Jan Westenkær Thomsen

CV

Name: Jan Westenkær Thomsen, born 16-01-1966, email: [email protected]

Education:

1995 Ph.D. Université de Paris-Sud, Orsay
1992 D.E.A. de Physico-Chemie Moléculaire Université de Paris-Sud, Orsay (French master degree i physics)
1992 M. Sc. in Mathematics and Physics, University of Copenhagen

Employment:

2002-     Associate professor, The Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
2001-04 Steno talent researcher, University of Copenhagen
1998-01 Carlsberg Research Fellowship, University of Copenhagen, financed by the Carlsberg Foundation
1998-98 FOM fellow, The Debye Institute, Utrecht University, financed by Dutch Government
1996-98 TMR Marie Curie Fellow, The Debye Institute, Utrecht University, financed by EU
1995-96 Postdoc, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
1992-95 PhD student, LCAM, Université de Paris-Sud, Orsay, bourse de la Ministere de Recherche et Technologie

Awards/Academic Achievements:

2007-08 JILA fellow, Universiy of Colorado, Boulder, USA.
1996-98 TMR Marie Curie Fellow individual grant from the European Union
1992-95 Ph.D. grant, bourse de la Ministere de Recherche et Technologie, from the French Government
1990-91 Internationalization grant from Copenhagen University

Managerial Activities:

2000- Group leader of NBI cold atoms group, on average three 
PhD students, one post doc, and 7 master students per year.

Key Research Topics:

AMO physics,optics, quantum optics, non linear optics, fibre optics, fibre lasers, fibre amplifiers, ultracold atoms, atom traps, BEC, quantum degenerate gasses, atomic clocks, frequency standards.

Supervision:

Supervised more than 30 master students and 9 Ph.D. students, 6 post docs. Currently, supervising 2 Ph.D. students (one at NBI, two external) and 3 master students.

Publications:

48 articles in international refereed papers.
19 invited talks at international conferences.
More than 50 contributions to conferences.
Other 16 contributions public articles, etc.

Additional Scientific Work:

2004-05  Chairman for Danish physical society DFS.
2002-04  Vice chairman for Danish physical society DFS.
1999-02  Secretary for Danish physical society DFS.
1999-05  Organizer and Co-organizer of the Danish physical society annual meeting. 
1999-     Member of the Danish National Physics Censor Unit.
1998-     Referee for several international physics Journals.
1998-05 Co-organizer of Kopernikursus, a yearly summer school in physics for High school students.

Resent Invited Talks at International Conferences:

2009 International workshop on two-electron atoms, NIST, Gaithersburg USA, September 17-19.
2008 In search of variation of fundamental couplings and mass scales, July 14 – 18, 2008,Perimeter Institute for theoretical physics, Waterloo, Canada.
2008 From Quantum to Cosmos - III: Space-Based Research in Fundamental Physics for the Next Decade, July 6-10, 2008 Airlie Center, Virginia, USA.
2008 Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements (CPEM), Boulder, USA, 8-13 June.
2006 Advances in Laser Spectroscopy, Riga, Latvia, September 28-30.
2006 International workshop on two-electron atoms, ITAMP, Boston USA, September 18-20.

Recent contributions to Popular Science:

2008 “Bose Einstein Kondensation i atomare gasser: Når atomer bliver til kvantebølger” Tema artikel til KVANT nr. 2 (2008).
2007 ”Fysik med Kolde Atomer” 16 Maj Foredrag ved Danmarks Tekniske Universitet.
2007 “Laserfysik, Kvanteoptik og Kolde Atomer” 2 March foredrag for Forskerspire ved Niels Bohr Isntitutet.
2007 I løbet af 2007 er der givet 9 foredrag (30 minuter) samt efterfølgende fremvisning af laserlaboratoriet (1 time) for gymnasie- og HTX-klasser.
2006 ”Atomure og deres anvendelse” 16 December foredrag for praktikanter ved Niels Bohr Institutet

Knowledge of languages

Primary fields of research

AMO physics,optics, quantum optics, non linear optics, fibre optics, fibre lasers, fibre amplifiers, ultracold atoms, atom traps, BEC, quantum degenerate gasses, atomic clocks, frequency standards.

Current research

Gruppens forskning fokusere på anvendels af to-elektronsystemer i forbindelse med ultrastabile lasersystermer og optiske frekvensstandarder. Her spiller Strontium og magnesium atomerne en særlig rolle.  

• Indfagning af kolde magnesiumatomer i optiske gitre
• Første bestemmelse af den magiske bølgelængde for magnesiumatomer
• Frembringelse af laserlys med en koherenstid på over et minut
• Anvendelse af ultrastabile kaviteter kombineret med atomer i optiske fælder 
• Drift i tid af naturkonstanter som f.eks finstrukturkonstanten, mp/me, osv.

Tilsvarende arbejdes på

• Nye lasersystemer baseret på fiberoptike metoder
• Erstatning af dyelaseren via nyt fiber-ringlaser design
• Robuste fiberlasersystemer til erstatning af diodelasere 

Der arbejders også på nye teknikker inden for anvendelse af NMR på det medicinske område i et sammenarbejde med Hvidovre Hospital. 

Teaching

Underviser i fysik på alle universitetsniveauer.  Emner er pt. klassisk eletrodynamik, optik, fiberoptik,  laserfysik, kvantefysik, atomfysik og kvanteoptik. 

Vejleder på: første års projekter, Bachelorprojekter, specialeprojekter, interne som externe, phd studiet og post doc for løb. 

For tiden vejledes:2 Bachelorhold med eksperimentelle projekter, tre speciale studenter, to phd studenter, en post doc.