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

Blog 18: Fourth Interview Questions

Content: Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. The focus of your questions should be on your answer to your EQ.

1. What are the possible outcomes and benefits of the discovery of gravitational waves?
2. Why is studying the universe and black holes so important when we have a lot of problems here on Earth?
3. Using our current forms of detection, when do you predict the first real evidence of gravitational waves? Why?
4. What would it mean if gravitational waves simply do not exist? 
5. What are the implications if we could never detect gravitational waves in the future?
6. What would be the ideal interferometer to detect gravitational waves? 
7. Do you believe that LIGO could ever detect the waves? 
8. What is the most important data that an interferometer could find to prove that the waves exist?
9. What are the benefits that interferometers have that other forms of detection don't?
10. What exactly is a Pulsar Timing Array in your own words, and how does it essentially work?
11. What would happen to Pulsar Timing Arrays if in fact the gravitational waves do not affect the pulsar pulses?
12. How can we detect the perturbations from the pulsar?
13. Why are Weber Bars so unpopular currently by detection scientists?
14. Could Weber Bars ever work in situations that interferometry could not?
15. Why are some Weber Bars still used?
16. What are your predictions of the use/interaction of gravitational waves?
17. Could we be able to, in a way, "control" gravity particles if this discover is found?
18. Are we getting nearer to detection than before? Or have we barely made progress?
19. What do you think of the supposed detection by BICEP2 last year?
20. What is the best advice you can give me since I am interested in potentially pursuing this career in trying to find gravitational waves?

Blog 17: Third Answer

1.) EQ 

- What is the best solution for detecting gravitational waves?

2.) Answer #3 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*

- Weber Bars could detect gravitational waves with their use of heavy aluminum cylinders to see any change in frequency, disregarding "background noise".

3.) 3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example)

• These massive aluminium cylinders vibrated at a resonance frequency of 1660 hertz and were designed to be set in motion by gravitational waves predicted by Weber. 
• Because these waves were supposed to be so weak, the cylinders had to be massive and the sensors had to be very sensitive.
• These sensors are capable of detecting a change in the cylinders' lengths by about 10⁻¹⁶ meters.

4.) The research source (s) to support your details and answer

- Lindley, David. "A Fleeting Detection of Gravitational Waves." Physics -. American Physical Society, 22 Dec. 2005. Web. 05 Mar. 2015. <http://physics.aps.org/story/v16/st19>

5.) Concluding Sentence

- My 3rd answer differs from my first two since Weber Bars are much more restrictive and crude compared to the others, but can still work given the right conditions.

February Post: Gravitational Waves Might Not Exist?

This month, I found a very interesting article that argued that gravitational waves might not exist after all. If this is true, then my senior project would be greatly affected. Fortunately, this is not concrete evidence to prove that gravitational waves don't exist. However, it did still give me a new and fresh perspective on my esoteric topic. The link is below:

http://phys.org/news/2015-01-planck-gravitational-elusive.html

Essentially the article states:

Despite earlier reports of a possible detection, a joint analysis of data from ESA's Planck satellite and the ground-based BICEP2 and Keck Array experiments has found no conclusive evidence of primordial gravitational waves. "While we haven't found strong evidence of a signal from primordial gravitational waves in the best observations of CMB polarisation that are currently available, this by no means rules out inflation," says Reno Mandolesi, principal investigator of the LFI instrument on Planck at University of Ferrara, Italy.

Blog 16: Answer 2

1.)  What is your EQ?

- My EQ is "What is the best solution for detecting gravitational waves?"
2.)  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

- Interferometers could detect gravitational waves with the usage of laser to see changes in space-time.
3.)  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

- Pulsar Timing Arrays could detect gravitational waves with their perturbation-seeking-sensors through pulsars.
4.)  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

• The signal from a pulsar can be detected by radio telescopes as a series of regularly spaced pulses, essentially like the ticks of a clock.
• Gravitational waves affect the time it takes the pulses to travel from the pulsar to a telescope on Earth.
• A pulsar timing array uses millisecond pulsars to seek out perturbations due to gravitational waves in measurements of pulse arrival times at a telescope, in other words, to look for deviations in the clock ticks.

5.)  What printed source best supports your answer?

- Feynman, Richard P. QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1985. Print.

6.)  What other source supports your answer?

- Moskowitz, Clara. "Dark Matter Black Holes Could Be Destroying Stars at the Milky Way's Center." Scientific American Global RSS. Scientific American, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
7.)  Tie this together with a concluding thought.

- My new answer differs from the 1st because pulsar timing arrays would scan the universe's space-time instead of looking directly at the waves, like a inteferometer does.

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

1.)  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

- For my independent component 2, I do not have any concrete plans, but one thing I have looked at that could strengthen my answers to my EQ would be Gravitational Wave Interference. They are most connected to my answer 2, but they could also help me see what scientists try to do when observing gravitational waves. I would try to construct one then test around with it.

2.)  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

- As I create and test the interference, I would log every detail in my hours log. I will narrate the step by step process and also include lots of pictures.

3.)  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

- This component is essentially my answer 2 and this would help me understand how gravitational waves were detected before the advent of interferometers. As I create the double-slit experiment, I would understand how scientists construct various apparatus, and this would nice to include in my final presentation.

4.)  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.
- Done.

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

LITERAL

(a) Write: “I, Denesh Chandrahasan, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours 15 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. Feynman, Richard P. QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1985. Print.
2. Giancoli, Douglas C. "General Relavitity: Gravity and the Curvature of Space." Physics; Principles with Applications. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2005. 926-29. Print.
3. Stannard, Russell. "Gravitational Waves." Relativity: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. 95-99. Print.

