Name: Niall Kennedy
Job title: Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Condensed Matter Physics
What are you currently working on?
Currently I am working on the Oxford Gravity Explorer (OGRE). Some deeper questions about the nature of gravity, especially at the quantum scale, remain unanswered and part of this is due to the difficulty in taking quantum-scale measurements of gravity as it is many magnitudes weaker than electromagnetism. We are developing OGRE 30m underground in the Beecroft building in a highly advanced ultra-low vibration and temperature laboratory. Using attometre-resolution position sensors that we have developed, we can begin to probe the fundamental interactions of kg-scale oscillators.
Before OGRE, I built and operated two scanning tunnelling microscopes. Conveniently, they are in the same corridor as the OGRE lab, so in my ‘spare time’ I still like to work on STM. It’s nice to have the change of pace and be able to think about multiple challenges at once.
Describe a typical day
A typical day would start around 8am with a coffee and a quick check in on the experiments as typically for low-noise experiments, you would run your most high-precision measurements throughout the night. If no major disasters have me rushing into work, then I like to enjoy a slow morning with some music (a lot of Radiohead, Fontaines D.C. and boygenius at the moment). Morning-afternoon is then usually for lab work such as liquid helium transfers, experiment design/construction or fixing random problems that pop up. The rest of my day in the department is then usually some kind of discussion about what was seen during the day, upcoming experiment plans or thinking further about some ideas. Then home for the evening which will be a mix of spending time with housemates, and assignment corrections for tutoring or working on some writing/reading I have on the go.
If you had an entire day at your disposal (not at work/studying), what would be your ideal way to spend it?
When I have some time away from work, I love to travel. Mostly this is to Norfolk as my partner lives there, it’s great to spend some time with him especially as he lives in a lovely quiet village near the coast so it’s the perfect escape from life in Oxford. I do try get home to Ireland a couple times a year, and weekend breaks around Europe are always on my mind.
What is your favourite place in Oxford?
One thing I love about Oxford is there are so many great places to eat and drink. My current favourites would be: The Perch for some food as it has a gorgeous walk through Port Meadow and the ideal place to chill out on a Sunday afternoon; Lynrace for their great wine selection and perfect people-watching spot; and then Society Café for some cake and a caffeine fix – their dirty chai latte is hard to beat.
What discovery would you like to see in your lifetime?
Of course, working on OGRE I am very keen to understand the structure of gravity at the quantum-scale. This is by no means an easy task and arguably one of the biggest open questions in physics, with potentially major implications for our current understanding. This could take many more decades to have a definite and complete answer, but seeing progress towards this goal during my lifetime would be very exciting. From the STM side of things, I’ve always focused more so on unconventional superconductors so discovery of a room temperature superconductor would be a great leap forward for modern society in general and topological superconductors could accelerate progress for quantum computers.