Université du Luxembourg - Kumar Ayush

I worked as a Summer Research Intern à la Université du Luxembourg. My primary area of research was Non-Equilibrium Transport.

Background

Before applying for this position, I worked as a freelance developer and worked on computational astrophysics projects. In my fifth semester, I was applying for internship positions in two different areas. The first were game development companies in Mumbai and the US. Second, astronomy and astrophysics departments all around the world. 

A lot of places in India might have provided me a better professional work exposure in some specific research areas. But going abroad for an internship is also a cultural experience, and deserves advantage of choice. 

I did not have luck with my applications before I got the offer for Luxembourg. This was an application I filled through the PT cell. The group works in the area of mesoscopic physics. They are aligned towards theory and far from my primary interests.

I started to believe that sticking to my interests is arrogant. It would be a good idea to try new things when I am young. In retrospect, it was a good idea to keep my personal preferences aside.

About the Group

The group is led by Prof. Thomas Schmidt, and I would quote his homepage

Within this project about modern mesoscopic systems, my group investigates topological insulators, one-dimensional quantum systems, as well as nanomechanical systems in the quantum regime.

 About the Work

My work desk

My broad area of specialization was Non-Equilibrium Transport. I studied the transport of non-interacting fermions through a quantum dot in tunneling contact with two (or more) reservoirs at varying chemical potentials. More specificially, I attempted to calculate time-dependent current-current correlation or "noise" for the current flowing through the system.



I took a course on Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics in my sixth semester, and did a course project on Green's Functions in CMP. These greatly aided my intern work.

Daily Life

We have a residence provided by the university and is located 300 m away from my work desk. Me, Anuj and Amal lived together in the same residence. It is convenient. All stores close around 7 PM. It is harder to get used to this than I imagined. The sun sets around 10:30 PM. This has a good advantage. More hours of daylight do equate to more work getting done. As human beings, affinity to sunlight is real. It was amazing to see my body taking over my mind which is tuned to living like a caveman. I enjoyed the sun. We had breakfast around 8 AM, reached our desks around 9 AM, lunch at noon, work till about 6 PM, then cook dinner together, and then sleep. Cooking saves money, requires a  lot of time. Hence, we used to have lunch in the university canteen which was an array of European cuisine, while cooking Indian food for dinner.

Travel

Schengen is a small village and commune in South-Eastern Luxembourg. Their wine and VISA are very good.

Our major travels can be described as Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne and small towns in the Moselle Valley.

Social

We have made good relations with a lot of people in the University. Enough of them will likely last an eternity, at least in our memories. The most mature friendship I had was with Anuj's professor and the HoD here, Prof. Ludger Wirtz. We had no professional things to discuss. We work on different things. All our discussions used to be about light topics or heavy philosophies.
Every Tuesday, me and Anuj went to a local Board Games meetup. We went to some other local events and parties as well.

Thank you for reading!