String Theory Research
Charles is a grade 11 student from Wuxi Big Bridge Academy. He is interested to work on a modern physics and string theory research.
Charles is an independent student who always goes above and beyond of what is expected of him. He has great interest in the field of physics and is ready to plough through any difficulties that come his way.
Scope of the program
Learning objectives
- Introduction to Gravity: Newton’s theory of gravity, Einstein’s theory of Gravity, principle of equivalence. Experimental validation of General relativity.
- Introduction to atomic theory and quantum mechanics: double slit experiment, particles and waves, wave function, Schrodinger equation and Heisenber uncertainty principle.
- Standard model: different forces, unification theory, dark matter, dark energy.
- String theory research: bosonic string theory, particles as strings. First and second revolution in string theory.
- The goal of the program was to discuss general relativity, atomic theory and the standard model, the unification theory and the search for alternatives in unifying quantum mechanics and gravitation: string theory as one of the possible alternatives.
What challenges did he face?
- In the first few sessions, he had difficulties using LaTeX to cite his documentations. However by the end of the program, he got the hang of it.
- Some of the mathematics in String Theory were very advanced for his level.
How did the program help him?
- He was able to deep-dive into the realm of physics, particularly in Gravity, Atomic Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Standard Model and String Theory research, which were all mentored at an undergraduate level.
Matched Professor:
The mentor is a postdoctoral research associate at New York University. His area of specialization includes Theoretical Physics, Statistical Physics, Data Science, Algorithms, Complex Networks, Time Series Analysis, Spectral Analysis, Machine Learning and Deep Learning.
“The student was incredibly interested and dedicated to the topic. He worked hard throughout the whole program, studied carefully the topic at times going beyond the assigned homeworks. He was very independent, focused, and he invested a lot of energy and effort in his written report.“
Mentor from New York University