Carnegie Mellon University
Mellon College of Science  ›  Department of Physics  ›  Graduate Program  ›  Current & Past Students

Current and Past Physics Ph.D. Students

CURRENT PH.D. STUDENTS

...  and past graduates by year:

2022

Student

Thesis Title
Carnahan, Caitlin  Advisor: Xiao Spin Fluctuation-Induced Hall Effects in Two-Dimensional Magnets
Ergüder, Muhammed Advisor: Deserno Algorithmic Improvements for Extracting Lipid Bilayer Elastic Moduli from Height and Director Fluctuations
Liu, He                   Advisor: Suter Systematic Errors for Weak Lensing Surveys
Ho, Matthew          Advisor: Trac Deep Learning for Dynamical Mass Estimation of Galaxy Clusters
Ni, Yueying            Advisor: DiMatteo Cosmological Simulations From The Cosmic Web To Supermassive Black Holes
Nishchay, Suri        Advisor: Xiao Topics in Quantum Information Theory
Rapp, Rebbeca      Advisor: Parno Characterizing Neutrino And Neutron Fluxes From The Spallation Neutron Source For The COHERENT Experiment
Rithwik, Tom            Advisor: Marom Searching For Optimal Singlet Fission Polymorphs Using Molecular Crystal Structure Prediction Methods

2021

Student

Thesis Title
Almoubayyed, Husni Advisor: Mandelbaum Weak Lensing Systematics in the Era ofthe LSST

Andrews, 

Michael  Advisor: Paulini

 Search for exotic Higgs boson decays tomerged photons employing a novel deep learning technique at CMS
He,Yizhou                  Advisor: Trac Fast Hydro Simulation for the Intracluster Medium Physics and Cosmology with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect
Hossein, Amirali         Advisor: Trac Investigation of Mechanical Properties of Asymmetric Lipid Bilayers via Coarse-Grained Simulation
Huang, Kuan-Wei           Advisor: Koposov / Walker Identifying RR Lyrae Variables and Globular Clusters in the Milky Way and Simulating Supermassive Black Hole Early Evolution
Michalak, Dennis        Advisor: Loesche Characterization of Disordered Biomolecular Systems with Scattering Techniques: A Flexible Protein Complex and Solid-Supported Lipid Bilayers
Moskowitz, Alexander     Advisor: Walker Testing Emergent Gravity in Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies using Improved Stellar Distributions
Navros, Olga            Advisor: Peterson The High-Z All-Sky Spectrum Experiment
Parks, Bradley     Advisor: Majetich Low Thermal Stability Magnetic Tunnel Junctions for Computing Applications
Sauleda, Madeline            Advisor: Garoff Surfectant Transport in Maragoni Flow
Thorne, Larisa      Advisor: Parno Neutrino mass analysis and systematics of the KATRIN experiment, using CMKAT
Vizcaya Hernandez, Ana Paula                     Advisor: Parno Toward a Measurement of the Neutrino Mass with Tritium: Ion Studies for the KATRIN and TRIMS Experiments

2020

Student

Thesis Title
Darvish, Daniel
Advisor: Morningstar		 Light Scalar Tetraquarks and Sigma Baryon Spectroscopy from Lattice QCD

Houchins, Gregory
Advisor: Viswanathan

 Towards Efficient Computational Predictions of Battery Cathodes

Lin, Chien-Hao
Advisor: Mandelbaum

 Systematic Errors for Weak Lensing Surveys

Mandal, Sayan
Advisor: Kahniashvili

 Cosmological Consequences of Physics Beyond the Standard Model

Shen, Yufeng
Advisor: Suter

 Computational Methods for Reconstructing and Analyzing Polycrystalline Microstructures

Siddhu, Vikesh
Advisor: Griffiths

 Topics in Quantum Information Theory
Sinko, Michael
Advisor: Hunt		 Integration of van der Waals Superconductors into 2D-3D Hybrid Superconducting Circuits

Stefanko, Alexa
Advisor: Franklin

 Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering on the Proton in Hall A at Jefferson Lab
Treece, Bradley
Advisor: Loesche		 Experimentally Biased Molecular Dynamics Simulations Using Neutron Reflection Data

Waters, Dacen
Advisor: Feenstra

 Moiré, Interlayer, and Proximity Effects in 2D van der Waals Heterostructures

2019

Student

Thesis Title
Bhowmick, Aklant
Advisor: Di Matteo		 Clustering of quasars and high redshift galaxies: New frontiers for structure formation
Brett, Ruairí
Advisor: Morningstar		 The Scalar Glueball and K-pi Scattering from Lattice QCD
Feng, Bojun
Advisor: Widom		 Computational Study of High Entropy Alloys: Stability, Lattice Distortion and Mechanical Properties

