Müller Group

Principal Investigator

administrator

Jon Deasy

jdeasy [at) berkeley.edu

A random administrator, trying to cut through the red tape of the world.

STAFF SCIENTISTS

Remis

jpremis@berkeley.edu

I am a transmission electron microscopy specialist working on the phase contrast electron microscopy project. I use CryoEM methods to better understand molecular interactions that are fundamental to life. 

Postdocs

Lothar Maisenbacher

lothar.maisenbacher [at) berkeley.edu

I received my PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, where I worked on precision laser spectroscopy of atomic hydrogen to test quantum electrodynamics, one of the pillars of the Standard Model. At Berkeley, I am working towards the demonstration of a novel, near-universal trap for cold atoms and molecules, based on the high-power optical cavities recently demonstrated in the Müller group. I am excited to explore the broad range of applications of such traps, such as searches for new physics with trapped cold molecules, the study of cold chemical reactions, and quantum information applications. When not in the lab, I like to take advantage of all the unique experiences offered in the Bay Area.

Petar Petrov

ppetrov [at) berkeley.edu

I received my PhD in chemistry at Stanford, where I worked on single-molecule localization microscopy. I am now working on the phase contrast electron microscopy project. I am broadly interested in the development of new methods and their applications to physics and chemistry. Outside of the lab, I enjoy books, nature, and exercise.

Jessie Zhang

jtzhang@berkeley.edu

I have not written my biography for this webpage yet!

Hang Cheng

hangcheng2023 [@) berkeley.edu

I am a joint visiting scholar in the lab of David Drubin and Holger Müller, obtained my PhD from the School of Life Sciences at Tsinghua University. I am currently working on applying the Laser Phase Plate (LPP) in conjunction with other Cryo-Electron Tomography techniques to conduct in-situ studies on endocytosis at the cellular and mechanistic levels. I like driving and cooking outside of the lab.

Andrew Christensen

a.c [at) berkeley.edu

I have not written my biography for this webpage yet!

Eric Cooper

escooper [at) berkeley.edu

I have not written my biography for this webpage yet!

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Ashwin Singh

ashwin_singh [at) berkeley.edu

After an undergrad at the University of Sydney, I moved to Berkeley for grad school. I have a really bad case of physics field FOMO, which is why AMO appeals so much to me, sitting right at the intersection of so many different fields of physics. Outside of the lab, I enjoy most casual sports (especially cricket!), stargazing, teaching/science communication, and of course grabbing a beer with a mate.

Madeline Bernstein

madelinebernstein [at) berkeley.edu

I did my bachelors at Harvard, and spent my undergraduate summers working on the ATLAS and DUNE collaborations. I came to Berkeley in 2019 and switched over to atomic physics, joining the alpha experiment. Staying true to my particle physics roots, I'm most excited about using atoms to probe the Standard Model and search for new physics. Besides science, I love music, books, coffee, and spending time outside.

Jack Roth

jack_roth [at) berkeley.edu

I did my undergrad at Yale, where I primarily did research in David DeMille’s group on a novel molecular beam slowing method. I’m interested in exploring fundamental physics on tabletop scales, which is why I joined the fine structure constant experiment. In my free time I love to run, go backpacking, and ski.

Burhan Ahmed

burhan [at) berkeley.edu

I received my bachelor's in physics and math at Clark University, and then came to Berkeley for grad school. I am fascinated by biological systems and am working on using light to detect electrical signals in cells. Outside of school, I love to cook, read, and travel to new places, especially cities!

Matt Tao

matthewtao [at) berkeley.edu

I did my undergrad at Purdue in mechanical engineering and physics, where I did research in both biophysics and nano-particle photocatalysis! I'm excited to explore fundamental physics on a tabletop scale with the cavity interferometer. In my free time I enjoy playing piano, rock climbing, and biking.

Garrett Louie

gaklouie [at) berkeley.edu

For my undergrad, I studied Physics and Classics at Northwestern, where I worked on strontium atom interferometry. I am thrilled to join the cavity atom interferometer and experimentally probe the fundamental physics of gravity in quantum systems. Aside from science, I like to stay active, sew, and read dead languages.

James Egelhoff

james_egelhoff [at) berkeley.edu

Since I was young I’ve been curious about nature and how things work, which naturally led me to study math and physics in college. Later, after working on a particle physics experiment, I became interested in tabletop AMO experiments because they can address important questions in fundamental physics with small, fast moving teams. This led me to join the cavity interferometer project. Outside of work I like cooking, exercise, and music.

Yuno Iwasaki

yiwasaki [at) berkeley.edu

I joined the alpha experiment in Summer 2024 because I was interested in using AMO techniques to probe fundamental physics. Prior to coming to Berkeley, I earned my bachelor's degree in physics from Princeton University. I am originally from Aichi, Japan.

Ian Hicklin

iankh [at) berkeley.edu

I did my undergrad in Biochemistry at Virginia Tech where I studied protein dynamics with the goal of designing antimicrobial drugs. I joined to Berkeley Biophysics program and am working joint with the Brohawn lab to incorporate laser phase contrast electron microscopy into studying protein structure in neurons in situ. Outside of science, I also enjoy rock climbing, baking, and a variety of video and board games.

Isaac Pope

isaac-pope [at) berkeley.edu

I have not written my bio for this page yet!

