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Physics Camp Outreach

We are back in 2024! After two successful summer programs in 2022 and 2023 (20+ students from 12 high schools participated each year and gave an overwhelmingly positive feedback), we will run the program again on June 18 – 28, 2024. In a series of lectures on quantum physics, Oakland University Professor Evgeniy Khain will discuss revolutionary ideas in physics that were developed in the beginning of the 20th century. We will focus on the Nobel Prize-winning research of five scientists, including the work of Einstein, Rutherford, and Bohr. How do objects absorb and emit light, and what are the mysteries of the structure of the atom? Some of these intriguing questions will be answered both theoretically and in lab demonstrations. Additionally, OU physics faculty will present their scientific research and discuss possible research opportunities for high school students in the coming academic year.

  • Dates and time: weekdays 1 pm – 4 pm, June 18 – June 28, 2024.
  • $200 registration fee. Need-based scholarships are available.
  • Open to rising juniors and rising seniors who received an A or B in AP Calculus. Knowledge of AP Physics is a plus.

Registration

Schedule

Tuesday, June 20

  • Welcome: Opening remarks by Associate Dean Prof. Fabia Battistuzzi. Introduction to Summer Mini-Program.
  • Quantum Physics, lecture 1: Electric forces and electric fields. J. J. Thomson: discovery of the electron and the first model of an atom (1906 Nobel Prize in Physics). E. Rutherford (1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) and his scattering experiments (1909-1911). Random walk (experiment with coins) and why Thomson’s model is wrong.
  • Research talk and lab tour: Yuejian Wang, High-pressure physics.

Wednesday, June 21

  • Quantum Physics, lecture 2: Rutherford model: nucleus and orbiting electrons. Charged particles moving with acceleration emit radiation (light). What is light? Wave properties of light and double-slit experiment.
  • Demonstration: Rao Bidthanapally, Multi-slit experiment.
  • Research talk: Eugene Surdutovich, The physics of proton beam cancer therapy.

Thursday, June 22

  • Quantum Physics, lecture 3a: Photoelectric effect and its theoretical explanation by Einstein in 1905 (1921 Nobel Prize in Physics).
  • Demonstration: Rao Bidthanapally, Photoelectric effect.
  • Quantum Physics, lecture 3b: How light is emitted in Rutherford’s atom, the model is wrong again. Discrete atomic spectrum. N. Bohr’s revolutionary ideas (1913) in quantum physics (1922 Nobel Prize in Physics).
  • Research talk: Alberto Rojo, Physics in everyday life.

Friday, June 23

  • Quantum Physics, lecture 4a: More on atomic spectra.
  • Demonstration: Rao Bidthanapally, Measuring the emission spectrum of helium.
  • Quantum Physics, lecture 4a: Bohr’s model. The correspondence principle: quantum or classical?
  • Research talk: PhD student Hannah Bradley (group of Prof. Vasyl Tyberkevych), Magnetism and neuromorphic computing.

Monday, June 26

  • Quantum Physics, lecture 5: Wave-particle duality of … particles! L. de Broglie and wave nature of electrons (1929 Nobel Prize in Physics). Double-slit experiment with electrons. Wave function. Bohr’s model is wrong! A few words on hydrogen atom.
  • College career path 1: Tali Khain, UM alum + Physics PhD student at the University of Chicago.

Tuesday, June 27

  • Quantum Physics, lecture 6: Thermal (blackbody) radiation: how hot objects emit energy. Experimental observations. Ultraviolet catastrophe. How quantum physics helps. Planck’s calculations.
  • College career path 2: Daniel Khain, UM alum + software engineer at Amazon.

Wednesday, June 28

  • Quantum Physics, lecture 7: Thermal (blackbody) radiation. Verifying Wien’s law (1911 Nobel Prize in Physics). Stefan-Boltzmann law and how physicists compute integrals.
  • TBD

Thursday, June 29

  • Quiz: Topics in quantum physics.
  • Research talk: Evgeniy Khain, Cell migration as front propagation phenomenon.

Friday, June 30

  • Research talk: Evgeniy Khain, Epidemic on networks.
  • Program wrap-up: Overview of physics classes at OU, certificates, pizza.

Department of Physics

Mathematics and Science Center, Room 190
146 Library Drive
Rochester, MI 48309
(location map)
(248) 370-3416
Fax: (248) 370-3408


Department Chair:
Professor Andrei Slavin

Society of Physics Students:
Office: 288 Hannah Hall (HH)

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