Gopalan, Devashish
Advisor: Hunt

 Towards a magnetic proximity effect in a van der Waals heterostructure

He, Siyu
Advisor: Ho

 Innovative Techniques to Address the Non-linearity of the Large Scale Structure of the Universe

Huang, Hung-Jin
Advisor: Mandelbaum

 Astrophysical systematics in weak gravitational lensing

Josey, Brian
Advisor: Loesche

 Association of Model Neurotransmitters with Lipid Bilayer Membranes

McGinley, William
Advisor: Meyer

 Development of the Barrel Calorimeter Reconstruction and Measurement of the Beam Asymmetry (Σ) for Photoproduced π0 and η Mesons with the GlueX Experiment

Satpathy, Siddharth
Advisor: Croft

 Some investigations of the large-scale structure of the Universe

Singha, Bijit
Advisor: Kisslinger

 Masses and Weak Decay Properties of Heavy-quark Baryons from QCD Sum Rules and Production of Heavy Mesons in High Energy Collisions

Tucker, Evan
Advisor: Walker

 Galaxy Clusters in the Presence of Substructure

Zhang, Xiaoou
Advisor: Xiao

 Topological Effects in Two-Dimensional Systems

2018

Student

Thesis Title
Bapna, Mukund
Advisor: Majetich		 Electric Field Control of Magnetization Switching in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions
Curtis, Farren
Advisor: Marom		 Structure Prediction of Molecular Crystals from First Principles with the GAtor Genetic Algorithm Package
Eells, Rebecca
Advisor: Loesche		 Structural Studies of Peripheral Membrane Proteins Involved in HIV-1 Infection and Propagation

Li, Jun
Advisor: Feenstra

 Two-dimensional Materials: Growth, Characterization, and Simulation

Lin, Hsiu-Hsien
Advisor: Peterson

 Fast Radio Bursts Detections and Pulsar Timing Solutions Using Intensity Mapping Data

Liu, Mao Sheng
Advisor: Walker

 Inference of Dark Matter Density Profiles of Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies via Distribution Functions

Shrivastava, Prashant
Advisor: Rothstein

 Spontaneously Broken Spacetime Symmetries and Fermi Liquid Theory

Sun, Menglei
Advisor: Paulini

 Search for Supersymmetry Using Events with a Photon Plus Lepton and Missing Transverse Momentum in Proton-Proton Collisions at sqrt(s) = 13 TeV with the CMS Detector

Terzi, Mustafa Mert
Advisor: Deserno

 Curvature-Tilt Theories of Lipid Membranes

2017

Student

Thesis Title
Alam, Shadab
Advisor: Ho		 Mysteries of Universe Imprinted on Redshifts
Chen, Rulin
Advisor: Suter		 Quantitative Study of Polycrystal Deformation Using High Energy X-ray Diffraction Microscopy
Daniels, Matthew
Advisor: Xiao		 Semiclassical Theory of the Magnonic Isospin in Antiferromagnets

Fallica, Jacob
Advisor: Morningstar

 Lambda Baryon Spectroscopy and Pion-pion Scattering with Partial Wave Mixing in Lattice QCD

