About Me
Hi, I’m James, and I’m a physics PhD candidate. I’m currently visiting Caltech for 3 years as part of my PhD at The Australian National University!
My research interests include Quantum Metrology, Quantum Squeezing, and Gravitational Waves. I enjoy discovering a simple understanding of physical phenomena from complex analytic models. I believe in Open Research and Open Source. My full CV is available as a PDF here and I include highlights below.
My current office is Room 369, Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. Do drop in!
Education
Australian National University (ANU)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Physics
2022 - present
I started a Physics PhD at ANU in June 2022. I’m currently closely collaborating with Yanbei Chen and others on an 3-year visit to Caltech in Pasadena CA, USA. My research involves theoretical work in quantum optomechanics for precision metrology.
Australian National University (ANU)
Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours) in Science with First Class Honours in Physics
2018 - 2021
During my time at ANU, I enjoyed learning through asking many fruitful questions and found good company and help from my peers.
My First Class Honours thesis is available here, in which I explored a novel use of quantum squeezing to improve the sensitivity of gravitational-wave detectors (called Nondegenerate Internal Squeezing). The slides for my final Honours talk to the ANU School of Physics are available here.
Employment
Australian National University (ANU)
Research Officer Grade 5/6 (full time)
2022
I worked as a research assistant at CGA on benchmarking future gravitational-wave detector networks to assess the science case for a detector in Australia. This involved Python programming using an existing package (gwbench) and Bash scripting to interact with Swinburne’s OzStar supercomputer. A paper is in preparation on this work.
Awards and scholarships
- Partial travel stipend from the USA NSF under Award No. PHY-2011968 - 2022-present
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) Travel Grant - 2022
- Australian Government Research Training Program Domestic Scholarship - 2022-present
- ANU Supplementary Scholarship - 2022-present
- Yale Physics PhD offer (with funded tuition and stipend) - 2022
- The John Carver Physics Prize - 2021 (awarded in October 2022). Rewards academic excellence in the ANU Physics Honours specialisation.
- ANU Chancellor’s Letters of Commendation - 2020–2022. For outstanding academic achievement in 2019–21.
- ANU First Class Honours - 2021
- ANU Achievement Prize for Third Year Physics - 2020
- ANU Dean’s Science Education Commendation Award - 2020
- ANU National University Scholarship - 2018–2021
Publications
- James W. Gardner, Tuvia Gefen, Simon A. Haine, Joseph J. Hope, and Yanbei Chen, Achieving the Fundamental Quantum Limit of Linear Waveform Estimation. Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 130801. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.130801
- James W. Gardner, Ling Sun, Ssohrab Borhanian, Paul D. Lasky, Eric Thrane, David E. McClelland, and Bram J. J. Slagmolen, 2023, Multi-messenger astronomy with a Southern-Hemisphere gravitational-wave observatory, Phys. Rev. D 108, 123026. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.108.123026
- James W. Gardner, Min Jet Yap, Vaishali Adya, Sheon Chua, Bram J. J. Slagmolen, and David E. McClelland, 2022, Nondegenerate internal squeezing: an all-optical, loss-resistant quantum technique for gravitational-wave detection, Phys. Rev. D 106, L041101. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.106.L041101
- James W. Gardner, Hannah Middleton, Changrong Liu, Andrew Melatos, Robin Evans, William Moran, et al., 2022, Continuous gravitational waves in the lab: recovering audio signals with a table-top optical microphone, American Journal of Physics 90, 286 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1119/10.0009409
Engagement with the research community
Presentations and posters
- Northwestern University - Shahriar Group Seminar - December 2023, Realising the waveform-estimation Holevo Cramér-Rao Bound for gravitational-wave detectors.
- (Poster) Frontiers of Quantum Metrology: Fundamental Physics, Unexpected Connections, and Novel Applications – KITP UCSB - October 2023, Optimal measurement for detuned–cavity based quantum metrology with applications to gravitational-wave detection.
- LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration (LVK) joint meeting of the advanced interferometer configurations (AIC), quantum noise (QN), and laser and auxiliary (LA) working groups - September 2023, Proposal for realising the waveform-estimation Holevo Cramér-Rao Bound
- Cosmic Explorer Consortium - Cosmic Explorer Science Call - April 2023, Prospects for multi-messenger astronomy using an Australian gravitational-wave detector
- OzGrav - Data/Astrophysics meeting - March 2023, Prospects for an Australian gravitational-wave detector
- LVK joint meeting of the AIC, QN, and LA working groups - March 2023, Optimal measurement for detuned–cavity based quantum metrology with applications to gravitational-wave detection.
- American Physical Society (APS) March Meeting - March 2023, Optimal measurement for detuned–cavity based quantum metrology with applications to gravitational-wave detection.
- (Poster also presented)
- Gordon Research Conference (GRC) - Mechanical Systems in the Quantum Regime - June 2022, Two-mode squeezing for gravitational-wave detection. Presented jointly with Mr Daniel Gould.
- (Poster also presented), Nondegenerate internal squeezing: an all-optical, loss-resistant quantum technique for gravitational-wave detection.
- LVK joint meeting of AIC, QN, and LA working groups - March 2022, Nondegenerate internal squeezing.
- OzGrav data/astrophysics meeting - February 2022, Continuous gravitational waves in the lab: recovering audio signals with a table-top optical microphone.
- LVK interferometer simulation working group - December 2020, Verification of the newly-added non-linear element in Finesse for optical modelling of advanced gravitational-wave detector configurations.
- Various internal presentations to the ANU Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics.
Presentation slides and posters are available upon request.
Membership
- The Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) 2022–present
- The Cosmic Explorer Consortium (ANU group) - 2022–present
- The LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC - OzGrav - ANU group) - 2022–present
- The Centre for Gravitational Astrophysics - ANU - 2020–present
- The Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav, ANU Node) - 2020–present
Media coverage
- Universe Today - August 2023, It’s Time for a Gravitational Wave Observatory in the Southern Hemisphere, by Brian Koberlein. Available at https://www.universetoday.com/162961/its-time-for-a-gravitational-wave-observatory-in-the-southern-hemisphere/
- SciTechDaily - April 2022, Continuous Gravitational Waves in the Lab. Available at https://scitechdaily.com/continuous-gravitational-waves-in-the-lab/.
Teaching
- Guest Lecturer, Caltech - Ph125c Lectures 2 and 3, 2023. Introduction to density matrices and the quantum theory of measurement.
Outside of academia
When I am not working in the quantum realm, I enjoy playing games and music with friends. I love storytelling and Dungeons & Dragons. I play the trombone (jazz) and piano accordion (folk) and adore Don Ellis’s Autumn. When the weather is fine, you may also find me resting on a mountainside.