Lulu L. '09 | April 14, 2008
"Sore Subjects"
Okay, so it's like this, right.
Pictures and backlogged entries are piling up like crazy over here. But so is work on my 8.06 term paper and analysis for the 3rd 8.14 lab (Zeeman effect in Hg). My oral presentation is friday for this lab, but with the 8.06 deadlines this week I'm not sure I'll make it. I'm writing my paper on the dynamical (SO(4) rotational group) symmetries of the hydrogen atom, using just symmetry and algebra of groups to derive the energy eigenvalues for a hydrogenic atom. Pretty kickass, right? Well, I'm not doing this fabulous topic justice in the least. I brought Schiff's solemn-as-hell-looking Quantum Mechanics book to the Virgin Islands with me during spring break. Opened it on the beach a few times and during long walks down winding island roads. Succeeded in reading but not quite understanding two section, getting it crinkly from salt water (too close to the waves that time) and sand all between its pages.
Aside from that I read about 100 pages in my Roman History text book, not quite caught up but happy about my progress. But went on to forget entirely about a 10-page term paper on Julius Caesar due this past Monday (the sort of Sunday-night realization you dont want). I was clearly expected to get a lot more done over spring break in all my classes. Consequently, I handed in the drop form for Rome this morning. Now on 42 units, though not light, is definitely by far the fewest number of units I've stood to complete in any semester. Taking a break from work at MIT has its angry side, but losing spring break productivity to vacation in the Virgin Islands isn't really losing at all, is it?
At least that's how I think of it.
I have pictures from my vacation for a future entry. For now, I have more pictures from Junior Lab. The telescope pictures that I promised so many moons ago are here. I meant to post them before spring break but I had a midterm, go figure.
Let me just start off by saying MIT roofs are a pretty cool place to hang out. Especially in february.
What you're seeing here is the Small Radio Telescope developed by MIT's Haystack Observatories used in the 21-cm Astrophysics experiment in Junior lab (8.14). This was definitely my favorite experiment all year. I guess the ultimate objective was to use the doppler shift of the ultra-sharp 21cm hydrogen line emitted by gases in distant parts of the galaxy to derive a rotation curve for the Milky Way, and use that information to map out some of its spiral arms.
The control room is in this little hut on the roof.
check out the little hole:
Lifeline:
VideoLink to the outside world in the telescope vicinity (walkie talkies if you wanna chat):
A little bit of asbestos (at least they warn you):
And a reminder of what you're after:
But yeah what really makes this lab is not the walkie-talkies, not even the asbestos. It's not anywhere in that nasty control room. It's out here:
Doing this lab forces you to be up on the roof all hours of the day and night (sorry, science doesn't care about your sleeping habits), so you see a lot of this:
and this:
this:
and even this:
Watch out for the edge, though:
This lab took us through February and into March. Unfortunately, I hear the telescope is having some trouble with its preamp, so it won't be open for business for the last experiment, for those guys who would really be rocking out up there with the nice weather it's no go. In case you're wondering what the experiment is actually about here's my paper with our results.
I also have some gnarly optical spectroscopy pictures from the Zeeman experiment but that's for next time.
Man, you really don't realize how huge a role some things play in your life until it's time to blog and all you can write about is physics.
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The author has filed this entry in the "Coursework" , "Majors & Minors" , "Work/Play Balance At MIT" section; check it out for further reading on this topic. |
Responses To This Entry:
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Physics rules!
Thanks for the interesting post!
I love physics!
Posted by: ^_^ on April 14, 2008 07:39 PM
Nice post. Yeah - physics rules :)
Posted by: Ashwath on April 14, 2008 08:04 PM
Hmm, wow, sounds like some pretty good stuff. Glad to hear you had a good spring break =).
Posted by: Anonymous on April 14, 2008 08:19 PM
You work sounds amazing! And you work so hard ^_^
Posted by: Judy '12 on April 14, 2008 08:36 PM
cute shoes
Posted by: lover '11 on April 14, 2008 09:03 PM
Casual reminder. We're still hanging on ;)
Posted by: oasis '11 on April 14, 2008 09:07 PM
@ Lulu
How much time do you usually put into research every week? Does it take up a lot of your time? I'm planning on doing some heavy research, too. I just want to know what I'm in for :)
Posted by: Judy '12 on April 14, 2008 09:12 PM
This is the funniest blog ever!
Posted by: Anonymous on April 15, 2008 03:11 AM
I don't like physics. I never have. I guess I have never been taught it properly. However, your posts always intrigue me.
Posted by: abc123 on April 15, 2008 04:39 AM
yay phyiscs :)
nice post
Posted by: Aditi on April 15, 2008 06:19 AM
wow, once again the photographs are amazing.
please, tell me, what camera do you use? i'm a photo enthusiast myself!
Posted by: esaite on April 15, 2008 07:35 AM
I've heard rumors about hard Junior Lab is in the physics major. Since you had to drop the history class, I'm guessing the rumors are true.
Posted by: MIT Parent on April 15, 2008 06:31 PM
well, to be fair, it wasn't jlab forcing me to drop history. Like 2/3 of the semester is over and I've been doing fine in both concurrently, just that spring break really screwed up my schedule, ya know? And what can you do about a surprise term paper...
Posted by: lulu on April 15, 2008 06:42 PM
PHYSICS!! WOOTTTT!! PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS PHYSICS ... (limit to infinite)
YAAAAY!!! Also, BEAVERz RULEz THE WORLD!!
Posted by: Ty'12 on April 15, 2008 07:08 PM
Lulu -- How easy is it to get a UROP in physics at MIT? I've heard it's hard, and I was wondering if you'd had any experience with this.
Posted by: physics! on April 16, 2008 09:59 AM
Hi Lulu,
Long time, with no blog. I missed you!!!!!
Most people that read this page are applying to MIT, however I am applying to you.
What do you think of this video?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kcBdNRVfWLk
Posted by: EE on April 16, 2008 10:47 AM
now 'Ty'12' wouldnt happen to Tanmay , would he ?
Posted by: Aditi on April 16, 2008 01:44 PM
Will someone in the admission blogging community please remove the link in the above posting? This guy is a stalker! We certainly don't need weirdos like that posting comments here.
Posted by: anonymous on April 16, 2008 01:46 PM
I'm referring to a removal of EE's posting, of course not Aditi's posting!
Posted by: anonymous on April 16, 2008 01:47 PM
Im sorta lost here,, but this EE dude seriously needs help :S
Posted by: Ismail Shihadi on April 16, 2008 02:17 PM
hahaha talk is cheap, man. lets see what you got.
Posted by: lulu on April 16, 2008 03:22 PM
@Aditi: No, I know Ty '12 and she's not Tanmay. :)
Posted by: Paul on April 16, 2008 06:03 PM
Wow.. eh ... EE... put some of that dedication into your MIT apps and you'll be a shoe - in
Posted by: Judy' 12 on April 16, 2008 06:15 PM
@ Lulu - I saw the pic with the hole in the wall, and that's pretty funny (I wonder how it got there). But doesn't it let in drafty weather?
Posted by: Judy '12 on April 16, 2008 06:20 PM
it's covered up by this nifty piece of plastic. :P
Posted by: lulu on April 17, 2008 01:37 AM
Could you please tell me:
How long does my MIT admission essay have to be?
Posted by: Eugene on April 27, 2008 08:14 PM