Freeman, Krista
Advisor: Evilevich

 Viral DNA Retention and Ejection controlled by Copsid Stability
Kannawadi Jayaraman, Arun
Advisor: Mandelbaum		 Systematic Effects in Realistic Image Simulations for Future Weak Lensing Surveys
Ke, Bai-Cian
Advisor: Briere		 Amplitude Analysis and Branching Fraction Measurement of D0 → K–π+π0π0
Liu, Xianglin
Advisor: Wang		 Fully-Relativistic Full-Potential Multiple Scattering Theory: Method and Applications
Luo, Zhonghao
Advisor: Peterson		 Lyman Alpha Intensity Mapping via Grism Spectrotomography
McDargh, Zachary Allen
Advisor: Deserno		 Geometry, Mechanics, and Biology: Applications for Membranes and Filaments
Ntampaka, Michelle
Advisor: Trac		 Cosmology with Galaxy Cluster Dynamics Using Machine Learning and Forward Modeling
Oberdick, Samuel
Advisor: Majetich		 Patterned Magnetic Structures via Directed Assembly of Nanoparticles and E-Beam Lithography
Özbek, Melih
Advisor: Croft		 Large Scale 3D Mapping of the Intergalactic Medium with the Lymanalpha Forest Using Hydrodynamic Simulations and SDSS–III BOSS DR12
Ranger, Chasen
Advisor: Rollet		 An Algorithmic Application of Orientation Relationship Geometries to Reconstruct High Temperature Phase Microstructures, Applications in Steel and Additively Manufactured Titanium
Singh, Sukhdeep
Advisor: Mandelbaum		 Weak Lensing Science with BOSS
Staib, Michael
Advisor: Meyer		 Calibrations of Charged Particle Tracking and Measurements of ω Photoproduction with the GlueX Detector
Stetten, Amy
Advisor: Garoff		 Capillary and Transport Phenomena of Liquid Drops Spreading on Miscible Liquid Subphases
Swisher, Nora
Advisor: Abarji (Mathematics)		 Data Analysis of Rayleigh-Taylor Unstable Flows
Vaidya, Varun Pradeep
Advisor: Rothstein		 Exploring New Physics via Higgs Cascade
Vardanyan, Tereza
Advisor: Holman		 Formal Topics in Inflation
Wang, Xin
Advisor: Deserno		 Elasticity of Lipid Membrane Leaflets: Determining Pivotal Plane and Tilt Modulus in Computer Simulations
Yao, Sanxi
Advisor: Widom		 Alloy Phase Diagrams Studied with First Principles Calculations

2016

Student

Thesis Title
Albayrak, Onur
Advisor: Briere		 CP Fraction Measurement of π+π−π0 and K+K−π0
de la Barrera, Sergio
Advisor: Feenstra		 Layered Two-Dimensional Heterostructures and Their Tunneling Characteristics
Diggins, Patrick Michael, IV
Advisor: Deserno		 Investigation of Elastic Properties of Lipids and Proteins using Computer Simulations
do Rego Barros, Marilia Cabral Ramos
Advisor: Loesche		 Revealing the Structural and Molecular Basis of Retroviral Assembly and Endolysin PlyC Membrane Translocation using Surface Plasmon Resonance and Neutron Reflectometry
Gao, Qin
Advisor: Widom		 First-Principles Study of Bismuth at Transition Metal Surfaces, Interfaces and Boron Carbide Bulk Thermodynamics
Haussman, Robert
Advisor: Deserno		 Effective Field Theory of Particle Interactions Mediated by Fluid Surfaces
Jablin, Michael Stephen
Advisor: Nagle		 Tilt-Dependent Analysis of Diffuse X-ray Scattering from Oriented Stacks of Fluid Phase Lipid Bilayers
La Plante, Paul
Advisor: Trac		 Large-Scale Simulations of Hydrogen and Helium Reionization
Levine, William
Advisor: Meyer		 Measurement of Spin Density Matrix Elements in the Reaction γp → K+ Λ(1520) Using CLAS at Jefferson Lab
Maddali, Siddharth
Advisor: Suter		 Computational Mining of Meso-Scale Physics From High-Energy X-Ray Data Sets
Menasche, David Benjamin
Advisor: Suter		 Error Analysis of Near-Field High Energy Diffraction Microscopy
Mende, Patrick
Advisor: Feenstra		 Growth and Surface Studies of Two-Dimensional Materials
Sivadas, Nikhil
Advisor: Xiao		 First-Principles and Wannier-Function-Based Study of Two-Dimensional Electronic Systems
Tenneti, Ananth
Advisor: Mandelbaum & Di Matteo		 Cosmological Simulation Studies of the Intrinsic Alignment of Galaxies
Zhang, Ying
Advisor: Garoff & Anna		 Coalescence of Sessile Drops: the Role of Gravity, Interfacial Tension and Surface Wettability

