Profile
I am a graduate student at Purdue University pursuing a PhD in Physics. My current research is on the formation and control of ultracold atoms and molecules, with a goal of demonstrating the necessary physics for quantum computing.
Achievements and Highlights
- Selected to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, focus on Physics (July 2012).
- Awarded the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. (April 2009).
- Awarded the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship by the Department of Defense. (April 2009).
- Published twice as lead author in articles for the American Journal of Physics.
- Co-represented Oregon in the Council for Undergraduate Research’s Posters on the Hill event in Washington, DC. Presented a poster and advocated for undergraduate science research to senators and representatives (May 2006).
- Went to Budapest, Hungary as part of Notre Dame’s Nano-Bio REU program. Presented quantum-dot cellular automata simulation research to professors and graduate students there. (July 2006)
- Presented a talk on my two-photon research to the MJ Murdock Northwest Undergraduate Research Conference in Nampa, ID (Nov. 2005).
- Took 2nd place in university sponsored business plan competition (April 2006).
Education
- Enrolled in the Physics PhD Program at Purdue University, Lafayette, IN. August 2008-present.
- B.S. Physics with Mathematics Minor, University of Portland, Portland, OR. May 2007: 3.98/4.00 GPA. Maxima Cum Laude
- High School Diploma, Trinity School at River Ridge, Bloomington, MN. 1999-2003: Class Valedictorian
Publications and Papers
Publications
- Abraham J. Olson, Shannon K. Mayer, “Electromagnetically Induced Transparency in Rubidium”, Am. J. Phys. Vol. 77, (Feb. 2009)116-121.
- Abraham J. Olson, Evan J. Carlson, Shannon K. Mayer, “Two photon spectroscopy of rubidium using a grating feedback diode laser”, Am. J. Phys. 74, (March 2006) 218-223.
Papers
- Abraham J. Olson, “Electromagnetically Induced Transparency in Rubidium”, Honors Thesis, University of Portland. 2007.
- Abraham J. Olson, Craig S. Lent, “Semi-Classical Thermodynamic Simulation of QCA Circuits”. Submitted to REU Program.
Honors, Awards and Fellowships
- Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Young Researcher (Joachim Herz Stiftung and NSF Fellow, 2012)
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research (NSF GRFP) Fellow (awarded in 2009)
- National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow (awarded in 2009)
- Ross Fellowship at Purdue University (2008-2009)
- Goldwater Scholar (Honorable Mention)
- Dean’s List (each semester)
- Runner-up in $16K Business Plan Competition
- UP’s President’s Scholarship
- Honor’s Grant
- Merle Starr Scholarship
- Schlotfeldt Scholarship
- Waldschmidt Scholarship
- Joseph Mullaney Physics Scholarship
- Community Foundation Scholarship
Research Experience
Honor's Thesis for the University of Portland (August 2006-April 2007)
- Lead author of a paper in the Amer. J. of Physics.
- Assembled the experimental apparatus for the electromagnetically induced transparency research
- Refined previously acquired skills with standard optical equipment
- Presented at and participated in weekly group meetings
Nano-Bio REU at the University of Notre Dame (Summer 2006)
- With Dr. Craig Lent as my advisor, I produced Q-CATS 1.0, a simulation tool for modeling quantum-dot cellular automata circuits.
- Visual Basic for Applications programming experience
- Simulations and computer-aided-design
- International science experience: Visited and discussed research with professors and graduate students in Budapest, Hungary
- Wrote a paper on research submitted to REU program
- Presented at and participated in weekly group meetings
Optics Research at the University of Portland (May 2005-May 2006)
- Co-authored and published a paper in the Amer. J. of Physics
- Assembled the experimental apparatus for the two-photon research
- Gained experience with PMT’s, PZT laser scanning, grating-feedback diode lasers, oscilloscopes, Fabry-Perot Interferometer, optical isolators, and other standard optical and electrical equipment
- Built a signal amplifier and other basic circuits for optical equipment
- Performed data analysis on experimental results
- Dr. Shannon Mayer was my advisor
Research Assistant in the EE Dept. of Notre Dame (Summer 2004)
- Worked for Dr. Craig Lent and wrote Matlab code to model heat dissipation in quantum-dot cellular automata
Skills
- Proficient with Labview, OriginPro, LaTeX, Matlab, Microsoft Excel, HTML and CSS
- Familiar with Java, Mathematica, Maple, Visual Basic for Applications, and Igor
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Computational and experimental research experience
- 4 years Tutoring and T.A. experience in physics and math
- Experimental optical physics
Work Experience
- Spring Semester 2009: Physics 172 Lab Instructor
- Fall Semester 2008: Physics 220 Lab Instructor
- May 2007-August 2008: Missionary for the People of Praise
- Oct 2007-May 2008: Project Manager for One:Ten Communications (Part-Time).
