Marko Gacesa

PhD student

Group Affiliations: Ultracold Atoms and Molecules

Major Advisor: Robin Cote

Contact:

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

Office: P-318

Voice: +1 (860) 486-5984

Research Interests

I study collisional properties of atoms and molecules using theoretical and computational methods.

My research is focused on atom-atom collisions in the presence of external fields at ultracold temperatures. The goal is to provide theoretical predictions for the ongoing experiments related to cooling and trapping of alkali molecules, as well as to come up with new schemes for more efficient production of ultracold molecules, such as Feshbach-optimized Photoassociation (FOPA). We work within the quantum multichannel scattering theory framework and employ different numerical methods.

I've recently started working on a model of charge-exchange collisions between the highly charged ions present in solar wind and interstellar gas. The goal of the project is to study the polarization (ratio, angular distribution) of X-rays emitted in such processes. Our results could serve as a guideline for planning new 'laboratory astrophysics' experiments and for comparison with the observations performed by X-ray space telescopes.

I am also interested in parallelization of existing codes that describe different scattering processes so that they can be ported to various multiprocessor systems, including multi-core processors and GPUs.

Recent Publications

P. Pellegrini, M. Gacesa, R. Côté, Giant formation rates of ultracold molecules via Feshbach-Optimized Photoassociation, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 053201 (2008); preprint available: arXiv:0806.1295v1 [quant-ph]

M. Gacesa, P. Pellegrini, R. Côté, Feshbach resonances in ultracold ^6,7Li + ²³Na atomic mixtures, Phys. Rev. A 78, 010701 (2008); preprint available: arXiv:0709.2924v3 [physics.atom-ph]

Please see my résumé for the full list of publications.

A few interesting links for the environmentally aware

Green Grads at UConn

www.greenpeace.org

More links coming up soon!