MIT Kavli Institute Directory

Adam A. Libson

Postdoctoral Associate Postdoctoral Scholar

I was born in 1982 in Philadelphia, and lived there until I was 18. I moved to Minnesota for college, and to Austin, Texas for graduate school. I received my Ph.D. in atomic physics in 2012, and am now working as a postdoctoral associate with LIGO at MIT. Along the way, I have also lived in Rennes, France and Budapest, Hungary.

Research interests:

My research focuses on quantum back action noise, specifically as applied to LIGO. We are investigating this noise using a microgram oscillator, whose position is measured by light circulating in an optical cavity.

Representative publications:

“The Atomic Coilgun and Single Photon Cooling: A Method for Trapping and Cooling of Hydrogen Isotopes,” A. Libson, S.T. Bannerman, R.J. Clark, T.R. Mazur and M.G. Raizen, Hyperfine Interactions, (2012), DOI:10.1007/s10751-012-0586-7
“Stopping supersonic beams with a series of pulsed electromagnetic coils: An atomic coilgun,” E. Narevicius, A. Libson, C.G. Parthey, I. Chavez, J. Narevicius, U. Even, and M.G. Raizen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 093003 (2008)

Honors and awards:

The William S. Livingston Graduate Fellowship, 2008 Distinction in Physics, Carleton College, 2004