@Jakehiggin profile picture
Jake Higgins @Jakehiggin

Postdoc Gaynor Group @NUChemistry | Previously @NIST @JILAscience Ye Group | PhD @EngelGroupUC | @HendrixCollege alum | they/them

Joined June 2009
  • Tweets 568
  • Following 430
  • Followers 333
18 Photos and videos
Probing Ultralight Dark Matter at the Mega-Planck Scale with the Thorium Nuclear Clock arxiv.org/abs/2602.16804

Probing Ultralight Dark Matter at the Mega-Planck Scale with the...

Ultralight dark matter is expected to induce oscillations of nuclear parameters. These oscillations are characterized by extremely weak couplings or high suppression scales, with the Planck scale...

arxiv.org
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Jake Higgins retweeted
JILA
 @JILAscience
Feb 6
JILA researchers just took a major step toward next‑gen nuclear clocks. In a new @Nature study, @JunYeJILA's team tracked thorium‑doped crystals for nearly a year and found remarkably stable nuclear transitions—key for ultra‑precise, compact clocks. Read more: jila.colorado.edu/news-event… @NIST | @CUBoulder | @CUBoulderPhys | @CUArtsSciences
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Fine-structure constant sensitivity of the Th-229 nuclear clock transition nature.com/articles/s41467-0…

Fine-structure constant sensitivity of the Th-229 nuclear clock transition

Nature Communications - The authors report on new developments on the sensitivity of the nuclear clock transition in Th229 for new physics searches involving variations of the fine-structure...

nature.com
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Some news! I'm a postdoc in the Gaynor Group at Northwestern now: sites.northwestern.edu/gayno…. Reach out if you're in the Chicago area and want to catch up!!
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Frequency reproducibility of solid-state Th-229 nuclear clocks new paper! arxiv.org/abs/2507.01180

Frequency reproducibility of solid-state Th-229 nuclear clocks

Solid-state $^{229}$Th nuclear clocks are set to provide new opportunities for precision metrology and fundamental physics. Taking advantage of a nuclear transition's inherent low sensitivity to...

arxiv.org
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Jake Higgins retweeted
National Institute of Standards and Technology
 @NIST
20 May 2025
It's world metrology day, and he still hasn't told me I’m beyond measure.
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My first author postdoc paper is finally published in PRL today! journals.aps.org/prl/abstrac…

Temperature Sensitivity of a Thorium-229 Solid-State Nuclear Clock

Researchers have characterized the temperature-induced frequency shifts of a thorium-229 nuclear transition---an important step in establishing thorium clocks as next-generation frequency standards.

journals.aps.org
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Jake Higgins retweeted
JILA
 @JILAscience
17 Mar 2025
In an Editor's Choice "Physical Review Letters" paper, researchers from JILA and @NIST Fellow and @CUBoulderPhys prof Jun Ye's group looked at how various temperature changes in the thorium #nuclearclock setup drove energy shifts. jila.colorado.edu/news-event… @CUArtsSciences
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🦋 jakehiggins
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Jake Higgins retweeted
JILA
 @JILAscience
23 Dec 2024
The next "Humans of JILA" article is here and written by our Sci-Com mentee, Willa Arthur-Dworschack! Meet JILA Postdoc @Jakehiggin, working on the nuclear #clock team in the lab of JILA and @NIST Fellow and @CUBoulderphys prof Jun Ye. jila.colorado.edu/blog/jila-… @CUArtsSciences
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New arxiv posting! Non-perturbative exciton transfer rate analysis of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson photosynthetic complex under reduced and oxidised conditions arxiv.org/abs/2412.14883
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Jake Higgins retweeted
JILA
 @JILAscience
18 Dec 2024
In a new @Nature paper, JILA and @NIST Fellow and @CUBoulderphys prof Jun Ye and his team collaborated with @UCLA prof Eric Hudson to make a method for creating thin layers of thorium, a promising new platform for future #nuclearclocks. jila.colorado.edu/news-event… @CUArtsSciences
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Jake Higgins retweeted
JILA
 @JILAscience
21 Nov 2024
We recently launched our "Professional Research Development Program" for grad students and postdocs to gain skills beyond their core science training. jila.colorado.edu/news-event… TY: Fellows Ana Maria Rey and Andreas Becker, @SarahMScheiner, @Jakehiggin, @aimlessinspace, Lauren Mason, Dr. Ellen Keister, Christine Jackson, and more! @STROBE_STC @NIST @CUBoulderPhys @CUArtsSciences
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Our work was featured in the Washington Post! Read here: washingtonpost.com/science/2…

A breakthrough in timekeeping: Progress toward a nuclear clock

Physicists have made a breakthrough in the development of a nuclear clock, a new kind of ultraprecise clock that could revolutionize timekeeping.

washingtonpost.com
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Jake Higgins retweeted
Itai Yanai
 @ItaiYanai
1 Nov 2024
If you think the next big idea in your field will come from inside the field, you're probably wrong.
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Jake Higgins retweeted
UChicago Chemistry
 @UChiChemistry
10 Oct 2024
The Engel group has recently discovered that two packets of solar energy (excitons) can sit on top of each other without interacting. Their discovery can aid material design for photovoltaics. @EngelGroupUC @UChicagoPSD @UChicagoPME @NatureComms nature.com/articles/s41467-0…
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229ThF4 thin films for solid-state nuclear clocks arxiv.org/abs/2410.01753
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New arXiv posting: "Temperature sensitivity of a Thorium-229 solid-state nuclear clock" arxiv.org/abs/2409.11590

Temperature sensitivity of a Thorium-229 solid-state nuclear clock

Quantum state-resolved spectroscopy of the low energy thorium-229 nuclear transition was recently achieved. The five allowed transitions within the electric quadrupole structure were measured to...

arxiv.org
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Here we measure the temperature dependence of the thorium nuclear transition in a host crystal. Shifts and hyperfine splittings report on small changes in the solid electronic structure. We characterize a potential clock transition and discuss steps for future clock operation!
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