2005: We're Back again

This summer research officially started on Tuesday May 31st and will end on Friday August 5th.  However, due to international travel we will all be working different dates.

Our accomplishments for the summer:
     We finished work on 6LiI, RbCl, RbF, and KBr. 
     We submitted the 6LiI paper.
     We started work on RbOH.  Hopefully we can continue this into the school year.

Check out our log page.

Meet the Molbeamers:
Sara Fortman
Jimmy Randolph
John Nichol
fortman@stolaf.edu
randolpj@stolaf.edu
nicholj@stolaf.edu
Class of 2006 - Physics
and Math major
Class of 2006 - Physics
and  Math major

 Class of 2006 - Physics
and Math major

Summaries

Sara:

    Well another summer has come and gone.  It may have taken two summers but we finally, (okay more or less), reached our ambitious goals we set out last summer.  With one paper submitted and three more on its heels, we can say we did it!  We even had enough time left over to start a new molecule.  Welcome to RbOH.
     Between the usual minor calamities of the molbeam and the hours of pouring over quantum theory, I spent most of my time this summer finishing RbCl.  There were a few twists and turns, but in the end I got some numbers I won’t loose sleep over.  I analyzed the final RbCl data collected during the school year and at the beginning of the summer and battled Spectfit for the best Chi value.  It was a glorious fight that in the end I feel I won.
     Jimmy and John were once again the most fabulously esteemed colleagues I could have worked with.  It will be tragic not to work with them again next summer.  I will have to find others to tease about falling asleep, to explain proper swim technique to and exasperate with bells and whistles.  Dr. Cederberg was, as always, superb.  Always pushing me to figure things out myself, but there if I ever was stuck in a hole that was too deep.  So Jimmy, John and Dr. Cederberg, thanks for a wonderful two summer.


John:

    The work of this summer seems like an appropriate end for our summer research careers.  We finished up 6LiI, RbF, RbCl, and KBr, and we have several papers in the works.  We even submitted for publication the 6LiI paper called "An Anomaly in the Isotopomer Shift of the Hyperfine Spectrum of LiI."  This paper confirms the hexadecapole interaction observed in the spectrum of 7LiI and discusses the mystery shift in the Iodine quadrupole coupling constant.  I am looking forward to presenting this at the AAPT meeting in Salt Lake City.
    Early in the summer, I took a few weeks to add bells and whistles to WinBeam and the C++ Linefit.  After that, I spent some time absorbing the details of angular momentum and how it relates to what we do.  I gained a greater appreciation for the subtlety of molecular beam physics.
    I want to thank my esteemed colleagues Jimmy and Sara for being wonderful.  Working with them is both fun and inspiring.  And of course, I would like to thank Dr. Cederberg for another valuable learning experience.  Observing and learning first hand how such a skilled physicist works is for me one of the best parts of the summer.  Good luck to the molbeamers of next year! 


Jimmy:

    This summer has certainly passed quickly.  My first few weeks I worked to complete analysis of KBr and RbF.  Although I expected this to take a relatively small amount of time, the need to collect more KBr data resulted in analysis that took many weeks.  But by the end of the summer, the analysis was finally completed and the papers started.  I hope to submit the papers for publication shortly.
    Between periods of analyzing data, I read considerable material concerning the theory behind the beam and our operating programs.  I think I finally have a good sense of exactly what is happening in our experiment, but there will always be more to learn.  Good luck to all those who work with the beam in the future.
    Before I go, I must thank Sara, John and Dr. Cederberg for another great summer.  You have all helped these summers be fabulous experiences.