grateful to be back in Washington, D.C. with the SPS Internship Program. If you need a refresher: My name is Janessa Slone, I just recently graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Space Physics with a minor in Computer Science. Last year, I was the SPS SOCK (Science Outreach Catalyst Kit) Intern working with Dr. Brad Conrad. My theme for the SOCK was Eclipses in preparation for the Eclipse happening later this year. Being back is so surreal and I am so excited to document my experience as a NIST Research Intern.

This summer I am working with Dr. Jared Wahlstrand and Dr. Giuseppe Fumero at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) in the Nanoscale Division. Our specific project stems off of 2D Optical Spectroscopy work that has been done previously. I’ll explain a bit more regarding my position, but let’s start from the beginning of my week.

Orientation came quick once I touched down in D.C. I will admit that I was nervous, but I felt very relieved once I walked in to the American Center for Physics (ACP) again. It’s all felt very nostalgic and comforting, and I was so happy to see Brad, Kayla, Mikayla, and Andrew again. The famous Jack Hehn also made an appearance and I’m so glad I got to see him! We went over the important details for the Summer and some of the events we will be doing. Afterward, some interns split to meet with their mentors, but my mentor and I planned to meet at NIST the following day. At the end of the day, some of the interns went to Lincoln for sunset, where we all relaxed before our first day of work.

I left early in the morning with another NIST Intern (..or NISTern for short), Colin, where we endured the hour and a half commute on the metro. My mentor picked me up from the visitors building and showed me around the campus. I went down to the lab and was able to visualize the project that I was reading about a couple days earlier. Later on, I had a meeting with my mentors where they went over some “basics” of what I’ll be working on. Some of the physics is new, but the I found myself comfortable with the math that compliments it. This is a mixture of experimentally, theoretically, and analytically researching characteristics of semiconductors. It’s so surreal being a part of a project that advances our knowledge of the world around us and I’m ready to learn and contribute. I was invited to a group eating with the group and some of the NIST SURF Interns where I got to talk to some of my mentors’ colleagues. Some of the group attends “Journal Club” meetings where each member presents a scientific paper that they’ve read to the rest of the group. I attended one of the meetings and found the journal so interesting. If I knew about this before, I would have made this an SPS Event at ERAU ;). I received a couple papers that would help make the physics/math more concrete — which was my task for the next day.

I went to a cafe, Tatte (like latte), and read my first paper while simultaneously researching certain sections to understand everything. After a bit, I went back to Amsterdam Hall to eat some lunch and continue reading. I wrote some questions down for my mentor, and planned to ask him the next day. I caught up with the interns after a short walk to the Georgetown Waterfront and watched them play Azul, which Devin (Diversity and Education Intern) was thoroughly enthused about. That is when the ‘quotes’ channel in our Slack was founded.

Returning to work on Friday, we went in to the lab to find Giuseppe running the lab. Both Jared and Giuseppe explained the set up and what each lens, mirror, camera, device, etc. does and how to take data. After alignment fixes, we took various spectra in phasing and double quantum to find that results are able to be reproduced. We plan to do some further alignment to make our spectra the most accurate and precise as possible.

Saturday morning, a group of interns went to see Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse. The movie was amazing and so unique from the first. I highly recommend seeing it if you’re a marvel/spiderman fan, but make sure you’ve seen the first one, first! Brynn was highly dedicated and woke up early to watch the first one before the second. We walked back from the movie, and planned to watch another movie in Julia and Eva’s room. The interns were so kind to watch the very last Harry Potter movie with me since I had never seen it before. That movie made me cry approximately 18 times, and is in my top 3 HP movies. And of course, some of us got a late night snack at Crepeaway.

Sunday started with the Dupont Circle Farmers market where I was reunited with my absolute favorite Garlic and Chive cheese spread. We stopped in a bookstore and looked around a bit, then headed back toward GW to get ready to celebrate Emily’s 21st birthday. We went to the infamous Quigleys (or Tonic..) and afterward caught the sunset at Lincoln.

Again, I am so excited to conduct this research with my mentors and be in D.C. once again. Until next week, Janessa.

Week 2: My Developing Fear of σ (sigma)

Hello intern-blog readers, and welcome back.

