Radio images, by comparison, reveal thermal radiation arising from deep inside the troposphere. High quality images, therefore, should allow us to map the latitude dependence of temperature at this level, and indirectly to map the dynamics of Saturn's jet streams, which are driven by these temperature gradients. The same radio emission can be used as a probe of the dynamics of Saturn's ring particles by observing the details of how it scatters off the rings as a function of radius, azimuth, wavelength, and time. We will compute theoretical simulations of radiative transfer through the atmosphere and the rings for quantitative comparison with the data images. A variety of magnetic probes may be used to study thin films of ferromagnetic metals.
Some samples already are on hand for immediate study.
The specific choice of experimental development will depend, in part, on the interests and skills of the student involved. Interested students should have a desire for hands-on experimental work. In this project, ultracold krypton atoms are confined at the center of intersecting laser beams, so that a variety of atomic properties can be studied precisely. It is expected that different krypton isotopes will exhibit differing decay rates for equivalent states. Measurements of the different rates will pin down the mathematical models that theorists might use to understand electron-nucleus interactions.