Varun Makhija

Assistant Professor University of Mary Washington

  • Fredericksburg VA

Varun Makhija's research focuses on the interaction of light with matter, and the ensuing motion of molecular atoms and electrons.

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University of Mary Washington

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Biography

Varun Makhija earned a Ph.D. in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics in 2014 from Kansas State University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Research Council of Canada in the lab of Dr. Albert Stolow from 2014 to 2018, and a visiting assistant professor of physics at Bowdoin College in 2019.

His research focuses on fundamental aspects of the interaction of light with matter, and the ensuing motion of molecular atoms and electrons. These motions are extremely fast, require bursts of light that last for only a millionth of a billionth of a second to image. Dr. Makhija works with collaborators at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, University of Virginia, Purdue University, Kansas State University and the National Research Council of Canada where lasers that produce such bursts of light are available.

Areas of Expertise

Chemical Physics
Molecular and Optical Physics
Chemistry and Physics
Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics

Education

Kansas State University

Ph.D.

Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics

2014

Drew University

BS

Media Appearances

UMW Physics, Math Major Wins Preeminent Goldwater Scholarship

UMW.edu  online

2021-06-02

With guidance from his advisor, Assistant Professor Varun Makhija, and other faculty members in UMW’s recently merged departments of Chemistry and Physics, Mills’ research chronicles the movement of frenetic molecules by making movies of them using lasers.

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Partnerships Lead Students to Engineering Master’s Degrees

UMW.edu  online

2020-11-16

The pathways are critical for physics students – and University of Mary Washington undergraduates across disciplines – said Assistant Professor of Physics Varun Makhija. “The opportunity of being accepted into a graduate-level program offering a degree in such a high-demand field is extremely valuable.”

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An Expert Explains: Why does an internet connection become unreliable in the rain?

The Indian Express  online

2020-09-24

As the monsoon begins to officially retreat, many in India will be looking forward to some relief from a phenomenon that they have come to expect whenever it rains: Internet connections become unstable, and cell phone networks deteriorate. Why does this happen?

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Articles

Towards molecular frame photoelectron angular distributions in polyatomic molecules from lab frame coherent rotational wavepacket evolution

Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics

A theory and method for a matrix-based reconstruction of molecular frame (MF) photoelectron angular distributions (MFPADs) from laboratory frame (LF) measurements (LFPADs) is developed and basic applications are explored. As with prior studies of MF reconstruction, the experimental side of this protocol is based upon time-resolved LF measurements in which a rotational wavepacket is prepared and probed as a function of time via photoionization, followed by a numerical reconstruction routine.

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Measurement of Multiple Components of the Molecular Frame Third-order Nonlinear Response Tensor in Impulsively Aligned CO2 Molecules

Bulletin of the American Physical Society

We perform measurements of multiple components of the molecular frame third-order nonlinear response tensor (second hyper-polarizability) in impulsively aligned carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules. We use a moderately strong femtosecond near-infrared laser pulse to impulsively align CO2 molecules, and use a pair of femtosecond pulses to measure the non-linear response using the Optical Kerr effect.

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Time-resolved diffraction: general discussion

Faraday Discussions

Anja Röder opened a discussion of the paper by Martin Centurion: In your paper (DOI: 10.1039/d0fd00125b) you very nicely showed the dependence of the relative abundance of ionic fragments on the IR intensity, eg the C7H7+ fragment intensity increases three-fold from 30 TW cm À2 to 220 TW cm À2. Do you plan to extend your UED study to examine also several different IR intensities, and to investigate whether the same fragments are formed at different IR intensities?

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