BY PELİN SU UZUNCAGİL (AMER/IV)
su.uzuncagil@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
Dr. Deniz Aybaş is a faculty member at the Department of Physics. Prior to joining Bilkent, she was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California at Berkeley for two years. She received her PhD in Electrical Engineering from Boston University in 2021, where she was a research assistant in the Physics Department for seven years. Dr. Aybaş received her BSc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering with a minor in Physics from the Middle East Technical University in 2014. Her research interests are experimental atomic, molecular and optical physics; quantum sensors for precision magnetometry; nuclear magnetic resonance. Currently she is instructing the PHYS 101 (General Physics I), PHYS 180 (Conceptual Physics), PHYS 591 (Graduate Seminar) and PHYS 599 (master’s thesis) courses.
Why did you choose an academic career?
I have always been curious about how nature works. I love solving puzzles and making things work. To me, meaning in life comes from wondering, and then, understanding. I love thinking, doing research and teaching; naturally, I had to become an academic.
What do you like the most about being at Bilkent?
Bilkent has a calm environment that helps me really focus on my work. I love how green and secluded our campus is.
What projects are you working on currently?
I currently have two main projects in my atomic physics research laboratory: one experiment that searches for tiny magnetic signals that potentially could come from a dark matter particle, and one experiment that aims to measure tiny interactions between atomic “spins” (which are kind of like compasses of atoms that are sensitive to magnetic fields), with the aim of using these spin-to-spin interactions to understand the type of element they belong to. This could be useful later on for revolutionizing Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging.
What’s your best work?
My PhD thesis is my best work. I spent seven years building a one-of-a-kind machine that searches for a new particle (called an “axion”) with an unknown mass that could be the dark matter content in our universe. We didn’t find it then—but we published our null search data in a narrow mass range, and we’re still looking for it!
What has been the most exciting moment of your career so far? Could you share a turning point of defining moment in your career?
At the beginning of graduate school, I was set on doing research on quantum entanglement in diamonds. My PhD advisor suggested that I instead join his project on the search for dark matter. I immediately changed the focus of my research, if not the field entirely, and I will always be thankful for that. During graduate school, I had a subscription to the printed version of The Economist. One day, I came home from the laboratory and found the new issue sitting on my doormat, with this as one of the headlines: “Searching for Particles on a Benchtop.” In the article, the name of my PhD experiment, “CASPEr Electric,” was mentioned, and our theorist collaborators and my grand-PhD-advisor (the PhD advisor of my PhD advisor) were interviewed. That was a really exciting moment for me! I still have the print issue.
When and where do you do your best thinking?
I do my best thinking over weekends in my office at SA building. I think I have one of the best views of central campus, overlooking A building, the pool with seating around and Coffee Break.
What distracts you?
The current state of economics, international affairs, Europe shifting right, the growth of AI companies…I really try to tune the news out, but when you are doing science, especially when you require external research funding, it is sometimes impossible to decouple oneself from the state of affairs.
What are you most curious about?
I am most curious about the particle nature of dark matter, and if it exists or not, to begin with.
What do you like to do when you are not working?
These days, I spend most of my time working! I do create some time to read, walk and go see my parents who live downtown. I hope to soon have time to get back to my other hobbies: going to comedy shows, eating fancy foods and playing table tennis. I am actually very competitive in table tennis; I used to play for the school teams at TED Ankara College and later at METU. During graduate school at Boston University, I played some softball, which is a version of baseball and much more exciting to play than to watch! I also want to learn fencing one day; I am very interested in its intuitive nature.
Which books have influenced you the most, and why?
Engin Geçtan’s memoir book “Rastgele Ben” hit home—because I also returned to Türkiye after spending nine years in the US. I also enjoyed reading the inspirational book “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari. I love the warmness of Yekta Kopan’s stories and the clarity in Barış Bıçakçı’s novels. My favorite book series of all times is “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Noel Adams. It’s funny, smart and just perfect.
Which films have you influenced the most, and why?
Watching “Contact” (adapted from Carl Sagan’s novel) was the first time I saw a female protagonist who was a passionate scientist in a movie. Another memorable movie for me is Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia,” which was beautiful in its complexity, much like our universe, with Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde playing in the background.
If you weren’t an academic, what career would you choose?
I would have loved being a poet (even if I was unpublished) or an investigative journalist.
What is the secret of leading a happy life?
My secret to a happy life is staying humble and not caring about what others think.
If you could go back to your undergraduate/graduate student years, what advice would you give to your younger-self?
To my younger self in my undergraduate student years, I would advise to not to stay silent over misogynist and mean comments made by some classmates and to speak up regarding these issues more.
To my younger self in my graduate student years, I would advise to relax and not worry about making mistakes—this is how you learn!
If you had unlimited funds, what would you like to do research on?
I would use it to build expensive experiments that search for all kinds of exotic particles (dark matter, magnetic monopoles, etc.) with extremely low noises at very cold cryogenic temperatures. Then, I would send these experiments all around space to different planets, periodically.
