May Post: Done with Senior Year

 It is the end of May, and I have finally finished my senior presentation. Although it did not go as I expected it to, I am greatly relieved that I passed all the P requirements. This means that I graduate! Just to finish this blog series, I wanted to end it with a video of a person entering a black hole.

Blog 23: Final Lesson Reflection

(1) Positive Statement
What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
- I am most proud of my senior project overall, because it is such a difficult topic to understand. Learning about gravitational waves and other physics concepts were very challenging to me, but I was able to turn them into layman terms. So, I am most proud of the fact that I learned, understood, and shared this topic with others.

(2) Questions to Consider

a. What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?
AE P AP CR NC

-  I would give myself a mid to high AP, or even a low P.

b. What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?
AE P AP CR NC
- Besides the final presentation, I have worked hard all year and I think I deserve a P/AE grade.

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?
-  So many things wonderfully worked for me this year. I was able to find a very influential and intelligent mentor from Caltech, I managed to work with him and his colleagues after learning the physics. I am also proud that I could translate these hard concepts into layman terms.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?
- Unfortunately, there were problems in my final presentation. I nervously rushed through my presentation and had a lot of time to cover after my activity was over. At home, when I rehearsed it, my presentation (Answers) was 40 minutes. Unfortunately I rushed through it during the actual thing. Another problem was that although I passed out the lasers after mentioning the cautions, I didn't take them back quickly afterwards because I was so shocked about the time I had left.

(5) Finding Value
How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors? Be specific and use examples.

- The senior project has been very influential to me, as I wanted to pursue physics before it. However, after working with scientists and learning how it is actually like in a lab, it might not be the thing for me. This experience has been very helpful so I saw how scientists collaborate with one another, and I learned the importance of teamwork. Although I applied to college as a potential physics major, this project has helped me seek another path in life.

Blog 22: Mentorship

Content:

Literal

• Log of specific hours with a total and a description of your duties updated on the right hand side of your blog 
• Done.
• Contact Name and Mentorship Place
• My mentor's name is Dr. Bela Szilagyi. He works as a research professor at Caltech in Pasadena.

Interpretive

What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
-    My experience at Caltech's Cahill Building for Astrophysics and Astronomy was the backbone of my entire senior project. At Caltech, I have been working with Dr. Szilagyi and his colleagues on using a computer algorithm to do black hole collision simulations. The most important thing that I have gained from this endeavor is how scientists work together socially.

     Working with my mentor Dr. Szilagyi and other scientists have made me realize the amount of hard work and persistence needed in such an inclusive field. I learned how scientists collaborate with one another and the importance of teamwork. Without teamwork, the data that one scientists sends to another may be misplaced or will interfere with the schedule. Just as NASA scientists work to create a rocket, at Caltech, the final product (here the black hole simulation) would not work without proper communication and transmission. Regardless of whether I become a scientist in the future, this journey has taught me so much that I will definitely not forget.

Applied

How has what you've done helped you to answer your EQ? Please explain.

-    Working with Dr. Szilagyi on the black hole simulations has allowed me to understand how gravitational waves work. Because of the simulations, we are able to see the interference patterns that the black holes would create. Because of the interference, Dr. Szilagyi and the other scientists introduced me to the various means of detection. 

      A great thing that happened at my mentorship that had a direct connection to my EQ was the fact that Caltech collaborated with LIGO scientists. As I have explained throughout the year, LIGO is a huge interferometer that has locations in Washington State and Louisiana and tries to detect gravitational waves. This is a boon to me because interferomtery is my 1st answer and is also my best answer.

Blog 21: Exit Interview

Content:

1.) What is your essential question, and what are your answers? What is your best answer and why?- My essential question is "What is the best solution for detecting gravitational waves?" 

• My first answer is interferometry, which deals with detecting changes in laser paths.
• My second answer is pulsar timing arrays which acts like incredibly precise clocks in space.
• My third answer is Weber Bars which are large aluminum cylinder that have to be isolated to detect waves.

The best solution for detecting gravitational waves currently is strongly taken by interferometry. Interferometry is the most widely used gravitational wave detector in the world at the moment, and offers precision and familiarity. Interferometry offers so much to scientists and astronomers at the present. This form of detection is used because of it runs off of “free masses”. This essentially means that interferometers are disconnected from any outside forces that are unnecessary. This includes phenomena like earthquakes, radio noise, and wind. These are all “noise” that could interfere with the experiment. Because of the fact that they are “free”, interferometers are currently the most precise.

2.) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?
- The process that I took to solidify interferometry as my answer was mainly scientific research as well as my mentorship. My research process outside of research checks on Fridays has mainly been looking up articles relating to my topic out of my own curiosity and interest. The best way I have been doing research is by looking up science journals or articles posted on very reliable physics sources. At my mentorship, scientists actually use interferometry and I have seen them work firsthand. As a result, the researchers and scientists have explained to me in great length of the power of interferometers.

3.) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?
- The main issues that I faced juggling school while having time to go to mentorship. Since my mentor is a research professor at Caltech, he is only free on Fridays or Saturdays. Sometimes this conflicts with my school course load. I resolved this issue by planning ahead and finishing school assignments early. Another issue that I faced was communicating and explaining such an esoteric topic in layman terms. I have confused many a readers with the scientific jargon, and I have been receiving help to make it much more easier to understand. 

4.) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
- The two most significant sources that I used to answer my EQ were: 

• Feynman, Richard P. QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1985. Print.
• Faesi, Chris. "The Race to Detect Gravitational Waves: Pulsar Timing Arrays." Astrobites. Astrobites, 23 Nov. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.

