For my second independent component, I plan on building a cloud chamber. A cloud chamber was one of the first particle detectors ever built. The positron (anti-matter electron) and the muon were actually found using a cloud chamber. A basic cloud chamber consists of a sealed environment and a supersaturated vapor of alcohol or water (I will probably use methanol.) Charged particles interact with the vapor, ionizing it. After condensation one can start to see "tracks" left by the particles and then you can deduce what they are.
I want to build something a little better than your standard classroom cloud chamber, and I don't want to do it from a kit. Obviously I can't get any kind of radioactive material so it will be more limited in the types of particles it can see. However, I want actual chamber to be fairly large, sturdy, and reliable (so I want it to be VERY much sealed) and this will take time and there will be math involved in building it. Also, when I am finished, I want to make a print of the particle tracks, and then I will identify what they are.
I feel that this will help me answer my essential question because a big part of finding supersymmetric particles is actually building something to find them with. I think that this experiment will give me a taste for the experimental side of physics that I really haven't gotten yet (because obviously I can't build a Large Hadron Collider in my backyard.) Also, this is a good exercise in identifying particles based on what they leave behind, which is how we would identify sparticles if we found them in a particle detector.
Thanks to Professor Sean Carroll from Caltech for this idea!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Blog 14: Independent Component 1
I, Hannah Seymour, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
My professor for the Physics 132 course was Dr. Jamshid Armand. He can be contacted via email at jarmand@csupomona.edu. I am very grateful to Professor Armand for letting me take this course, especially since I did not have the prerequisites for it. I also completed Physics 299A, which was a group activity class associated with the 132 lecture. I completed this with Linda Shareghi (lcshareghi@csupomona.edu) to whom I am also very grateful. She introduced me to some excellent people at the physics department.
Physics 132 is the second level of General Physics (there is 131 before it and 133 after it.) It is calculus-based and covers gravity, fluid dynamics, simple harmonic motion, waves, and thermodynamics, among others. The class consisted of two midterms and a final, weekly homework, weekly quizzes, and challenging problems (these I did very well on-if I can find them I will post them.) We learned mostly about the mathematical concepts in this class. In the activity class, we worked in groups to solve concept-based worksheets and mathematical problems.
I will email the unofficial transcript to Mr. Purther, as I do not want to post that for all the world to see (I am paranoid about the interwebs.) I did not miss a single hour and fifty minute lecture the whole quarter (they were twice a week)-that alone represents 30 hours of work. The homework (the most challenging part of the class) typically took me 2-3 hours a week to complete. I tried to study the material for at least 30 minutes-1 hour every week to prepare for the big tests. The activity class was every Friday and was 2 hours and fifty minutes. I usually didn't have homework for this class since my group would always finish the assigned problems. This is a difficult class, and many people are unable to pass it. I believe the average grade in the class was a D, when all was said and done.
These courses helped me understand more basic-intermediate physics concepts that I would not be familiar with otherwise. For instance, the explanation Professor Armand gave about constructive and destructive interference helped me understand particle wave cancellation and thus, supersymmetry. It also helped me understand what I'm good at and what I need a little more work on. It also helped me become more familiar with basic calculus (I am better at math in an applied setting like this.) Also, without this class I would not have gotten such a good score on the Physics SAT Subject Test. Now that I have been exposed to college-level physics, I feel more confident entering that world. I used to have so little intellectual confidence I refused to try anything I didn't think I would be perfect at right away. So I am very proud of the risk I took and the work I put in for these classes.
My professor for the Physics 132 course was Dr. Jamshid Armand. He can be contacted via email at jarmand@csupomona.edu. I am very grateful to Professor Armand for letting me take this course, especially since I did not have the prerequisites for it. I also completed Physics 299A, which was a group activity class associated with the 132 lecture. I completed this with Linda Shareghi (lcshareghi@csupomona.edu) to whom I am also very grateful. She introduced me to some excellent people at the physics department.
Physics 132 is the second level of General Physics (there is 131 before it and 133 after it.) It is calculus-based and covers gravity, fluid dynamics, simple harmonic motion, waves, and thermodynamics, among others. The class consisted of two midterms and a final, weekly homework, weekly quizzes, and challenging problems (these I did very well on-if I can find them I will post them.) We learned mostly about the mathematical concepts in this class. In the activity class, we worked in groups to solve concept-based worksheets and mathematical problems.
I will email the unofficial transcript to Mr. Purther, as I do not want to post that for all the world to see (I am paranoid about the interwebs.) I did not miss a single hour and fifty minute lecture the whole quarter (they were twice a week)-that alone represents 30 hours of work. The homework (the most challenging part of the class) typically took me 2-3 hours a week to complete. I tried to study the material for at least 30 minutes-1 hour every week to prepare for the big tests. The activity class was every Friday and was 2 hours and fifty minutes. I usually didn't have homework for this class since my group would always finish the assigned problems. This is a difficult class, and many people are unable to pass it. I believe the average grade in the class was a D, when all was said and done.
