William Quivers
Associate Professor Emeritus of Physics
Theorist interested in laser spectroscopy, effects of collisions on coherent processes in atoms, issues of race in science and medicine.
I am a theorist whose general area of research is laser spectroscopy of atoms. Specifically, I have developed a model that describes laser optical pumping in multilevel atomic systems that undergo velocity changing collisions. This model has been employed in the in the sub-field of laser-nuclear science to study the properties of excited nuclei. For example, it’s been used in laser-induced nuclear orientation experiments, which produced first-time measurements of the nuclear magnetic and electric quadrupole moments of the 1- m s rubidium-85 isomer. In addition, it has been utilized in atom-atom collision studies.
Most recently, I have been working in the field of cavity quantum electrodynamics. In particular, I’ve worked with Professor Michael Feld’s single-atom laser group at MIT. This group, in fact, was the first to develop such a device. Presently, I’m working on calculating the single-atom laser lineshape.