Prize for a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution: Undergraduate Atomic Physics Research at the Tabletop's Edge

Our undergraduate research program at Cal State East Bay is reviewed, where the tools of atomic physics are used to carry out precision tests of fundamental physics. Our relatively small-scale, "table-top" experiments search for long-range spin-mass interactions, atomic-scale spin-spin interactions, evidence of ultralight bosonic dark matter, and anomalous signals from cataclysmic astrophysical events. Our research is at the intersection of atomic physics, particle physics, and astrophysics, offering a variety of interesting projects to engage students. Table-top experiments are ideally suited for mentorship of undergraduate students since they can be involved in all aspects of the work: from planning, design, and construction of the apparatus to data acquisition and analysis. Recently, we have organized an international collaboration, the Global Network of Optical Magnetometers for Exotic physics searches (GNOME), a worldwide network of more than a dozen time-synchronized optical atomic magnetometers searching for correlated signals heralding beyond-the-Standard-Model physics, with stations in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia. This has given our students the opportunity to work with physicists from all over the world and be an active part of the global physics community. Crucially, Cal State East Bay is one of the most diverse universities in the U.S., and so our research program has provided an entry point into physics research for underserved students from a wide variety of backgrounds.