I work on the applications of ultracold atoms and molecules in quantum science and tests of fundamental physics.

My group was one of the first to apply laser cooling to molecules. We are currently able to cool molecules to a few microkelvin and trap them for several seconds. We have studied collisions at low temperature and plan to use collisional cooling to increase the phase-space density towards quantum degeneracy. A Bose-Einstein condensate of dipolar molecules will be a fascinating system to study and an ideal starting point for investigating many-body quantum physics. We also trap single atoms and molecules in tightly focussed laser beams called tweezer traps. Our aim is to make small arrays of molecules with dipole-dipole interactions, and use this to build quantum gates and study many-body quantum physics. We would like to build a hybrid quantum system based on the interaction between molecules and Rydberg atoms.

We are using ultracold molecules to measure the electron's electric dipole moment (eEDM), which is a test of physics beyond the Standard Model, such as Supersymetry. As part of the QSNET collaboration, we are building a new kind of clock based on the vibrational frequency of molecules trapped in an optical lattice. This clock could be used as an ultra-precise frequency standard in the mid infrared, and as a tool for measuring the time-variation of fundamental constants. As part of the AION collaboration, we aim to use atom interferometry to explore the nature of dark matter and explore a path towards detecting gravitational waves from the very early Universe and from astrophysical sources in the mid-frequency band.