“Atoms are easier to observe and to control at low temperatures,” Jamison said. “Once we group them together into molecules, our goal is to get them to behave.” When you make atoms ultracold, you can make precise measurements.
We’ve seen applications of these cold atoms in things like atomic clocks and GPS. Cooling molecules is still a new field of research with only ten years of work behind it.
“It’s an early stage of research,” Jamison said. His curiosity about the field was born from a love of fundamental research and laboratory work, especially with questions that stymy researchers theoretically, where only experiments can solve it.
In his spare time, Jamison is collaborating with an economist. He’s expanding his research on atoms and molecules to look at how people react in individual versus group settings. Does human behaviour mimic the systems of many quantum particles? Jamison doesn’t have the answers yet, but like his experimental research, he doesn’t plan on hitting pause on the questions.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “We are seeing new technologies developing as we conduct research.”
Jamison is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Institute for Quantum Computing.