- Fall Semester 2008: Physics 220 Lab Instructor
- 2004-2007: Math Tutor at the University of Portland. Gave one-on-one tutoring for Calc I and II, Vector Calc, and Diff EQ.
- 2004-2007: T.A. for General Physics Lab. Led classes of 15-24 students through Physics I and II labs
- 2005-2007: Physics tutor at the University of Portland. Instructed groups of 2-5 students in the concepts of Physics I and II.
- 2004-2005: Peer Health Educator. Coordinated events between the dorm and university Health Office.
Presentations and Conferences
- AJ Olson, Robert Niffenegger, Sourav Dutta, Chuan-Hsun Li, YP Chen "BEC with gauge fields, spin-orbit coupling, and photo-association". Talk at 2012 Midwest Cold Atom Workshop, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- AJ Olson, Robert Niffenegger, YP Chen "Loading and high efficiency evaporative cooling to BEC with a MACRO-FORT". Talk at 2012 APS DAMOP Meeting in Orange County, CA.
- Robert Niffenegger, AJ Olson, YP Chen "Towards a Rb87 BEC apparatus with reconfigurable arbitrary optical potentials and artificial gauge fields". Poster at 2012 APS DAMOP Meeting in Orange County, CA.
- AJ Olson, Ping Wang, Robert Niffenegger, Qianli Ma, YP Chen "All-optical 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensation using a 1550nm dipole trap". Poster at 2011 APS DAMOP Meeting in Atlanta, GA.
- Ping Wang, AJ Olson, Qianli Ma, Sourav Dutta, YP Chen "Optical trapping of ultra-cold 87Rb with a 1550nm laser". Poster at 2010 APS DAMOP Meeting in Houston, TX.
- AJ Olson, YP Chen "Variational Calculations for the Effects of Magnetic Dipole-Dipole Interaction in Bose-Einstein Condensates". Poster at 2010 APS DAMOP Meeting in Houston, TX.
- AJ Olson, YP Chen “Effects of magnetic dipole-dipole interactions in Bose-Einstein condensates: geometry and stability". Poster at 2010 March Meeting in Portland, OR.
- AJ Olson, “Electromagnetically Induced Transparency in Rubidium” Honor’s Program Thesis Defense. Presented talk. (April 2007)
- AJ Olson, “EIT in Rubidium: Making Gas Invisible” University of Portland Founder’s Day. Presented general audience talk. (April 2007)
- AJ Olson, EJ Carlson, SK Mayer, “Two-photon spectroscopy of rubidium using a grating-feedback diode laser.” MJ Murdock Charitable Trust Undergraduate Research Conference in Portland, OR. Presented poster. (Oct. 2006)
- AJ Olson, CS Lent, “Semi-Classical. Thermodynamic Modeling of QCA Circuits” Tri-university Undergraduate Research Symposium at Notre Dame. Presented poster. (August 2006)
- AJ Olson “Q-CATS 1.0: A Visual Basic and Microsoft Excel Program to Simulate QCA circuits” Pázmány Péter Catholic University. Presented talk. (July 2006)
- AJ Olson, EJ Carlson, SK Mayer, “Two-photon spectroscopy of rubidium using a grating-feedback diode laser.” Posters on the Hill. Presented Poster. (April 2006)
- AJ Olson, EJ Carlson, “A Rubidium Atom Magneto-Optic Trap and Two-photon Spectroscopy” MJ Murdock Charitable Trust Undergraduate Research Conference in Nampa, ID. Presented talk. (November 2005)
- AJ Olson, EJ Carlson, SK Mayer, “A Rubidium Atom Magneto-Optic Trap and Two-photon Spectroscopy” UP Murdock Research Presentations. Presented talk. Selected to present at regional conference. (August 2005)
- Attended the 7th Annual Meeting of the Northwest Section of the American Physical Society in Victoria, Canada. (May 2005)