Banerjee, Sandipan

Graduate Student

Sandipan Banerjee

Major Advisor :       Dr. Robin Cote

Research Group Affiliation:    

Ultracold Atoms & Molecules, Quantum Chemistry, Computational Physics

University of Connecticut
2152 Hillside Road, U-3046
Storrs, CT 06269-3046

Room No: P-210
Phone: (860) 486-3500
Email: banerjee@phys.uconn.edu

Education

• Ph.D. Physics, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (expected completion, Spring 2013) 
  
• M.S.   Physics, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (2008)
• M.Sc. Physics, Univ. of Calcutta, Kolkata, India (2006)
• B.Sc. (with honors) Physics, Univ. of Calcutta, Kolkata, India (2004)

Research

My present research involves ab intio calculations to determine the Potential Energy Surface (PES) of ionic alkaline earth dimers. One of the major advantages of using molecular ions is the fact, that for these systems the atom and ion can be imaged independently; thus these curves can be useful to study scattering effects like charge transfer at ultracold temperatures. Owing to the large number of internal states, they are suitable candidates for quantum computing and can also be ideal for precision measurements. To that end we have studied the following homonuclear systems: Be₂⁺, Mg₂⁺, Ca₂⁺ and Sr₂⁺. We have also computed potential energy curves for heteronuclear ionic dimers like BeCa⁺. I also compute spectroscopic constants, bound vibrational levels, Frank-Condon factors and transition dipole moments for the calculated curves. Determination of dipole, quadrupole polarizabilities and dispersion coefficients are also an integral part of my project. I have also calculated photoassociation (PA) schemes for formation of these molecular ions. 

I also collaborate with Prof. Jose Gascon at the Dept. of Chemistry to calculate structure and properties of metallic nano-materials. We have developed hybrid QM/MM methods to model monolayer protected gold clusters. Using the force field parameters developed for molecular mechanics calculations, we also study molecular dynamics (MD) for such nano-clusters. Last but not the least, I am studying finite temperature effects for gold nano-clusters using time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). 

Teaching 

I have been a Teaching Assistant for several undergraduate Mechanics labs : PHYS 1201, 1401 and 1501 during my graduate career in the Physics Department. I have also served as the Instructor of Record for PHYS 1010Q (sample syllabus) at University of Connecticut's Greater Hartford Campus. You can find more information on these undergraduate physics courses here. 

Presentations (Posters and Talks)

• "Scalable quantum chemical approaches for the study of protected gold nano-clusters" - S. Banerjee,  J.A. Montgomery Jr. and J.A. Gascon; 244th ACS National Meeting, Philadelphia, PA (August 2012); poster presentation.
• "Calculation of ab initio potential curves for ground and low lying excited states of heteronuclear alkaline earth dimers BeCa⁺, BeMg⁺ and MgCa⁺" - S. Banerjee, J.A. Montgomery Jr. and R. Côté; 43^rd Annual Meeting of DAMOP, Anaheim, CA (June 2012); oral presentation.
• "A QM/MM Approach for the Study of Monolayer Protected Gold Clusters" - S. Banerjee,  J.A. Montgomery Jr. and J.A. Gascon; 3rd New York Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Conference, New York, NY (January 2012); poster presentation.
• “Ab initio potential curves for the ground states of Ca₂⁺: Existence of double minimum A $^2\Sigma_g^+$ in the state” - S. Banerjee, J.N. Byrd, R. Côté, H. H. Michels and J.A. Montgomery Jr.; 42^nd Annual Meeting of DAMOP, Atlanta, GA (June 2011); oral presentation.
• “Formation of Be₂⁺ molecules in the metastable B $^2\Sigma_g^+$ state by ultracold photoassociation” - S. Banerjee, J.N. Byrd, R. Côté, H. H. Michels and J.A. Montgomery Jr.; 42^nd Annual Meeting of DAMOP, Atlanta, GA (June 2011); poster presentation.
• “Calculation of potential curves for the X $^2\Sigma_u^+$ and B $^2\Sigma_g+$ states of Be₂⁺ : Existence of a double minimum” - S. Banerjee, J.N. Byrd, R. Côté, H. H. Michels and J.A. Montgomery Jr.; 41^st Annual Meeting of DAMOP, Houston, TX (May 2010); oral presentation. 
• “Forming ultracold LiK molecules from Li-K mixtures” - S. Banerjee, M. Gacesa and R. Côté; 40^th Annual Meeting of Division of Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics (DAMOP) organized by American Physical Society (APS), Charlottesville, VA (May 2009); poster presentation.
• Participated in Faraday Discussion 142: Cold and Ultracold Molecules organized by Royal Society of Chemistry, Durham, UK (April 2009). 
• “Feshbach Resonances in ultracold 40K + 87Rb mixture” – S. Banerjee, M. Gacesa, P. Pellegrini and R. Côté; International Conference on Atomic Physics (ICAP), Storrs, CT (July 2008); poster presentation.

Publications

Professional Societies