Week 2: My Developing Fear of σ (sigma)

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!