2015

Student

Thesis Title
Akabori, Kiyotaka
Advisor: Tristram-Nagle & Nagle		 Structure Determination of HIV-1 Tat/Fluid Phase Membranes and DMPC Ripple Phase Using X-ray Scattering
Carlson, Benjamin
Advisor: Russ & Paulini		 Probing the Standard Model: A Search for Supersymmetry in Events with Leptons, Jets, and No Missing Transverse Energy and a Production Study of Υ(1S), Υ(2S), Υ(3S) States at High Transverse Momentum
Fahy, Brendan
Advisor: Morningstar		 Properties of the ρ Resonance from ππ Elastic Scattering and the Spectrum of Excited ρ Mesons Using the Stochastic LapH Method in Lattice QCD
Feng, Yu
Advisor: Croft		 Petascale Cosmological Hydrodynamic Simulation of Quasars
He, Guowei
Advisor: Feenstra		 Graphene Formation on the Carbon Face of Silicon Carbide
Ho, Dao
Advisor: Schumacher		 Measurement of the E Polarization Observable for γ-deuteron reactions using CLAS g14 data at Jefferson Lab
Iiyama, Yutaro
Advisor: Paulini		 Search for Supersymmetry in pp Collisions at √s = 8 TeV with a Photon, Lepton, and Missing Transverse Energy
Sae-Ueng, Udom
Advisor: Evilevitch		 Physical Mechanisms of Viral Life Cycle
Stahlke, Daniel
Advisor: Griffiths		 Entanglement and Interference Resources in Quantum Computation and Communication
Voytek, Tabitha
Advisor: Peterson		 Studying the History of the Intergalactic Medium with the SCI-HI Experiment
Xu, Huizhong
Advisor: Mandal (Chemistry)		 Single-Molecule Study of RNA Hairpin and Pseudoknot Folding

2014

Student

Thesis Title
Calamba, Aristotle
Advisor: Paulini		 Search for New Physics in Events with a High Energy Photon, Electron and Large Missing Transverse Energy in pp Collisions at √s = 8 TeV
Chowdary, Krishna
Advisor: Majetich		 Dynamic Hysteresis in Compacted Magnetic Nanoparticles
Fu, Qi
Advisor: Sekerka		 Theoretical Study and Computer Simulation of Generalized Solid-on-Solid Models
Hu, Mingyang
Advisor: Deserno		 Designing Polymer-Tethered Membrane-Nanoparticle Composites
Huhn, William
Advisor: Widom		 Thermodynamics from First Principles: Prediction of Phase Diagrams and Materials Properties Using Density Functional Theory
Jhang, You-Cyan
Advisor: Morningstar		 The Spectrum of Kaon States in the Isodoublet Strangeness S=1 T1u Channel by the Stochastic LapH Method in Lattice QCD
Lenkner, David
Advisor: Morningstar		 The Spectrum of Meson States in the Isovector Non-Strange T1u+ Channel by the Stochastic LapH Method in Lattice QCD
Lind, Jonathan
Advisor: Suter		 In-Situ High-Energy Diffraction Microscopy Study of Zirconium Under Uni-axial Tensile Deformation
Tan, Xi
Advisor: Suter		 A New Method for Fracture Surface Studies: Combined HEDM Orientation Mapping and Absorption Tomography Applied to a Nickel Superalloy
Tang, Zhen
Advisor: Russ		 Development of an Energy Determination Algorithm and the Optimized Detector Design for an Ultrahigh-Energy Cosmic Neutrino Experiment
Vernarsky, Brian
Advisor: Meyer		 First Measurements of the Polarized Spin Density Matrix Elements along with a Partial-Wave Analysis for γ p -> p ω Using CLAS at Jefferson Lab

2013

Student

Thesis Title
Booth, Ryan
Advisor: Majetich		 Inter- and Intraparticle Interactions in Magnetic Nanoparticle Systems
Chen, Chien-Yi
Advisor: Wolfenstein		 New Physics Beyond the Standard Model with Weakly Interacting Particles
Degraf, Colin
Advisor: DiMatteo		 Supermassive Black Holes in Cosmological Simulations
Goh, Haw Zan
Advisor: Lösche		 Solid-Supported Lipid Membranes: Formation, Stability and Applications
Hefferan, Christopher
Advisor: Suter		 Measurement of Annealing Phenomena in High Purity Metals with Near-Field High Energy X-Ray Diffraction Microscopy
Hu, Weihua
Advisor: Ricketts (ECE)		 Tip Based Nanofabrication Using Multi-mode Scanning Probe Microscopy
Lin, Chang-You
Advisor: Sekerka		 Mean-Field Density Functional Theory of a Three-Phase Contact Line
Liu, Yueh-Feng
Advisor: Paulini		 Search for New Physics Using Events with Two Photons and Large Missing Transverse Energy in pp Collisions at √s = 7 TeV
Neill, Duff
Advisor: Rothstein		 Apply Effective Field Theory to Higgs Production and Renormalizing SCET II
Yolcu, Cem
Advisor: Deserno		 Effective Field Theory of Surface-Mediated Forces in Soft Matter

