Develops cryogenic detector technology for CMB experiments. Directions: (1) TES bolometer array design and fabrication for SPT-3G and CMB-S4; (2) MKID detector development as alternative to TES for next-generation CMB focal planes; (3) low-noise SQUID multiplexed readout for large-format arrays; (4) SPT-3G science: CMB lensing, cluster SZ, B-mode polarization. Argonne joint appointment.
Bergner performs laboratory rotational spectroscopy and astrochemical kinetics measurements to identify and characterize prebiotic molecules relevant to star- and planet-forming regions, complementing observational spectroscopy of protoplanetary disks. The lab is actively recruiting postdocs.
Builds astronomical spectroscopic instrumentation and studies galaxy structure, dynamics, and evolution via integral field spectroscopy (e.g., SDSS-IV MaNGA); leads WIYN telescope instrumentation efforts.
Birkby uses the world's largest telescopes and highest-resolution spectrographs to determine the composition and dynamics of exoplanet atmospheres via high-resolution cross-correlation spectroscopy, as ERC Starting Grant PI of the 'exoZoo' project, with a longer-term goal of surveying nearby terrestrial exoplanets with future Extremely Large Telescopes.
Bland-Hawthorn founded the field of astrophotonics and directs SAIL. The core idea is to replace bulk-optic astronomical instruments with single-mode photonic devices: the photonic lantern (an adiabatic multimode-to-single-mode transition that lets a seeing-limited telescope beam be fed into single-mode circuitry), fibre Bragg grating OH-suppression filters that notch out the ~100 atmospheric emission lines swamping the near-infrared, integral-field hexabundles, photonic combs and integrated spectrographs. He also leads Galactic archaeology work (GALAH, S5). Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work — DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity — SAIL is where a quantum-sensing physicist's instincts about single-mode optics, photon budgets and noise floors transfer most directly into astronomy — the entire discipline exists because photon-starved measurements need front-end optics designed at the fundamental limit, exactly as with pT/sqrt(Hz) magnetometry. Excellent pivot target; large group, deep fabrication resources.
Blundell studies the physics of relativistic jets, microquasars and active galaxies, running the Global Jet Watch: a network of five school-based telescopes spread in longitude around the globe that together deliver round-the-clock optical spectroscopy of Galactic black-hole binaries such as SS433.
Boccaletti develops and exploits high-contrast coronagraphic imaging instrumentation for direct detection and characterization of exoplanets and circumstellar debris disks, including the four-quadrant phase-mask coronagraph built at Observatoire de Paris-PSL now flying on JWST's MIRI instrument, which recently resolved the inner dust belt and all four planets of the HR 8799 system in the mid-infrared.
Boeser works on neutrino astronomy and neutrino properties with the IceCube observatory at the South Pole, including optical-module instrumentation and calibration, ice-optics characterization, and oscillation/sterile-neutrino analyses; the group is also involved in next-generation radio and optical detection concepts. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), the relevance is instrumental rather than quantum-mechanical: photodetection, timing at ns level, and calibration of a km^3-scale detector. Included as an astronomy/astrophysics pivot where the sensor is the experiment.
Bonsor studies the composition and evolution of exoplanetary systems through the spectra of polluted white dwarfs, whose atmospheres reveal the bulk geochemistry of accreted asteroids and comets, providing a unique observational window into planet formation and the delivery of prebiotic material.
Bottom builds high-contrast coronagraphic instruments and adaptive-optics systems for direct imaging and characterization of exoplanets, including infrared detector and instrument-concept development for the Habitable Worlds Observatory. The group is actively recruiting postdocs interested in astronomical instrumentation.