The 1st source helped me by giving me a strong foundation in how exactly light works in relation to reflection and wavelengths. The 2nd provided the mathematical side of what I was doing, and the last one was directly explaining how interferometry helps detect gravitational waves.

              
(c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours.

- Done.

(d) Explain what you completed.    

- Essentially, what I created and assembled is called an interferometer. I made a home-made one by buying the parts online (don't worry I bought them for reasonable/cheap prices). I put the parts together by arranging the mirrors on the base so that a laser could bounce off the mirrors in such a way that it came back to the original spot. (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?). A sensitive detector uses laser interferometry to measure gravitational-wave induced motion between separated 'free' masses.This allows the masses to be separated by large distances (increasing the signal size); a further advantage is that it is sensitive to a wide range of frequencies. 

This demonstrates 30 hours of work since I prepared for the construction, ordered the parts, studied videos and models online, actually physically built the apparatus, then tested it. 

Pictures

These are the parts I actually had to order online. There are the 2 fixed mirrors and 1 adjustable mirror. At the bottom is the laser diode. Don't worry - they were cheap!

My first attempt at attaching the parts to the base of thick cardboard covered with paper. (It later fell apart)

My second attempt at reattaching the parts. If you look closely you can see the extra layer of adhesive I used.

This strange mark is actually the interference pattern generated by the two rays, and it is an incredibly finicky thing to establish - expect a good half hour of gently poking and tilting the elements till you glimpse this faint but unmistakable banding.

That is being projected onto an almost-horizontal piece of white card. I tilted the card so that the interference pattern would be broadened out and the fringe motion would be more readily observed.

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 a real-life apparatus that scientists use to detect them. The real-life examples that are applicable are  LIGO and LISA. Currently, the most sensitive interferometer is LIGO – the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory. LIGO has three detectors: one in Livingston, Louisiana; the other two (in the same vacuum tubes) at the Hanford site in Richland, Washington. 

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 actually exist. This is something suggested by Einstein's theory of relativity, but has yet to be proven. Interferometer like I built are simple models of the big ones that can someday detect those waves when 2 black holes collide.

January Post: The Birth of a Black Hole

    This month was full of presentations and college applications, but that did not stop me from learning. I found an awesome video that explained how exactly a black hole is formed, starting from when the star dies. Essentially, black holes are created when a large star collapses under the force of gravity having run out of nuclear fuel, collapsed core of a giant star forms a black hole. Stars have to be at least 10 times larger than our sun for their own gravity to crush them creating super-nova. Some stars are even bigger than that, causing the birth of black holes. The spectacular scenes of a this birth have been observed many times through telescopes.

I currently am still searching and emailing prospective mentors. Wish me luck :)

Lesson 2 Reflection

1.) What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
 - I am most proud of the fact that everyone understood my presentation and that I explained it to them in simple terms. Usually people would get turned off by the mention of astrophysics, but I feel that I was able to engage and interest the audience.

2.) a. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

AE P AP CR NC

b. Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
- I covered all the P requirements, met the 10 minute minimum, and I worked very hard to simplify such a hard topic. Based on the contract, since I met every requirement, I believe I deserve an AE because I went above and beyond. Everyone enjoyed my hook activity and was fascinated of falling into a black hole.

3.) What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
- During my Lesson 2, I was so engrossed in my topic and I got feedback that everyone understand my points even though it is an esoteric topic. I covered all the points I had to speak about as well as make it funny and interesting for the audience.

4.) What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
- If I had a time machine, I would install flash on the laptops. This would be so my activity could be in groups of 2 rather than 5-6 people.

5.) What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?
- Based on my research so far, another answer to my EQ (detecting gravitational waves) would be Weber Bars.

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 Hours Check

Content:

1.)   Where are you doing your mentorship?

- I currently do not have a mentor, and I have been very active in emailing and finding prospective ones. However, I have done 29 hours of mentorship at Caltech's Cahill Building for Astrophysics earlier this semester.

2.)   Who is your contact?

- My mentor when I had one was Dr. Bela Szilagyi, a Caltech researcher who studies gravitational waves and simulates black hole collisions. 

3.)   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?

- In total, I have done 29 hours and 20 minutes of mentorship this semester. They were all in September and October. (My mentorship log is up-to-date)

4.)   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.

- I continued my work when I was there in the summer, which was creating simulations of binary black holes. I basically had to change the variables in the algorithm so that the computer cluster would compile the data and give us a simulation. This semester I had done 2 such simulations (2 only because they take very long to render). I was also working on editing the website for the cluster wiki. I also used Paraview to use the data compiled by the cluster to create some kind of animations that illustrate the collisions.

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

Content:

1.)  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school. What did you do over the break with your senior project?- Since I currently do not have a mentor and consequently work on mentorship hours, this winter break was primarily spent on my independent component. I talked to Ms. Yelverton and she approved of my plan to create a interferometer. So, I have started to assemble the frame and am currently obtaining all the required materials.

2.) What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why? What was the source of what you learned?- The most important thing I learned from working on the interferometer is that the scientific journey and experimentation can be more important in self- development than what the result would do. The source of this is illustrated by the fact that I learned how to assemble the interferometer by looking it up online and through videos. This has helped me alot and boosted my confidence in independent work.

3.)  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

- I would talk to one of my mentor (not anymore)'s colleagues. They are authorities on gravitational waves and they could surely answer any of my questions.