William Mitchell and Cody Demars are graduate students working with UNT Physics professor Dr. Sandra Quintanilla. Their studies are in the field of theoretical and computational atomic physics and their research tends to be a combination of computer science applications, physics theory, and math. Day-to-day, this primarily consists of coding, computer calculations, or data analysis in software like Excel or Mathematica.

In the lab, the William and Cody's work focuses on studying and calculating characteristics of positrons, positronium, and the positronium negative ion. The hope is to accomplish both an improvement in calculations with existing techniques and data, and to introduce new calculations that can make their theories better. Several applications from this work are possible.

"First, these specific particles can be found in some astronomical events or objects, and their detection can provide more information about what might exist in different areas of space," said William. "Second, positrons and positronium have an excellent ability to probe materials, which can give us more information about what objects are made of. Finally, our specific work in calculating certain characteristics of these particles can help test, validate, and modify more fundamental theories of physics that are still being researched."

There's a learning curve when it comes to conducting research in this field, but William and Cody are grateful to have a mentor who looks out for their best interests in both research and academics.

"Dr. Quintanilla has helped me overcome many roadblocks in the work we are doing," said Cody. "She is always there to help out and talk through problems with me until we find a solution."

"My work at UNT happens to be really similar to what Dr. Quintanilla did for her PhD thesis, and so she is able to help directly and has a ton of resources related to the research," said William. "She has prioritized not only my research, but also my overall education. I think finding a good student-mentor fit in graduate school is really important when committing to a research project."

The two recently presented at the 74th Annual Gaseous Electronics Conference, hosted by the American Physical Society (APS), one of the largest in the world for their research area. Their work was accepted for a poster presentation, and they hope to publish a paper with the conference in the coming year. They've already learned so much from their time at UNT, and look forward to continuing to grow as educators and scientists.

"While being a teaching assistance as a grad student, I have been more involved with program administration, and from an educator side have seen and experienced what sort of things can lead to failure and what it takes to be successful," said William. "Along with having a closer connection to administration, seeing everything that went into dealing with the COVID pandemic has certainly given me a greater appreciation of things I probably took for granted as an undergraduate student."

Cody's advice for students on the path to research is to go for it. "Don't be afraid to fail or not understand something. Everyone starts somewhere."