Dr Andrei Derevianko

DR andrei derevianko

Fulbright Senior Scholar

Media Profile

"My research will deal with the fundamental question: are the physical constants constant? This question ponders the deepest mysteries of modern physics, such as the origin of the Universe and the unification of quantum physics and gravity – quest for the theory of everything."

 

Dr Andrei Derevianko from the University of Nevada’s Department of Physics is off to Australia on a Fulbright Scholarship. Andrei will be one of five American Senior Scholars to Australia in 2007. Andrei plans to carry out collaborative research at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney and will arrive in December.

 

Andrei will carry out his project, Variation of Fundamental Constants of Physics, with Professor Flambaum’s group at UNSW, who has reported evidence for a cosmological evolution of the fundamental constant alpha. This constant governs the interactions of the atomic constituents – electrons and nuclei. If this constant was off from its present-day value, we as, humans, may be not come into existence

 

“This group has found statistically significant evidence that 10 billion years ago ??[alpha]

 differed from its present-day value. Such a prominent discovery requires careful cross-examination,” explains Andrei.

 

“My Fulbright will facilitate a critical examination of the data and methods and may confirm or refute this important claim. My expertise in precision atomic calculations is directly relevant to unfolding the evolution of alpha from the data. I will gain expertise in analysing the specialised data and collaborate on quantifying a major systematic effect due to isotope shifts.”

 

Andrei has published a key paper Reconciliation of the Measurement of Party-Nonconservation in Cs with the Standard Model, which he explains: This work has resolved one of the largest recent disagreements between experiments and the so far exquisitely accurate, but  yet incomplete, Standard Model of elementary particles. As such it placed important constrains on competing new ``theories of everything’’.

 

Andrei has held continuous grants from the NSF and was awarded a precision measurement grant (NIST), which is usually awarded to experimentalist and recognises the importance of Andrei’s theoretical work in the field. He holds a PhD in Physics, Auburn University (1996), M.S. in Physics and Applied Mathematics summa cum laude, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (FizTech), (1992).

 

While in Australia Andrei will also lecture on the following topics: many-body atomic calculations, quantum computing, and tests of fundamental symmetries with atoms and molecule.