Interferometry from light-harvesting to far-infrared astronomy
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Interferometry from light-harvesting to far-infrared astronomy
Fri, 09/06/2023 - 12:15 to 13:00
Location:
Speaker:
Dr Berke Ricketti
Affiliation:
University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada
Synopsis:
Interferometry is an indispensable tool for probing the coherence properties of light. In this talk, I will present a whistle-stop tour of experimental applications of interferometry, from temporal coherence measurements of sunlight (in Edinburgh!) in the context of photosynthesis, to a far-infrared (FIR) spatial-spectral Fourier transform interferometry testbed at the University of Lethbridge. I will also look ahead to the Space Interferometer for Cosmic Evolution (SPICE), a $1B NASA Probe-class mission concept currently being studied for sub-arcsecond high angular resolution observations in the FIR, building on previous contributions by Edinburgh's UK Astronomy Technology Centre to the Far Infrared Space Interferometer Critical Assessment (FISICA) project.
Biography:
Berke Ricketti graduated from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland with an Masters in Physics, where he wrote his dissertation on quantum information theory under Prof. Erika Andersson. In 2017, he started his PhD at Heriot-Watt University through the Scottish Doctoral Training Centre in Condensed Matter Physics. Under the supervision of Prof. Alessandro Fedrizzi and Prof. Erik Gauger, he completed his thesis in 2022 entitled: "An empirical study of the temporal coherence properties of sunlight in the context of photosynthesis". In April 2022, he joined Heriot-Watt University's Single-Photon Group as a Postdoctoral Research Associate, where he studied next-generation light sources for satellite-based quantum key distribution with Dr. Ross Donaldson. Currently, he is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, working on spatial-spectral Fourier transform interferometry for applications in far-infrared astrophysics with Dr. Locke Spencer. He is also a member of the Instrumentation and Simulations working group for the Space Interferometer for Cosmic Evolution (SPICE), a NASA Probe-class mission concept for high angular resolution astronomy at far-infrared wavelengths.