Institution: Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland

Project leader: dr Marcin Witkowski

Project title: „Search for new physics with ultracold mixture of Hg and Rb atoms.”

The project is carried out in the National Laboratory FAMO within the Sonata Bis 11 programme of the National Science Centre (NCN). The National Laboratory FAMO is a leading Polish research-oriented institution focused on atomic, molecular, and optical physics problems. Currently, several European projects are realized in National Laboratory FAMO, including: Quantum Flagship and EMPIR concerning ultra-cold atoms, quantum control, and optical atomic clocks.

The project is devoted to creating a new research team for developing a new experimental platform to enable probing fundamental physics and search for new physics beyond the Standard Model utilizing an ultracold mixture of mercury and rubidium atoms. The proposal is divided into objectives that make a coherent research programme ranging from searching for new physics with precise sotope shift measurements, through ultracold atomic and molecular spectroscopy, up to developments in metrology based on a two-species system. The goals will be realized with the unique experimental system capable of simultaneous collecting ultracold Hg and Rb atoms already working in the National Laboratory of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (KL FAMO).

The main research goal of the project is to make use of one of the most promising methods for probing physics beyond the Standard Model, namely looking for breaking of linearity in so-called King plot, applied for Hg isotope shift. A significant improvement proposed in this project is to take advantage of the extremely narrow so-called clock transitions with natural linewidths much below 1 Hz. This, together with the high isotopic diversity of Hg, provides excellent conditions to perform state-of-the-art King-plot based measurements and may pave the way for experimental verification of the Standard Model.

Another project's research goal is to perform the first step towards the experimental platform for quantum simulations based on absolute ground-state molecules in an optical lattice. To create ultracold RbHg molecules, we will use an already existing and operating unique experimental system that has been proven to efficiently cool and trap Hg and Rb atoms in a dual-species magneto-optical trap reaching the temperatures of the order of 10 μK. Our research on ultracold molecules will be based on two experimental methods: photoassociation (PA) and stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP). Photoassociation spectroscopy will be carried out near the D1 (795 nm) transition in Rb. Using the optical frequency comb coupled with our system, we will measure the absolute frequency of PA resonances for various Rb-Hg isotopologues.

Key responsibilities include:

1) Development of the experimental setup and the experiment.

2) Construction and adaptation of the experimental setup.

3) Performing the experiments.

4) Performing the calculations and data analysis.

5) It is expected to support the PI in all of the project's tasks.

6) The post-doc will also facilitate knowledge transfer to the MSc students and PhD students.
Requirements

Skills/Qualifications

A doctorate in physics or a closely related field obtained no more than seven years ago or statement about planned finalization of doctorate (it’s required to receive a PhD degree before starting the work),

A record of publications in optical spectroscopy, cold atoms or experimental atomic physics topics,

Good command of written and spoken English.

Preferred:

Experimental work in the field of atomic physics (in particular with ultracold atoms)
Construction of high-resolution laser systems,
Construction of high vacuum systems.

We offer:
• The maximum period of contract agreement: 41 months,
• Salary: gross salary: 140.000,00 PLN /year (including the employer's cost) (about 11.000,00 gross PLN/month),
• Opportunity to work in interdisciplinary research group with strong support from astronomy and physics groups,
• Collaboration with the best research groups in the world in the field of dark matter detection with optical atomic clocks,
• International collaboration,
• Very good salary,
• International internships and the possibility to present research results at international conferences.
Selection process

Required documents:

Personal questionnaire for the person applying for employment
Professional curriculum vitae
Copy of higher education diploma
List of publications (including the publishing house/journal, year of publication, and page number)
Declaration of consent to the processing of personal data contained in the job offer for the needs of the recruitment process, in accordance with the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of The Council od 27 April 2016 (L119/1)
Declaration under art. 113 ust. 1 ustawy Prawo o szkolnictwie wyższym (o niekaralności) (Art. Paragraph 113 (1) of the Higher Education Act (of no criminal record)
Declaration that Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń will be my primary employer once I have won the contest
At least one (max three) reference letter(s)
Copy of doctorate certificate or statement about planned finalization of PhD (it’s required to receive a PhD degree before starting the work)
A cover letter including a description of scientific motivation, a description of research interests, and a publication list (addressed to Professor Andrzej Sokala, Rector of the Nicolaus Copernicus University)

Forms to be downloaded: https://www.umk.pl/en/jobs/?task=offer&action=one&id=4357

Please submit the documents to: karolina.kitkowska@umk.pl (scanned or pdf versions will be accepted).

Please provide the original documents to the project leaders in case of a successful application.

For more details, please contact us by email: karolina.kitkowska@umk.pl.

The call is open until suitable candidates are identified with the final closing date of 21.08.2023. We reserve the right not to select any candidates.

Please submit the aforementioned documents to karolina.kitkowska@umk.pl with annotation "RbHg molecules 5" (offer no 4357) in the subject field.

Application deadline: 21.08.2023

Please include in your offer:

“I hereby give consent for my personal data included in my application to be processed for the purposes of the recruitment process under the Personal Data Protection Act as of 10 May 2018 (consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2019, item 1781) and pursuant to art. 6 § 1a GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation - EU 2016/279)."

Offer Requirements:

The high level of proposed scientific research requires an experienced, ambitious and highly motivated young doctor having a sound theoretical background. It is expected to support the PI in all of the project's tasks. The post-doc will also facilitate knowledge transfer to the MSc students and PhD students
Additional comments

Documents should be submitted to Karolina Kitkowska at: karolina.kitkowska@umk.pl before 21.08.2023. The applicants will be contacted for an interview to schedule a time.

The university does not provide accommodation.

NCU declares the right not to choose any candidate.