1 - 10 of 42 results for: APPPHYS

Students learn to make and to analyze functional ceramic forms with a focus on wheel-thrown pottery. Studio time dedicated to the acquisition and refinement of shaping, marking/glazing and finishing skills; supplementary lectures and discussions to explore contemporary studio ceramics and major historical traditions. No prior experience necessary; instructors will tailor assignments for students at all levels of ability.

What is the process of science, and why does creativity matter? We'll delve deeply into the applicability of science in addressing a vast range of real-world problems. This course is designed to teach the scientific method as it's actually practiced by working scientists. It will cover how to ask a well-posed question, how to design a good experiment, how to collect and interpret quantitative data, how to recover from error, and how to communicate findings. Facts matter! Course topics will include experimental design, statistics and statistical significance, formulating appropriate controls, modeling, peer review, and more. The course will incorporate a significant hands-on component featuring device fabrication, testing, and measurement. Among other "Dorm Science" activities, we'll be distributing Arduino microcontroller kits and electronic sensors, then use these items, along with other materials, to complete a variety of group and individual projects outside the classroom. The final course assignment will be to develop and write a scientific grant proposal to test a student-selected myth or scientific controversy. Although helpful, no prior experience with electronics or computer programming is required. Recommended for freshmen.

Preference to freshmen. Exploration via case studies how functional materials have been developed and incorporated into modern devices. Particular emphasis is on magnetic and dielectric materials and devices. Recommended: high school physics course including electricity and magnetism.

Preference to sophomores.. Choices for meeting the future energy needs of the U.S. and the world. Basic physics of energy sources, technologies that might be employed, and related public policy issues. Trade-offs and societal impacts of different energy sources. Policy options for making rational choices for a sustainable world energy economy.

Students will create individual studio portfolios of ceramic work and pursue technical investigations of clay properties and the firing process using modern scientific equipment. Emphasis on development of creative process; parallels between science and traditional craft; integration of creative expression with scientific method and analysis. Prior ceramics experience desirable but not necessary. Limited enrollment. Prerequisites: any level of background in physics, Instructor permission.

Things sit at the nexus of cross-cutting heterogeneous processes; tracing the entanglements of any prominent thing or class of things demands a transdisciplinary approach that recruits expertise from the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. For example, carbon is a key factor in global warming for reasons that are as much socio-historical as bio-physical, and we could not begin to sketch the full significance of carbon without considering such diverse frames of reference. Our growing appreciation in the social sciences and humanities of the agency, polyvalence and catalytic role of things has given rise to The New Materialist and Post-Humanist movements, which in turn raise questions about intra-action and observational perspective that are echoed in the modern physical and life sciences. In this class we will explore these theoretical convergences in considering themes such as `things-in-themselves¿, networks and open systems, assemblages and entanglements. We will also examine specific examples such as oil, metal (guns), dams, viruses, electricity, mushrooms; each thing will be explored both in terms of its social and ethical entanglements and in terms of its material properties and affordances. There will also be hands-on encounters with objects in labs and a couple of local field trips. The key question throughout will be `why and how does matter matter in society today?¿

Applied Physics Core course appropriate for graduate students and advanced undergraduate students with prior knowledge of elementary quantum mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and special relativity. Interaction of electrons with intense electromagnetic fields from microwaves to x- ray, including electron accelerators, x-ray lasers and synchrotron light sources, attosecond laser-atom interactions, and x-ray matter interactions. Mechanisms of radiation, free-electron lasing, and advanced techniques for generating ultrashort brilliant pulses. Characterization of electronic properties of advanced materials, prospects for single-molecule structure determination using x-ray lasers, and imaging attosecond molecular dynamics.

Applied Physics Core course appropriate for graduate students and advanced undergraduate students with prior knowledge of elementary quantum mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and ordinary differential equations. Structure of single- and multi-electron atoms and molecules, and cold collisions. Phenomenology and quantitative modeling of atoms in strong fields, with modern applications. Introduction to quantum optical theory of atom-photon interactions, including quantum trajectory theory, mechanical effects of light on atoms, and fundamentals of laser spectroscopy and coherent control.

Applied Physics Core course appropriate for graduate students and advanced undergraduate students with prior knowledge of elementary quantum mechanics. Introduction to materials and topics of current interest. Topics include superconductivity, magnetism, charge and spin density waves, frustration, classical and quantum phase transitions, multiferroics, and interfaces. Prerequisite: elementary course in quantum mechanics.