[{"id":28313,"date":"2025-08-27T15:59:56","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T19:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cas.umw.edu\/physics\/?page_id=28313"},"modified":"2025-08-27T16:04:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T20:04:02","slug":"varun-makhija","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cas.umw.edu\/physics\/department-of-physics\/faculty-and-staff\/varun-makhija\/","title":{"rendered":"Varun Makhija"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Faculty<\/figure>
\"Attosecond<\/span>
\n

Varun Makhija<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/html><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Research:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Varun\u2019s research in Ultrafast Molecular Physics focuses on the behavior individual molecules, which are clumps of atoms, when they interact with light. For example, a water molecule, or H2<\/sub>O, is a clump of two Hydrogen atoms and one Oxygen atom. When light lands on such a clump, the electrons in it can literally `soak up\u2019 the light and gain energy. But what happens next? By `next\u2019, we mean what happens within the next few billionths of a billionths<\/em> of a second? In the next few attoseconds<\/em>? We know that the energy in the electrons must be transferred to the rest of the molecule since we know that molecules that absorbs light, like those in our eye, can change shape. But the details of this energy transfer remain a mystery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varun\u2019s students use quantum mechanics, the part of physics that describes the behavior of really small things, to try and answer this question. They also have the option of working with lasers that produce bursts of light that last for a very short time and can be used as a `camera\u2019 to track the motion of molecules. If you want to learn more about Ultrafast Science, you can read about the 2023 Nobel Prize in physics<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publications:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n