Prof. Mitrović . . . worked tirelessly to ensure the smooth functioning of the lab and encouraged us to dare to dive right into uncharted territories of the microscopic world. . . . thanks to the Brown Department of Physics’s collaboration with other world-leading institutions in physics and the Department’s practice of encouraging students to participate in educational mobility programs, which include financial support and degree requirement flexibility, I was fortunate enough to share my findings with and learn from highly renowned experts.

My advice to incoming physics students is to never be scared to ask “why?” because the essence of research lies in questioning the things around you. Always seek new opportunities to get involved in different kinds of research — physics is becoming an increasingly more collaborative field. Even more so than the results, the skills you learn along the way will take you much farther than you can imagine!

The versatility of graphene heterostructures gives rise to new experimental challenges
to understand the microscopic mechanism and electronic orders underlying these novel
quantum phenomena. For example, the electronic spin degrees of freedom play a
crucial role in determining the nature of the associated quantum phases. However,
conventional experimental methods, such as the transport technique, are not directly
sensitive to the spin order. As such, developing new experimental tools capable
of probing the spin order is key for further advancing our understanding of the physics of
graphene and other 2D materials.”

With collaborators, including my advisor Professor Jia Li, I recently made progress toward this effort to probe the spin structure in a 2D system by employing a resistively detected ESR technique in twisted bilayer graphene, with results published this past May in Nature Physics. This approach combines ESR and quantum transport methods by first exciting the carriers in the system with microwave photons and then measuring how that excitation couples to the resistance of the device.

My doctoral journey has been nothing short of a rollercoaster – some days are thrilling and exciting, while others are daunting and challenging. Brown has blessed me with wonderful people with whom I share my struggles, like those moments of panic over a divergent integral.

My advisor, Prof. Dima Feldman, has been the most inspiring and influential person during my time here. His emphasis on keeping experiments central is what stands out about his approach to physics. Theoretical physics often delves into abstract mathematical ideas, which intriguingly align with the natural world. However, there is no apparent reason why mathematics is so practical in physics – it is something we have not fully answered. Science explains the “how,” not the “why,” so we construct models that describe our observations. Achieving this requires collaboration and respect between theory and experiment. I have started appreciating this more after spending time with Prof. Feldman.

The Galkin Award allows me to travel to Fort Sumner (NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility Fort Sumner, New Mexico) and be an integral part of the team that launches the telescope. Preparing for a balloon flight is a rewarding, albeit around-the-clock, experience that requires collaboration with multiple institutions to function successfully. This award also allows me to look towards the future with EXCITE and help get everything set for a long-duration science flight.

My greatest source of inspiration as a Ph.D. student at Brown has been my supervisor, Prof. Marcus Spradlin. His exceptional work ethic, deep passion for physics, and remarkable ability to distill incredibly complex concepts into clear, simple explanations have significantly influenced my development as a graduate student. Beyond his academic brilliance, Prof. Spradlin stands out as one of the most kind-hearted individuals I have had the privilege to know. His humility, approachability and unwavering support have not only driven me to excel academically but also inspired me to grow as a well-rounded individual.