The first source was personally recommended by Mrs. Pittman and was written by Richard Feynman, one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. This source talks about light and its various properties and interactions. This was immensely helpful since interferometry deals with long-range lasers, and lasers use photons. My 2nd source was very significant because it supported my 2nd answer saying that it could be the best in the future, but it also explained why interferometry is currently the best.

April Post: Scientists of LIGO AMA

This month was full of preparation for my presentation as well as organization. While searching for another source for research check, I found a reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) that scientists that worked at LIGO created. It was full of very helpful and insightful information. I learned so much from it, and the best part is that they are able to explain what they do in layman terms. It's very understandable.

There are also several intelligent questions that I might have asked if I was there. Very insightful!

Here is the link to the AMA.
http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/2vrcdm/science_ama_series_were_scientists_of_the_ligo/

Blog 19: Independent Component 2

LITERAL

(a) Include this statement: “I, Denesh Chandrahasan, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours 40 minutes of work.”

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

- My most important sources in helping me do this component were:

1. Faesi, Chris. "The Race to Detect Gravitational Waves: Pulsar Timing Arrays." Astrobites. Astrobites, 23 Nov. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
2. Feynman, Richard P. QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1985. Print.
3. Vivian, Geoff. "'Listening' to Black Holes Form with Gravity Waves." 'Listening' to Black Holes Form with Gravity Waves. Phys.org, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.

The 1st source was very helpful since it introduced the concept of pulsar timing arrays, which led me to studying gravity waves' interference. The 2nd helped me by giving me a strong foundation in how exactly light works in relation to reflection and wavelengths. The last source was the most helpful because it taught me about interference patterns and how black holes can form them.

(c) Update your Independent Component 2 Log (which should be under your Senior Project Hours link)

- Done.

(d) Explain what you completed.    

- Essentially I used my homemade interferometer that I had created and assembled from Independent Component 1 to see if gravity waves have interference (which is explained later). Because producing gravitational waves are extremely hard to detect and would require expensive equipment, I used light as a model for gravitational waves. I created a "double-slit" experiment that demonstrated that gravity waves could have constructive interference. (Read my Senior Project hours Log for the details).

INTERPRETIVE 

Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  

- The interferometer is extremely significant to my project since it is literally my first answer to my EQ (What is the best solution for detecting gravitational waves?). I put this interferometer into use by trying to demonstrate that gravitational waves could theoretically have interference patterns. Basically, wave interference is the phenomenon that occurs when two waves meet while traveling along the same medium. This is important to my EQ because in order to detect gravitational waves properly, all my answers (interferometers, pulsar timing arrays, and Weber bars) would have to take this into account.

This demonstrates 30 hours of work since I researched the procedure, brought together some parts, studied videos and models online, actually physically built the setup, used my interferometer, then tested it. 

Pictures

Waves from my bathtub are best example of interference that I found before this experiment. Notice how the waves form a pattern when they hit each other. This is how I predict gravitational waves would occur too.

This is the completed interferometer that I created from independent component 1, luckily nothing broke yet.

The basic materials from home used to create the slit.

Marking the areas that I was going to cut.

Cut small slits in the card stock.

Covered the slits with aluminum.

I used the laser pointer from my interferometer by detaching it from the apparatus. I then shone the laser into the double slits to see if there was any pattern..

What we see is nothing like passing particles through two slits! We see a clear interference pattern! Also, what we are seeing are the multiple "ripples" of the light wave with clear interference patterns where the "ripples" intersect.

APPLIED

How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this. 

-  This independent component helped me understand the mysterious gravitational waves because it illustrated how they would interact with one another when they hit. Since gravitational waves are produced by massive bodies such as black holes, it should be natural for them to collide since they are from different sources. My experiment made me use light (since light is also a type of wave) to replicate gravitational waves. The fact that gravitational waves could interference with one another is crucial to existing detectors.

All my answers are various forms of detection, and they would certainly need to know that gravitational waves collide with one another. This information would allow the detectors to be more precise. The real-life examples that are applicable is LIGO. Currently, the most sensitive interferometer is LIGO – the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory. 

Each consists of two light storage arms which are 2 to 4 kilometers in length. These are at 90 degree angles to each other, with the light passing through 1m diameter vacuum tubes running the entire 4 kilometers. A passing gravitational wave will slightly stretch one arm as it shortens the other. This is precisely the motion to which an interferometer is most sensitive.

This component also would support our current model of Physics by proving that gravitational waves can also follow the same behavior as waves (aka light, sound). This is something suggested by Einstein's theory of relativity, but has yet to be proven. Interferometers like I built are simple models of the big ones that can someday detect those waves when 2 black holes collide.

March Post: LIGO Again

This month was very great for me as I heard from many great colleges, and that I got into my dream school - Berkeley! I spent considerable time looking at the physics facilities that they offered.

One of the most famous facilities that I mentioned throughout my lessons as well as planned for my final presentation, is LIGO. I researched the following information of this detector.

One of the most sensitive detectors in human history is NSF's Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). Located in two separate facilities nearly a continent apart, the LIGO interferometers can detect vibrations far smaller than an attometer (1,000,000,000,000,000,000th of a meter). More than 900 scientists, engineers and others support the effort — some having been involved for more than twenty years — all contributing to a single goal: detection of gravitational waves, ripples in space-time predicted by Albert Einstein that have yet to be directly detected.

A very helpful video that explains this visually is below.

http://www.space.com/28496-gravitational-wave-detector-ama.html