Austin Peay professor selected for groundbreaking dark energy research program at Fermilab
By: Brian Dunn July 3, 2023
Dr. J. Allyn Smith, an Austin Peay State University professor of physics and astronomy at Austin Peay, and two students, Meagan Porter and Sean Peete, participate in the Department of Energy’s Visiting Faculty Program at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory this summer.
The Fermilab program, which saw over 100 applicants for the 11 available spots in 2022, enables faculty members from around the United States to collaborate with world-renowned scientists for 10 weeks of research. Prospective participants must have an outstanding research record and a strategy for how the experience will improve their home institution.
Smith will work to calibrate the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the planned Rubin LSST. DES is an ongoing astronomical survey investigating dark energy, a mysterious force causing the universe’s accelerated expansion. Scheduled to last 10 years, the Rubin LSST will surpass DES in size and strength.
Smith’s project will apply synthetic photometry from “DA” white dwarf star spectra, which contain an exclusively hydrogen atmosphere, to derive finite brightness for these stars, serving as zero-point objects for the rest of the survey. These faint stars possess a clear and firm correlation between brightness and temperature, making them optimal for absolute calibration. Astrophysicists will use this process to calibrate the DES and Rubin LSST.
Smith’s project success will be a significant boon for the DES and Rubin LSST, enabling both surveys to attain their most significant potential and meaningfully progress our dark energy knowledge.
Smith’s students will benefit from the project through valuable training and experience. Working on an innovative project will give them an edge in their career development, positioning them to become prominent scientists in the future.
“They will benefit from potential lifelong connections, including connections to graduate schools and beyond,” Smith said. “They will also get involved in the LSST calibration project, which will lead them to relevant projects in graduate school, regardless of where they attend. This will help them get into analysis-related graduate programs and give them a leg up on other students.”
Excitement and determination
“I am very excited to face and explore the challenges ahead,” Peete said. “This will be a great moment to view how astrophysics is used in business and big-time research. I am most excited to learn how astrophysicists perform in real-world applications.”
Peete looks forward to working with Smith and gaining experience in data reduction and coding.
“This project/internship will set me up nicely for the future. I do not plan to take it lightly,” Peete said. “Trying my hardest will prepare me for a great job and provide a better understanding of how to achieve the future career I want.”
Peete cited Neil deGrasse Tyson, noting, “Empowerment comes from knowing how to think, not just what to think.”
“I take the meaning of this quote to mean that if you want to learn more about astronomy, you can, and I can tell you there is an endless amount of knowledge (known and unknown) to learn,” Peete said.
‘Shoot for the stars’
Porter shares that excitement.
“Overall, I am excited to gain experience as an undergraduate astrophysics student at one of the top physics laboratories in the world,” he said.
Porter emphasized the potential for Fermilab to provide valuable skills for the future and enable connections with physicists of diverse backgrounds. He noted the opportunity to produce multiple scientific papers, thus achieving recognition in the scientific community.
“This project has the potential to produce many scientific papers, which means that one of those will be my first and that my name will officially begin to seep into the scientific world,” Porter said.
“I want to shoot for the stars, literally,” he added. “With the James Webb Telescope operating and the beautiful pictures and data it produces alongside different sky surveys from other groups, we are looking at a modern space age.”
More about Fermilab
Fermilab is an acclaimed research lab that brings together the world’s best physicists and astronomers. The Visiting Faculty Program allows faculty members from across the U.S. to work with renowned experts and further advance our knowledge of the universe.
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