Another quarter, another full work load.

This quarter I am taking a variety of physics and biology classes, mixed in with a couple exercise classes (if you work hard, you’ve got to play hard!). With all these classes I have learned a lot, and I’m pleased to be able to share it with all of you. So, if you’ve always wanted to take quantum but couldn’t find the time, no worries, I’ll give you the main idea behind it all. Or maybe you’ve always wanted to be a gymnast but never had the opportunity to pursue that dream. Well, with my beginner’s experience, I can give you a few pointers.* Here is a glimpse of what I’ve learned this winter quarter:

1) Quantum Mechanics: A physicist’s first method of attack for solving a differential equation is using something called separation of variables (now you can solve the Schrodinger Equation!**)

2) Advanced Mechanics: Almost all of those physics problems you solved in an introductory physics class (remember the classic block sliding down an incline plane, or those lovely masses attached to a string on a pulley?) can be solved in an arguably easier and more beautiful way, without directly using Newton’s Laws. You can thank a couple guys named Lagrange and Hamilton for what’s called Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics (no disrespect, Sir Isaac Newton).

3) Complex Variables: A lot of those ugly integrals you thought you couldn’t do without  Wolfram Alpha*** can be solved relatively easily by hand using something called contour integration in the complex plane.

4) Thermodynamics/Statistical Mechanics: I will never forget that the Boltzmann Probability is proportional to exp(-βE_i )  (where β is a constant based on temperature and E_i  is the energy of the i-th state of a particle in a system of particles). This probably has no meaning to you, but if you ever take stat. mech. almost everything comes down to this.

5) Biochemistry: DO NOT cut out carbs completely from your diet, contrary to whatever any of the latest fad diets say.

6) Beginning Tumbling:  Don’t attempt a gymnastics move if you are afraid, otherwise you’ll chicken-out mid-air and hurt yourself when you try to stick the landing.

7) Weight Training: Feel the burn, be proud of the burn.

With all of these classes you may be wondering whether I’ve had time for my research. The answer is yes – my research is very important to me! I’ve made some very exciting progress on my project, and I’ve begun writing a paper! I’d love to say more, but alas, that is for another blog post!

*Nothing in this blog post should be used in lieu of taking an actual class. What I’ve written is only the tip of the iceberg for each of these classes!

**”Solving” the Schrodinger Equation entails a little more than this.

***I do not condone the use of Wolfram Alpha in place of doing an integral by hand.