I started work this week from Amsterdam Hall after a brief meeting with the team I’m working with. I don’t have my NIST badge yet so once I get that I believe I will be going to the campus a lot more often. I was given some notes to look over regarding the next steps of the project, which includes deriving the time independent operators of the Tavis-Cummings Model. We can use methods similar to the Jaynes-Cummings Model, so to get a better understanding of the commutator rules, I derived the Hamiltonian for the Jaynes-Cummings Model first.

Monday night some of the interns went to the National Mall in the evening to relax after work. Devin took a frisbee and some people took books to read. After that, it was an eventful night filling out the SPS Chapter Report for ERAU (DUE JUNE 15) while watching the Netflix show ‘All American’.

I went in to work on Tuesday and finished deriving the Jaynes-Cummings Model Hamiltonian. Jared and I discussed parts of the code he is working on that will simulate our spectra and the differences that are note-worthy in the Tavis-Cummings Model. The TCM accounts for more than one exciton in a cavity, which is why it is crucial to include in the code. We initially thought there would be one extra equation in the calculations (one that accounts for one exciton, and another for the other exciton) but after attempting the derivations we soon found out that this won’t simplify the way we would like it to. These derivations went into my Wednesday workday as well.

On Wednesday night I quickly learned that I am not as good at MarioKart as I thought I was. “SECOND IS THE NEW FIRST GUYS”, said Janessa after losing to Hannah (Physics Today Intern) 3 times in a row. Eventually, I got my act together and won at least one race. We also played MarioParty together, which I also lost, but I had fun. Also Jenna made some really good cookies.

You might be able to guess how my work day went on Thursday. I was continuing the derivations for the TCM, and I began to notice a pattern of terms that weren’t simplifying. I started to try different terms for the exciton population (a combination of the exciton raising/lowering operator σ) and finally got something that may give us more information about how the Jaynes-Cummings Model and Tavis-Cummings Model relate, or how they don’t. The team discussed what this can mean and we agreed it was best to try all possible combinations of the combined exciton operators and work from there. This led into Friday where I finished each combination and found interesting results. I think I wrote over 200 σ’s this week, so it has officially dropped from my list of favorite greek letters.

Friday afternoon I had my fingerprinting appointment (woo!) for my badge so I’m hoping to get the badge by this coming Wednesday. Clay (also a NISTern) had a couple extra tickets to Jazz in the Garden so I arrived at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden after a very interesting metro ride. I really enjoy walking around to see people having picnics with charcuterie boards and assortments of fruits. I noticed a lot of beautiful wooden boards and trays and picnic baskets that really convey the aesthetic of Jazz in the Garden. If that makes sense..

My best friend, Megan, who you may remember from last year’s 4th of July blog, came down from Maryland to visit for the weekend. We attended a brunch at the Admiral with some of the interns and later got a spot in Dupont Circle for the DC Pride Parade. The parade was 3 hours, but we only stayed for the first half. There were other events happening like the Pride Block Party and Pride on the Pier, but we went to experience the nightlife in DC once again. In the morning, Megan and I grabbed bagels from ‘Call Your Mother’ close to Dupont Circle and then ventured to the farmers market since we were so close. The cherries looked so good that I had to get a small pint of them. I also grabbed some potatoes for breakfast this week. Looking at all the produce makes me want to make Ratatouille again (if you know, you know), so maybe I’ll make it soon?

Anyway, check out all of these pictures from this week, and stay tuned for next week’s blog!

Week 3: The Scrapbook Blog

Hello everyone!

Many many photos were taken this week, so please enjoy and live vicariously through them.

I spent some time with my boyfriend Randy watching Surf’s Up! We used the Google extension Scener to facetime while watching the movie simultaneously. Some of the interns were also doing another game night and I stayed for a bit!

I presented to the Nanoscale Spectroscopy Group at NIST on Wednesday! Each intern in the group presented what project they were working on and the future steps that we will be taking for our project. The group is so friendly, and I enjoy being a part of it.

They put my name on the door of my (shared) office!

I had the pleasure of watching the Soft Matter Kitchen (Rheology) Intern, Brynn, fully show her kitchen skills. Brynn made burgers, brussel sprouts, and these DELICIOUS parmesan potatoes. Take a look:

(No, those aren’t actually real pickles..)

Some of the interns joined me for some Reggae music at the Wharf. The Wharf has many things to do especially in the summer. We plan to attend another event called Sunset Cinema to watch Top Gun: Maverick in a couple weeks!

Brynn, Devin, Julia, and myself at Rock the Dock!

