Mishkat Bhattacharya
Professor
Mishkat Bhattacharya
Professor
Education
B.Tech., Indian Institute of Technology (India); MA, Ph.D., University of Rochester
Bio
Dr. Mishkat Bhattacharya is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a program faculty in the Center for Imaging Sciences at RIT and a member of the Center for Coherence and Quantum Optics at the University of Rochester. Dr. Bhattacharya received a B.Tech degree in Engineering Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Rochester. He held postdoctoral positions at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Arizona, and the University of Maryland, College Park, before joining RIT in 2011. Dr. Bhattacharya teaches freshman mechanics, modern physics, quantum mechanics, and quantum optics. He reviews regularly for journals such as Physical Review Letters, the Journal of Physics B, and the American Journal of Physics.
The Bhattacharya group is broadly interested in light-matter interactions from the perspective of fundamental science as well as technological applications. Currently, it is focused on the interplay of electromagnetic modes of radiation, such as laser light, with nanofabricated components, such as mechanical oscillators and rotors. Major aims are the cooling of macroscopic objects into the quantum regime and establishing the limits to quantum sensing of mechanical displacement, force, and rotation, for example. These investigations are expected to test the foundation of quantum mechanics as well as to yield next-generation sensors that circumvent the limits posed by quantum mechanics to their sensitivity. Some of the group efforts also go towards investigating other related platforms for quantum technologies such as ultracold atoms and molecules. The work is fully theoretical, involving mostly analytical calculations, using the techniques of quantum optics and atomic physics, and some medium-scale numerical work. Close collaborations exist with experimental groups locally, nationally, as well as internationally. The program involves researchers at every level, including undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students as well as postdoctoral scholars. Recent funding sources include the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, the Office of Naval Research, and the National Science Foundation.
Select Scholarship
- P. Kumar, T. Biswas, K. Feliz, R. Kanamoto, M.-S. Chang, A. K. Jha and M. Bhattacharya,
Cavity optomechanical sensing and manipulation of an atomic persistent current, Physical
Review Letters 127, 113601 (2021). - R. M. Pettit, W. Ge, P. Kumar, D. R. L.-Martin, J. T. Schultz, L. P. Neukirch, M. Bhat-
tacharya and A. N. Vamivakas, An optical tweezer phonon laser, Nature Photonics 13, 402
(2019). - K. Xiao, R. M. Pettit, W. Ge, L. H. Nguyen, S. Dadras, A. N. Vamivakas and M. Bhat-
tacharya, Higher order correlations in a levitated nanoparticle phonon laser, Optics Express
28, 4234 (2020). - R. Sahu, S. Chaudhary, K. Khare, M. Bhattacharya, H. Wanare, and A. K. Jha, Angular
lens, Optics Express 26, 8709 (2018). - P. Kumar and M. Bhattacharya, Magnetometry via spin-mechanical coupling in levitated
optomechanics, Optics Express 25, 19568 (2017), selected as Editor's Pick. - B. Rodenburg, L. P. Neukirch, A. N. Vamivakas and M. Bhattacharya, Quantum model of
cooling and force sensing with an optically trapped nanoparticle, Optica 3, 318 (2016).
Currently Teaching
In the News
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December 5, 2023
Scientists have been researching superconductors for over a century, but they have yet to find one that works at room temperature − 3 essential reads
The Conversation highlights an essay by Mishkat Bhattacharya, professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy.
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March 24, 2023
How do superconductors work? A physicist explains what it means to have resistance-free electricity
Essay by Mishkat Bhattacharya, professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, published by The Conversation.
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October 5, 2021
RIT professor and team discover new method to measure motion of superfluids
WROC-TV talks to Mishkat Bhattacharya, associate professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy and Future Photon Initiative, about his superfluids research.
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April 18, 2024
Bhattacharya research presents theories of coherence
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April 18, 2023
Bhattacharya receives grant to study atomic superfluid rotation
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December 9, 2021
Students publish paper in ‘Optics Communications’
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September 23, 2020
Bhattacharya named to editorial board