Welcome!
Welcome to the website for Hester Laboratory! We are an experimental condensed matter physics laboratory based at Brock University in St. Catharines, ON.
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Our research is focused on the synthesis and understanding of new quantum materials - particularly those that may exhibit the elusive quantum spin liquid state. Our primary expertise lies in synthesis and neutron scattering. We use cutting-edge, multi-million dollar neutron instrumentation in the United States, Canada, and Europe to elucidate the exotic quantum properties of materials. Checkout the Research Interests page for more details.
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​We are always looking for motivated graduate and undergraduate students to join our research group, so don't hesitate to reach out to us!
Figure: Triplon and magnon excitations measured using the Cold Neutron Chopper Spectrometer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This data informs us about the strength and symmetry of the magnetic interactions in new materials.
News
June 2025
Gavin was awarded the 2025 Faculty of Mathematics and Science Excellence in Teaching Award. For this, he was invited to give the Spring Convocation Address for the Faculty of Mathematics and Science. His speech can be watched here. An accompanying Brock News story was also published here.
May 2025
Gavin and Rachit attended the 13th International Conference on Highly Frustrated Magnetism. Gavin presented a poster on his ongoing work on understanding the ground state of the quantum dimer magnet Yb2Si2O7. Rachit presented a poster on his study of the quantum dimer magnet BiYbGeO5 (available on arXiv here). It was a great opportunity to catch up with collaborators and learn about the exciting work in frustrated magnetic materials (pictures below).
Rachit with his poster at the 2025 Highly Frustrated Magnetism conference.
Meeting up with our friend and collaborator, Dr. Danielle Yahne. Danielle is an instrument scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
April 2025
Ross Booker and Josefina Ramirez Diaz have joined the research group as undergraduate researchers! Welcome!
March 2025
Gavin recently joined the Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research as an External Member. He was then invited to visit and give a colloquium talk. He presented his recent work on trying to understand the ground state of the quantum dimer magnet Yb2Si2O7 and also discussed Rachit's recent work on the quantum dimer magnet BiYbGeO5.
The talk was recorded and is available on YouTube here.
November 2024
A paper from Gavin's time at Purdue University was published in Physical Review B. The paper focused on using a quantum computer to simulate the neutron scattering spectra of a quantum dimer system. Gavin's contribution was centered around comparing the simulations to a real experimental system. Check out the paper here!
September 2024
Rachit was named one of Brock's International Student Ambassador's! This award comes with a tuition reduction and see Rachit assisting new international students find their place at Brock. Well done, Rachit!
June 2024
Gavin attended the American Conference on Neutron Scattering in Knoxville, TN at Western University and presented a talk on our neutron scattering measurements of Yb2Si2O7.
May 2024
Gavin attended the Canadian Association of Physicists Congress at Western University and presented an invited talk on our work understanding the ground state Hamiltonian of Yb2Si2O7.
April 2024
In a joint proposal between Gavin and Prof. Jianbo Gao of the Chemistry Department, we were awarded a Global Impact Postdoctoral Award from Office of the Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies for interdisciplinary development of highly efficient and low-cost photovoltaic technology!
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Sebastien Duguay was awarded a Brock University Match of Minds Award! Sebastien will be working on synthesizing new quantum materials and developing a ultrasound Bragg diffractometer for teaching scattering theory. Congrats Sebastien!
January 2024
Carter Fortuna and Rachit Kapoor join the research group! Carter is a high school student who will be helping synthesize new materials and develop some basic models using quantum computers. Rachit joins us from the University of Delhi and is the first graduate student in the group. Welcome Rachit and Carter!
October 2023
Renovations of our laboratory space have finally been completed! Now it is time to move in equipment and start growing some crystals!
August 2023
Sam and Sebastien gave poster presentations at the first FMS Undergraduate Research Symposium at Brock University. Sam presented a poster titled Neutron Spectroscopy of Crystal Field Excitations in Yb2Si2O7 and Sebastien presented a poster titled 3D Printing Crystal Structures for Education and Outreach.
June 2023
Gavin was invited to the Quantum Materials Young Investigators Workshop at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and gave a talk about our latest work on Yb2Si2O7.
May 2023
Sebastien Duguay and Sam Studdy join the laboratory as undergraduate researchers. Welcome Sam and Sebastien! Sam's work is being funded by a Brock University Match of Minds Award!
January 2023
Gavin started his new position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Brock University. We are open to new collaborations and actively looking for motivated graduate and undergraduate students to work with!
Contact
Information
Brock University
Department of Physics
1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way
St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1