We played 2 intense games of giant jenga. The structure a group of physicists can make from pulling blocks is amazing and impressive.

Jenna and I ended the night with Shake Shack on the Wharf and we’ve been dreaming about those chicken bites ever since.

On Thursday, the interns attended a Cocktail Hour with the SPS Executive Council. It was so nice seeing the council members again, and updating each other on the latest news. I really enjoy the opportunities that the interns get, especially networking events like this. Also, the Chicken Sandwich sliders were SO good.

After the dinner, some of the interns hung out at a nearby restaurant!

We ended our week at the NOI-F Orchestra to hear Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. As expected, it was amazing.

Today, I biked to the Georgetown Flea Market using Capital Bikeshare. It was tough since I haven’t ridden a bike in many years but I had so much fun doing it. We finished our Georgetown visit at The Good Stuff Eatery, and then a short bike ride home.

I hope you enjoyed this entry, here are some bonus photos:

Julia and I in a photobooth!

My District Taco Bowl Order. It’s amazing. Thanks Jaden.

Until next week,

Week 4: Adventures at the Mall

Hi everyone! Thanks for joining another scrapbook blog (I’m improving on my doodles).

I had various meetings this week starting with a meeting with the MONSTR club to discuss the work that we were currently working on. I spoke about finally finishing the derivations for the Tavis-Cummings Model and how my results were interesting. The Tavis-Cummings Model allows for more than one exciton in the cavity, and the equations that I derived have similar structure and two of them are actually the exact same. Jared is going to look more into this occurrence in order for us to fully understand it. I have yet to get my badge, so I’m still working from home with daily meetings with Jared and Giuseppe. Jared sent me some code to look at and run so I spent a little time installing Julia on my computer and learning how to use it. I started reading some of the code to understand our one quantum simulation.

A few of the interns got together to go listen to some funky jazz at Jazz on the Rocks at Tonic (or Quigleys). Some people got food and I myself got a yummy basket of french fries. After a split brownie sundae with Jenna, we headed back to Amsterdam and watched a show called Heartstopper on Netflix. It was so good and I recommend anyone to watch it! We watched 3 episodes and had some chocolate chip cookies provided by Jenna.

I started looking closer at the code I was given after I was able to compile and run it. I had a meeting with Dr. John Mather and Dr. Brad Conrad about Starshade. If you have not heard of it yet: The NASA HOEE Starshade Undergraduate Challenge is intended for Physics/Astronomy/Engineering students to showcase their skills by designing and building a Starshade. For more information and to sign up, visithttps://aip.org/starshade or contact Janessa Slone at slonej1 [at] my.erau.edu.

Wednesday night I went bowling with a few people at Bowlero. We played arcade games first, then grabbed a lane to start bowling. I’ve never been great at bowling even though I worked at a Bowling alley. I can never seem to throw it hard enough. BUT—I did get an *accidental* strike so that’s a win. I used all of my arcade tickets toward peanut m&m’s at the end, so, double win.

The next day I got to see Dr. John Mather once again, but in person! John came to the American Center for Physics to have lunch with all of the interns and give a talk about his current projects. It was great seeing him again since the last time I saw him was Physcon 2022. John has been a great friend this past year and I am incredibly grateful to be working with him on Starshade. I believe we both have a goal of continuously advancing science, but getting the most people interested and involved. He was very interested in learning about the interns and our stories, so it was nice being able to sit and enjoy greek food with him. I later had a meeting with the team and I felt like we all enjoyed that call. It felt very productive at the end where we planned future meetings together and the next steps we wanted to take with the project.

Guiseppe prepared a small lecture for both Jared and I regarding Feynman Diagrams in the Polariton Basis. Learning this can give us another way to approach our goal rather than the ‘brute force’ way. It will take some time to really understand it all, but I have a solid foundation of the math and physics behind it now. We are continuing these small lectures in the next coming week. After our meeting, I started working on diagonalizing the Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian. Since the Hamiltonian is an expression, I have to first make it into a matrix, which is what I spent the majority of Friday learning to do.

Later at night I rallied the interns in going to the Monuments at Night. I am so glad they came with me because it’s an experience people have to do at least once!

We spent Friday in Emily and Melissa’s room learning how to do our assigned demos for Astronomy on the Mall. Astronomy on the Mall was on Saturday and got moved inside since rain was forecasted. I don’t think it rained at all but it’s better to be safe than sorry. The event went so well! I actually enjoyed the fact that it was inside so that the interns could walk around to the various booths. I talked to the employees at the NASA Hubble Space Telescope booth and Ball Aerospace booth. I also met a professor from George Mason University who talked to me about Starshade and his work with John Mather.