2012

Student

Thesis Title
Akgun, Bora
Advisor: Ferguson		 Υ(nS) Cross Section Measurement in pp Collisions at 7 TeV Center of Mass Energy with the CMS Detector
Bandura, Kevin
Advisor: Peterson		 Pathfinder for a Neutral Hydrogen Dark Energy Survey
Dey, Biplab
Advisor: Meyer		 Differential cross section and polarization extractions for γp → K+Σ0 and γp → Φ p using CLAS at Jefferson Lab, towards a partial wave analysis in search of missing baryon resonances
Dickson, Ryan
Advisor: Schumacher		 Photoproduction of the f1(1285)/η(1295) Mesons Using CLAS at Jefferson Lab
Evarts, Eric
Advisor: Majetich		 Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy Analysis of Sub-30 nm Magnetic Tunnel Junction
Friend, Megan
Advisor: Quinn		 A Precision Measurement of the Proton Strange-Quark Form Factors at Q2 = 0.624 GeV2
Looi, Shiang Yong
Advisor: Griffiths		 Quantum Error Correction Using Stabilizer States and Graph States
Sauerwine, Benjamin
Advisor: Widom		 Secondary Structure Models of Nucleic Acid Folding Kinetics
Shekhar, Prabhanshu
Advisor: Lösche		 Neutron Reflectometry from Interfacial Molecular Architectures: Structural Modeling and Application to Sparsely Tethered Bilayer Lipid Membranes
Shenoy, Siddharth
Advisor: Lösche		 Structure and Kinetics of the PTEN Tumor Suppressor: Investigation of Solution and Membrane-Associated States
Srivastava, Nishtha
Advisor: Feenstra		 Interface Structure of Graphene on Silicon Carbide for Various Preparation Conditions
Thome, James
Advisor: Russ		 A Measurement of Helicity-Frame Spin Alignment of Inclusive Υ(nS) Mesons in Proton-Antiproton Collisions at 1.96 TeV
Wong, Chik Him (Ricky)
Advisor: Morningstar		 The Stochastic Laplacian Heaviside Method in Lattice QCD and its First Applications to Hadron Spectroscopy
Yu, Li
Advisor: Griffiths		 Nonlocal Quantum Gates, Graph Codes and Information Splitting

2011

Student

Thesis Title
Bereau, Tristan
Advisor: Deserno		 Unconstrained Structure Formation in Coarse-Grained Protein Simulations
Gheorghiu, Vlad
Advisor: Griffiths		 Bipartite Entanglement, Separable Operations and the Location of Quantum Information
Hogg, Charles
Advisor: Majetich		 Pattern Transfer from Nanoparticle Arrays
Hutasoit, Jimmy
Advisor: Holman		 Time-dependent Backgrounds in String Theory and Dualities
Li, Shiu Fai (Frankie)
Advisor: Suter		 Imaging of Orientation and Geometry in Microstructures: Development and Applications of High Energy X-ray Diffraction Microscopy
Luxmi
Advisor: Feenstra		 Structural Studies of Epitaxial Graphene Formed on SiC{0001} Surfaces
Misra, Navodit
Advisor: Schwartz (Biological Sci.) & Swendsen		 Algorithms for Reliable Computing in Molecular Biology
Moriya, Kei
Advisor: Schumacher		 Measurement of the Lineshape, Differential Photoproduction Cross Section, Spin and Parity of the Λ(1405) Using CLAS at Jefferson Lab
Seymour-Parno, Diana
Advisor: Franklin		 Measurements of the Double-Spin Asymmetry A1 on Helium-3: Toward a Precise Measurement of the Neutron A1
Zheng, Peng
Advisor: Greve (ECE)		 High Temperature Langasite Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors

2010

Student

Thesis Title
Altay, Gabriel
Advisor: Croft		 Cosmological Radiative Transfer
Bulava, John
Advisor: Morningstar		 An Improved Variance Reduction Technique for Stochastic All-to-All Quark Propagators in Lattice QCD Spectrum Computations
Galyardt, Jason
Advisor: Russ		 Correlations in Bottom Quark Pair Production at the Fermilab Tevatron
Gong, Haijun
Advisor: Schwartz (Biological Sci.) & Widom		 Computational Models of Protein Sorting in the Golgi Apparatus
Pan, Jianjun
Advisor: Nagle		 Supramolecular Organization of the Antimicrobial Peptide Alamethicin in Fluid Membrames
Pueschel, Elisa
Advisor: Paulini		 Measurement of the CP Violating Phase sin(2βs) using Bs0 -> J/Ψ Φ Decays at CDF
Wei, Yuli
Advisor: Garoff		 Dynamic Wetting of Viscous and Viscoelastic Fluids