These courses helped me understand more basic-intermediate physics concepts that I would not be familiar with otherwise. For instance, the explanation Professor Armand gave about constructive and destructive interference helped me understand particle wave cancellation and thus, supersymmetry. It also helped me understand what I'm good at and what I need a little more work on. It also helped me become more familiar with basic calculus (I am better at math in an applied setting like this.) Also, without this class I would not have gotten such a good score on the Physics SAT Subject Test. Now that I have been exposed to college-level physics, I feel more confident entering that world. I used to have so little intellectual confidence I refused to try anything I didn't think I would be perfect at right away. So I am very proud of the risk I took and the work I put in for these classes.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Blog 12: Third Interview Questions
1. Why is finding supersymmetric particles an important task for physicists to undertake?
2. What are some ways the heavier sparticles such as squarks can be detected?
3. If the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is found to be too constrained by the Higgs mass, how can it be modified?
4. What theories, if any, can explain the Hierarchy Problem of the Standard Model besides supersymmetry?
5. If supersymmetric particles are found not to exist, how should physicists approach the vacuum energy problem?
6. What does a model of supersymmetry that can be spontaneously broken mean for our understanding of the vacuum energy?
7. How can existing dark matter detection experiments such as Ice Cube be better equipped to detect supersymmetric particles?
8. If the Large Hadron Collider does not, even at its full power, discover supersymmetric particles, where do physicists go from there?
9. How can theorists studying supersymmetry as we are now, without empirical evidence, avoid being "not even wrong?"
10. How can Cold Dark Matter be described without the existence of supersymmetric particles?
2. What are some ways the heavier sparticles such as squarks can be detected?
3. If the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is found to be too constrained by the Higgs mass, how can it be modified?
4. What theories, if any, can explain the Hierarchy Problem of the Standard Model besides supersymmetry?
5. If supersymmetric particles are found not to exist, how should physicists approach the vacuum energy problem?
6. What does a model of supersymmetry that can be spontaneously broken mean for our understanding of the vacuum energy?
7. How can existing dark matter detection experiments such as Ice Cube be better equipped to detect supersymmetric particles?
8. If the Large Hadron Collider does not, even at its full power, discover supersymmetric particles, where do physicists go from there?
9. How can theorists studying supersymmetry as we are now, without empirical evidence, avoid being "not even wrong?"
10. How can Cold Dark Matter be described without the existence of supersymmetric particles?
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours Check
I am doing my mentorship at The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. This fine institution has been home to some of the world's best physicists such as J. Robert Oppenheimer (quoted on this blog) and Richard Feynman. It currently has the top undergraduate physics program in the world. Personally, I believe Oppenheimer now haunts the halls as Death, the Destroyer of Worlds, also known as Caltech homework.
My contact is Professor Mark Wise, winner of the Sakurai Prize for his Heavy Quark Effective Theory. Professor Wise has worked at Caltech for his entire career. He was also the "science consultant" on the Iron Man movies.
In total I have done 11 hours (counting those from the summer.)
What I have been doing so far is just hanging out with the people of the Particle Theory department. Granted, their idea of "hanging out" is talking about gauge symmetries, so we have been working. I have met with almost all the professors such as Clifford Cheung and Sean Carroll, and have been working with their graduates and post docs. Professor Cheung and his post doc Koji happen to be doing a project very similar to my science project, so we spent some time comparing our results. There is a lot of watching and doing math on chalkboards. I have also gotten to hear a unique perspective on physics from Sean Carroll's two grad students (the only women on the floor) and what I can expect as a female undergraduate.
I think I already emailed Professor Wise's contact info, but if not I will do so again.
My contact is Professor Mark Wise, winner of the Sakurai Prize for his Heavy Quark Effective Theory. Professor Wise has worked at Caltech for his entire career. He was also the "science consultant" on the Iron Man movies.
In total I have done 11 hours (counting those from the summer.)
What I have been doing so far is just hanging out with the people of the Particle Theory department. Granted, their idea of "hanging out" is talking about gauge symmetries, so we have been working. I have met with almost all the professors such as Clifford Cheung and Sean Carroll, and have been working with their graduates and post docs. Professor Cheung and his post doc Koji happen to be doing a project very similar to my science project, so we spent some time comparing our results. There is a lot of watching and doing math on chalkboards. I have also gotten to hear a unique perspective on physics from Sean Carroll's two grad students (the only women on the floor) and what I can expect as a female undergraduate.
I think I already emailed Professor Wise's contact info, but if not I will do so again.
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