Megan, my best friend/roommate from college, came back down to D.C. to help out with Astronomy on the Mall and go with me to the Smithsonians at Night. We first went to the African American Culture & History Museum then met with other interns at the Natural History Museum. Both of the museums were crowded but we were still able to go to some of the exhibits.

In the morning, Megan and I met Jenna and Devin at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market. I was on the search for apricots since my boyfriend, Randy, and I are challenging each other to incorporate one new ingredient in our meals weekly. This week mine is apricots and Randy’s is zucchini. I had no luck finding my apricots but hopefully another market has them! We also went to the stand ‘Lemonade Love’ which has a variety of lemonade flavors. This is one of my favorite stands!

Clay, Jenna, and I all went to the Washington Monument to write our blogs and listen to music on Sunday evening.

See ya next week,

Week 5: Full Speed Ahead

Hello there! Thanks for tuning in again. Here’s a continuation of my ‘scrapbook style’ blogs, I hope you enjoy!

At the beginning of the week I still did not have my badge. The main reason being that my fingerprints were taken late, and I guess things were just working a little slow. I walked over to Tatte for some focused work time where I worked on the matrix representation of the Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian. I wanted to program a code to do this for us to make things easier/quicker when working in the Polariton Basis, but I ran into challenges of telling the computer the properties of each operator. The code is close, but it’s not quite there yet. I got far on the matrix representation, then walked back to Amsterdam Hall for a meeting with Jared, Giussepe, and two of our team members from West Virginia University. Dr. Alan Bristow and Hunter Louscher visited for 3 days at NIST to see the lab and to collaborate with us. Since I couldn’t go in, I attended meetings virtually. Giussepe did a few short lectures on Feynman Diagrams in the Polariton Basis so that we can tackle our goal in a different way. I like both methods of approach and I think understanding both very concretely will take us far.

I met up with the interns later that evening for ‘Astronomy on Tap’ at DC9. There were three speakers with presentations about Heliophysics, Exoplanets, and Black Hole Jets. We all participated in Bingo and Trivia and it was tons of fun!

As I continued working through the JC Hamiltonian Matrix, I refreshed myself on some linear algebra. I was able to find an expression for the energy of the Upper and Lower Polariton, and presented it to Giussepe.

Later on, I went to Julia and Eva’s room for a charcuterie board night, only the board was a table because – budget. It was fun hanging and chatting with everyone and it’d be great to do it again!

On Wednesday I logged into a meeting (remotely) again, but I was pleased to find out that Jared had received notification that my badge was ready! Giussepe went over putting the diagrams together and how to read them to get an expression, and I was told to prepare to come into NIST the next day.

After that exciting news, some of us went kayaking on the Potomac with the Potomac Conservancy. We had two hours to row wherever our heart desired. We played music, took many photos, and saw some flying fish. We all plan to go again in a week from now :).

In the morning, I made the long commute to NIST but I didn’t mind since I had been working from home for 3-ish weeks. I went to the badging office and they took my photo and handed the badge over. I was so excited to see Jared and Giussepe in person, and I got to meet another new intern, Audrey. I started working on the diagonalization of the JC Matrix and then went to a meeting with the team. This was our last session of Feynman Diagrams since Giussepe left for Italy the next day. Before he left, we talked for an hour in his office about the Polariton Basis and using the diagonalized matrix for future analysis. He recommended that I plot the energy I found so I can visualize what is happening, so here it is:

The next day, Ben, a former intern, came to visit me in DC. We went to the ‘Drink for America’ Bar Crawl as we had last summer, and we had an amazing time. I introduced him to all of the interns and we talked about our future plans and what’s been happening since we last saw each other. I also DJed at one of the places for a little bit which was – so fun.

Bonus Pictures:

Me getting my badge!

The kayaking crew!

Spot Jaden:

That’s all from me this week, see ya later!

Week 6: Another Collection of Photos

At work this week I learned a lot more about the code that Jared had written. We discussed the new version of the code that runs and compiles like we want it to. From the Feynman Diagram lectures I was attending from Giussepe, I can use methods to obtain equations from various diagrams. I derived these equations and plotted them using a simple straightforward code. I also took Jared’s code and plotted the rephasing data to visualize what it looked like.

