First Name
Kirk
Middle Name
W.
Last Name
Madison
Position
Associate Professor
Office Room
Hennings 409
Lab Room
ChemPhys A023/015
Tel (Office)
(604) 827-5078
Tel (Lab)
(604) 822-6356
Email
madison@physics.ubc.ca

Students Wanted
actively recruiting

Preferred Citation Style
Chicago



Bachelor's Degree
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 1992, B.A. in Physics, B.S. in Electrical Engineering

Doctoral Degree
University of Texas, Austin, TX, 1998, Ph.D. in Physics, thesis supervisor: Mark Raizen

Employment History

07/2011-present CIFAR Scholar and Associate Professor, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia, CANADA
10/2003-06/2011 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia, CANADA
07/2001-09/2003 Senior Research Associate, Dept. of Physics, University of Texas, Austin, USA (T. Ditmire)
09/1998-06/2001 NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellow, LKB, École normale supérieure, Paris, FRANCE (J. Dalibard)
08/1994-08/1998 ONR Graduate Research Fellow, Dept. of Physics, University of Texas, Austin, USA (M. Raizen)


Awards

2012-2013 Killam Faculty Research Fellowship

2008-2012 CIFAR Scholar, Quantum Materials Program

1999-2000 National Science Foundation NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship, ENS Paris

1998-1999 Chateaubriand Postdoctoral Fellowship, ENS Paris

1998      Outstanding Dissertation Award, Department of Physics, UT Austin

1994-1998 Office of Naval Research Graduate Fellowship, UT Austin


Research Area
Condensed Matter

Research Field
Condensed Matter + Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (AMO),Ultra-cold atomic and molecular gases

Research Topics
laser cooling and trapping

Abstract

The achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation and the production of Fermi degenerate gases from laser-cooled alkali vapors has created a new class of quantum many-body systems and a new field at the intersection of atom optics and low temperature physics.  In addition, laser cooled gases are extremely sensitive to their external environment, and they can be used as detectors for sensing acceleration, gravity, electric fields and the presence of other particles.  Cold atoms thus furnish a completely new experimental approach to some of the most important and outstanding mysteries of condensed matter physics, and they offer a new class of atomic scale sensors for applications.

My interests are in fundamental and applied research with cold atoms including the application of ultra-cold gases (both atomic and molecular) to topics in the physics and chemistry of many-body quantum systems and the application of laser cooled gases to realize a new class of atomic-scale quantum sensors.