Magdalena Kaja is a Pole born in a small town – Wieluń. She is a Master of Science in Engineering. At Warsaw University of Technology, she completed first and second-cycle full-time studies in the field of Applied Physics.
Research for her master thesis, she performed at the Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics (LIP) in Coimbra (Portugal). There, she studied the charge transport properties of gas mixtures used in TPC detectors and had experimental training with gaseous detectors. During her master’s studies, she also worked as a Technical Student and later on as a COAS at CERN. She was working in Beam Department on Linac4’s LEBT line.
At JINR in Dubna as well as at HIL at the UW, Magdalena took part in a few fixed-target experiments. In Dubna, the experiments were carried out at the new inflight facility – the ACCULINNA-2 separator and at HIL using the EAGLE array. She also did an internship in Exclusion Zone and ChNPP organized by the State Specialized Enterprise Ecocentre. The goal of the practice was a collection, preparation, and analysis of environmental samples.
Whenever there is an opportunity, Magda tries to explore new places. She loves hiking, skiing and sailing, and sometimes an adrenaline rush.
The project aims for mid- and high-resolution multi-step laser resonance ionization spectroscopy on minuscule samples of different actinide isotopes with highest sensitivity. Research goals are multifold and include – aside from the development of novel efficient and selective excitation/ionization schemes – studies of the raw atomic level structure as well as hyperfine structure, isotope and isomer shift determinations using high repetition-rate, pulsed, narrow-bandwidth laser radiation as delivered by the JGU Titanium:Sapphire laser systems. Elements addressed are Ac, Th, Pa, U, Np, Pu, Am, Cm, Bk, and Cf (Z=89–98) using direct in-source as well as cross beam geometries within a quadrupole structure. Handling permission for all long-lived isotopes with lifetimes of years and beyond are existing and suitable mass spectrometers and detection systems are available, while access to the species of interest is granted by close collaboration with the JGU nuclear chemistry and research reactor units.
The planned extensive laser spectroscopic investigations on the coarse spectrum of 10 lighter actinides will deliver a significantly enhanced knowledge on level energies, level splitting, Rydberg series, and finally a precision value for the ionization potential for less complex spectra. For highly complex spectra of e.g. Pa, novel experimental information on the occurrence of quantum chaos will stimulate the optimization of theoretical models and codes on multielectron system, supporting e.g. predictions for atomic structures of superheavy elements. Developed multi-step excitation schemes will contribute to optimizing laser-based high-sensitivity ultra-trace determination techniques (WP3). High-resolution data on hyperfine structures and level shifts yield nuclear moments, charge radii differences and deformations of the atomic nucleus and serve as tests for nuclear models (WP5).
This Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Innovative Training Networks (ITN) receives funding from the European Union’s H2020 Framework Programme under grant agreement no. 861198