I started off the week with the SPS Interns and SPS National Team at one of the National Baseball Games. It was so fun and I enjoyed the fireworks at the end!

A beautiful capture of the fireworks at the game!

All of the interns that watched the Fireworks from the Washington Monument. We played card games and listened to great music! Jenna also offered to get Mcdonalds for all who wanted and it was sooo good!

A picture of some of the interns at the Washington Monument watching fireworks!

Megan came to visit me again but this time picked me up from work! One of our best friends from ERAU, Thomas, is on the East Coast for vacation and took the time to hang out with us. We got tacos at Ixtapalapa Tacos near NIST and it was amazing!

Speaking of tacooooss, Jenna and I went to District Taco as well this week and I can never say no to a delicious bowl. I think eating District Taco with someone is a bonding experience and is shared with a few select people.

I went to the Natural History Museum after work one day, and I got to explore some exhibits I haven’t seen before. If you haven’t gone, I recommend the Geology Section and the Ocean Exhibits. I bought some pretty earrings at the Geology gift shop!

On my walk back, I stopped by some of the booths at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. There were different cultures and religions with activities at each booth! I participated in a tapestry making board and watched a band play! This picture is of two people making blackberry pie in front of an audience with a full kitchen set up!

I FOUND A BOOKSTORE THAT DOUBLES AS A RESTAURANT! I rallied some of the interns to go with me to enjoy some delicious food (and free dessert) and buy a book or two! I’ve been really into reading but realized that I haven’t read a lot of the ordinary novels that people read in high school/middle school. I bought Fahrenheit 451, and I am super excited to start it.

Until next week!

Week 7: Self Care

Hello again!

Well didn’t I have a long start to my week. On Sunday night as I was working on last week’s blog, my computer screen went completely black and had no display. I knew it was still “functioning” since the keyboard lights worked and it was making sound. I called Apple Care and followed their instructions on restarting it and other things that we thought would work. I ventured to Best Buy the next day and lost my Metrocard on one of the trains. That card had my Metro pass on it, and unfortunately I could not transfer that pass to a new card. So I lost my pass that gets me to work daily, and I had to buy a new laptop. So like I said, long start.

With my new laptop, I worked from home on Tuesday. I went to a few meetings and read some papers. I also started working on my final presentation! Work this week was mainly meetings and working on that presentation. I had a meeting with the MONSTR group and another with Giussepe and Hunter for the last of our Feynman Diagram lectures. I sent my work over to Giussepe and he sent me some feedback that we’ll go over on Monday. There are a few things in my code and equations that I can fix, but I think the graph will look relatively similar to what I have now.

Jaden took Brynn and I to his apartment’s rooftop pool on Tuesday, and it was so HOT. It was definitely nice to get out in the Sun though and the pool was so refreshing. I got a delivery of groceries from Walmart later that night (pro tip for future interns: Walmart does a 30 day free trial for deliveries and it’s easier to buy more for cheap than stores within walking distance).

The next evening some interns were torn between going to the park and going to Rock the Dock at the Wharf. I chose Rock the Dock with a few others and it was a funk band. It was again, very hot, but I enjoyed the tunes during the golden hour. We all went home after and planned to see each other the next day for a potluck.

The potluck theme was “Hometown Glory”, meaning bring a dish that you grew up with. Though I didn’t technically grow up with it, I made Arroz Con Pollo. Everyone was so creative with their dishes and I loved all the sparked conversations.

I relaxed the rest of the weekend, with a few shopping trips here and there. This next blog will be packed with a lot, get ready!

Until next time,

Week 8: Developments in D.C.

Hi all!

Overall my week was rather short, but the weekend was packed with events.

Starting with work related progress: After my work with the Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian and the lectures with Guiseppe on 2D Feynman Diagrams, I was able to produce an expression that would help in our simulation of a 2 Quantum Simulation. In previous weeks, I’ve produced a theoretical spectra of the Upper and Lower Polariton (separately). It was now time to produce the same spectra but with both polaritons shown. There are various parameters that are sensitive to this, so it is important that the energies and frequencies stay consistent and, of course, theoretically accurate. After a few days of trial and error, I produced a spectra with many, many peaks which set me on the correct course. My simulation showed many peaks initially because the code was not accounting for “illegal” particle jumps. Basically, a particle cannot jump from the ground state to the second excited state, or vice versa. There needs to be some excitation or de-excitation occurring to make this happen. After methods of filtering these jumps and making them physically possible, a 2 quantum spectra was produced.