Post-Baccalaureate Researchers

Chris Zavik

chriszavik [@) berkeley.edu

I did my bachelor's degree here at UC Berkeley in Physics, and after a couple years of working in the sports technology industry, came back to do some cool physics! I'm really interested in imaging technologies in Biophysics and fundamental AMO physics, and lucky to get to work on both in this group. Outside of the lab, I like learning languages, reading, and getting out into nature with friends.

UNDERGRADUATE Researchers

Leah Kong

leahkong [at) berkeley.edu

Nadia Sun

nadiasun [at) berkeley.edu

Celine Tan

celinetan [at) berkeley.edu

Former Members

As postdoc or graduate student

Dr. Prabudhya (Pra) Bhattacharyya

Dr. Cristian Panda, Assistant Professor at University of Arizona

Dr. Jeremy Axelrod, Postdoc at Stanford University

Dr. Zachary Pagel, AMO Physicist at Infleqtion

Dr. Yair Segev, VP of Experimental Science at Stardust Labs in Israel

Jeske Dioquino, Master’s Student at Utrecht University

Dr. Weicheng Zhong, Quantitative Researcher at Point 72

Dr. Victoria Xu, Postdoc at MIT

Professor Xuejian Wu, Assistant Professor of Physics at Rutgers University-Newark, NJ

Dr. Sara Campbell, Atomic Physicist at Quantinuum in Broomfield, CO

Dr. Osip Schwartz, Weizmann Institute of Science

Dr. Eric Copenhaver, Hardware Engineer at ColdQuanta in Boulder, CO

Dr. Matt Jaffe, Postdoc at the University of Chicago

Dr. Richard Parker, Principle Investigator at AOSense, Inc. in Sunnyvale, CA

Dr. Kayleigh Cassella, Quantum Engineer at Atom Computing in Berkeley, CA

Dr. Chenghui Yu, Postdoc at University of California, San Diego

Professor Philipp Haslinger, Assistant Professor at Technische Universitat Wien

Dr. Justin Brown, Scientist at Physical Sciences, Inc. in Andover, MA, USA

Dr. Brian Estey, Atomic Physicist at Honeywell in Broomfield, CO

Professor Paul Hamilton, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at University of California, Los Angeles

Dr. Michael Hohensee, Staff Scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Professor Geena Kim, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Regis University

Professor Pei-Chen Kuan, Assistant Professor of Physics at National Cheng Kung University

Professor Shau-Yu Lan, Assistant Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore

Francisco Monsalve, Faculty at Berkeley City College

Erin Sohr, Graduate Student at University of Maryland

Dr. Michelle Xu, Distributed Systems Engineer at Intel in Santa Clara, CA, USA

As undergraduate student

Kenneth Nakasone, Post-Baccalaureate Researcher at Arizona

Mumtaz Gababa, Graduate Student at Harvard

Jack Mango, Graduate Student at Harvard

Andrew Neely, Graduate Student at Yale

Miguel Ceja, Graduate Student at Northwestern

Ocean Zhou, Graduate Student at Stanford

Andrew Reynoso, Graduate Student at Brown

Stephanie Bie, Staff Scientist at SciTec Inc

Binhan Hua, Graduate Student at Harvard

Siddhant Mal, Undergraduate Student at University of California, Berkeley

Carter Turnbaugh, Graduate Student at MIT

Spencer Kofford, Graduate Student at University of California, Santa Barbara

Benjamin Lloyd, Graduate Student at University of California, Santa Barbara

Yukei Murakami, Graduate Student at John Hopkins University

Aini Xu, Software Developer at Epic Systems, Madison WI

Yuanhang Yang, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an

Yanyan Zhu, University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing

Shannon Baucom, Undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley

Timothy Nguyen, Graduate Student at Rutgers University Newark

Philip Canoza, Undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley

Hunter Akins, SULI intern in geophysics at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Loïc Anderegg, Graduate Student at Harvard University

Ryan Bilotta, Graduate Student at Cornell University

Simon Budker, Undergraduate Student at University of Rochester

Lizbeth Cazarez, Training Developer at General Atomics Aeornautical Systems in Poway, CA, USA

Cheong Chan, Postdoc at the Flatiron Institute in NYC

Tatyana Gavrilchenko, Graduate Student at University of Pennsylvania

Rachel Houtz, Graduate Student at University of California, Davis

Chen Lai, Masters student at University of California, San Diego

Eli Mizrachi, Research Assistant at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Biswaroop Mukherjee, Graduate Student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Randy Putnam, Graduate Student at University of California, Los Angeles

Quinn Simmons, Graduate Student at University of California, Santa Barbara

Daniel Tuthill, Graduate Student at Ohio State University

As visiting researcher/scholar

Chris Zavik

Junqi Xie

Stefan Strasser

Ziguang Lin

Jianwei Wang

Hana Lampson, Undergraduate student at Harvard

Dr. Logan Clark, Postdoc at the University of Chicago

Philipp Sonnenschein

Bola Malek, Graduate student at MIT

Robert Berghaus

Joyce Kwan, Graduate student at Harvard University

Sofus Kristensen, Graduate Student at Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark

Jiafeng Cui, Graduate Student at Huazhong University in Wuhan, China

Dr. Yanying Feng, Associate Professor of Precision Instruments at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China

Dr. Markus Krutzik, Group Leader at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany

Lothar Maisenbacher, Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Munich, Germany

Dr. Dennis Schlippert, Postdoc at University of Hannover in Hannover, Germany

Daniel Tiarks, Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Munich, Germany

Anqi Wang, Graduate Student at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China

Fei Zi, Graduate Student at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China

Eric Planz, PhD Fellow, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen