Thread: My intro

I missed this into procedure. So I'll do it now.

I got a PhD in physics back in 1999 I have many good books on my shelf that I wish I had more time to read and get back into. I have had the chance to open up some of them in attempts to answer some questions here.

The user name is "c" for the speed of light and 186282 in the speed of light in miles/sec. I needed something no one else had and was easy to remember. Over all the user name has been a good one but to my disappointment there are some odd video's on youtube by a user with the user name c186282. They are not mine!

I like being wrong it is always a good opportunity to learn something.

And finally I can't spell worth ship. So you will find correctly spelled words in the wrong place. I use Firefox with a spell checker on Linux.

Thanks for the formal introduction! A PhD in physics is most certainly a very welcome addition to this forum! There can never be enough experts on a forum such as this to help us blubbering fools while we stumble around in the dark. What is you specific area of expertise, i.e. what did you do your dissertation on?

I did my thesis work on non-linear laser propagation through a two-level atomic medium. I could produce self-focused filaments in the atomic vapor (Sr). The laser would change the index-of-refraction of the gas and keep the laser from spreading out. I also observed what is called cone emission which is a ring of light detuned to the red side of the atomic transition. However, to the eye it all looked blue.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the nature of this Strontium medium? Is it a BEC? What applications could this have?

Strontium is just one of the not so popular metals on the periodic table. Most of my work was abstracted from the actual element because we just thought of our Sr gas as a gas of two level atoms. However the actual transition was .

Funny you should mention BEC. My work has nothing to do with BEC but my claim to fame is that my lab was right next door to where BEC was first produced.

I've been asked many times what the practical application is for my work. Normally I just wave my arms around and say blah, blah ... Really it has just been motivated by pure research.