With this spectra, I also made an animation showing how the energy levels change with respect to detuning. Though short, we can use the animation to compare with our experimental results. Our experimental results also contain what is known as the Biexciton (we think). So, the next step is to add the biexciton into the simulation, and create an animation for that.

On Monday, I went with a couple of the interns to Dupont Circle to an open mic night at an italian restaurant. The majority of the interns who went got up to sing and I’m so proud of each of them! The talent in this intern cohort is insane. On Tuesday I had a meeting with the NASA Habitable Worlds Observatory. This was my first time meeting with the group and I am very excited to see the HWO progress. Later that night, Brynn and Gizem embarked on the journey to teach me how to use chopsticks. I say it went well.

On Friday, my boyfriend Randy flew in from Arizona. I showed him around the GWU Campus and showed him a couple of my favorite spots in DC like tonic and Lincoln at Sunset. He’s an Astrophysicist himself, so of course, we went to visit Einstein.

His birthday was the next day, so we started our celebration at Mission Dupont for Bottomless Brunch. Afterward we stopped in Krispy Kreme to grab some donut holes. It was a warmer weekend, so we returned to Amsterdam and watched a couple movies to get out of the heat.

On Sunday, I took him to the Dupont Farmers Market and we grabbed a little bit of breakfast/lunch. We then ventured to the Smithsonians and went to the American History Museum and scooted around until we found ourselves at The White House. Randy has been to DC previously, but it was amazing to show him the ins and outs that I’ve learned these past two years. We ended our night seeing Oppenheimer in IMAX. All I can say is – I wanted to see it again right after it ended.

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That was my eventful week, tune in to next week!

Week 9: Bittersweet Goodbyes

Hello and Welcome back!

This is the second to last blog of the Summer, which is bittersweet to say the least.

In work news, last week I was able to simulate a theoretical model of a 2 quantum diagram. This week the challenge has been adding the biexciton to this model. There’s not much change that should be added to the code. Generally, it’s just adding another part to the cell that filters the energy level jumps. After an hour, I am proud to say that the biexciton was successfully added. Now, it was simply just added to the model, we have not yet made it specific to our experimental results. I created an animation to view the energy changing with respect to detuning, and we found the biexciton traveling laterally, different from the polaritons moving diagonally. We are further investigating how to alter our parameters to replicate the experimental data as closely as possible.

After work on Monday, Randy and I ventured to Arlington National Cemetery. I had never been there before, but Randy had so he took the lead on guiding us through. We saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, paid our respects to the Kennedy family, and visited the Challenger memorial site.

Later on we went to the Wharf to have a nice dinner before he left in the morning. We scootered from the Wharf to the National Mall where we walked around the monuments together at night. I am so grateful we got to experience DC together this Summer.

The rest of the week was spent relaxing in the evenings, especially because the simulation is now working so the grunt of the work is done. It’s exciting times in the development of this biexciton simulation, so rest is definitely needed.

On Friday, the interns took a tour of NIST. They all enjoyed the hour and a half commute in the morning and got the true experience of what it was like being an intern at NIST. In the middle of the tour, I had to sneak off to give my final presentation for my mentor, post-doc, and our group lead. I got great feedback, and I feel confident about my presentation next Friday. I rejoined the group afterward and saw many things I hadn’t seen before at NIST. We also enjoyed pizza and learning about the history that NIST holds.

Saturday afternoon I joined Jenna in watching the Disney+ recording of Newsies on Broadway. Jenna has seen the show a while back and I’ve seen the recording probably 50 times. It was great to share the amazing experience that is Newsies with another intern. Later that evening a group of interns gathered to go to the Georgetown Piano Bar. They were having a Dueling Pianos event later at night and we all wanted to see it. Essentially, there are two pianos and they take requests from the audience and they play each song after another. After screaming the lyrics to Don’t Stop Believin and Sweet Caroline, each of the interns no doubt had an amazing time.

I caved and bought another ticket to see Oppenheimer for Sunday afternoon. Hannah also bought a ticket and joined me for the same showing. Unfortunately we had to sit apart since tickets are nearly sold out everywhere. I can confidently say, I wanted to see the movie again right after it finished.

See you next week for the last of the Summer Blogs.