The Department of Physics at MIT pushes back the frontiers of human understanding of space and time and of matter and energy in all its forms, from the subatomic to the cosmological and from the elementary to the complex.
Introductory Remarks Dr. Marin Solja?i?, Assistant Professor of Physics, MIT; 2008 MacArthur Fellow; 2000-03 Pappalardo Fellow
Universal Physics with Ultracold Atoms Dr. Yusuke Nishida, 2008-11 Fellow (Nuclear & Particle Theory) Physics is said to be universal when results are independent of the details of how particles interact with each other. Universal phenomena appear in many ...
Applied String Theory: From Gravitational Collapse to Heavy Ion Collisions Dr. Paul Chesler, 2009-12 Fellow (Nuclear & Particle Theory) A remarkable result from heavy ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider is that, shortly after a collision, the medium ...
A New Generation of Insulators for the Electronics Future Dr. David Hsieh, 2009-12 Fellow (Condensed Matter Experiment) Electrical insulators have long been believed to be completely understood systems with uninteresting electronic properties. Over the past few years, ...
Astronomers-to-be at MIT Dr. Paola Rebusco, 2007-10 Fellow (Theoretical Astrophysics) During my time at MIT, I had the good luck to mentor three talented students. My talk will present the cutting edge work done by Ana-Maria Piso, Kristi Schneck and Shannon Grammel. ...
A fluorescent tube swings at the end of a long plexiglass rod. It is made to rotate and then brought near the Van de Graaff generator. The tube lights up when there is a potential difference between its ends. This happens when it is pointing radially away from the Van ...
Grounding rod tips of different sizes are used to discharge a large Van de Graaff generator. The larger the curvature of the tip, the more charge must build up to break down the air, resulting in longer sparks. The electricity ionizes air molecules, releasing quick flashes of light. A pointed ...
A Wimshurst electrostatic generator, working on the principle of induction, generates high voltage differences and sparks between two movable electrodes. By increasing the distance between the electrodes, higher potential differences can be built up. Electrostatic induction refers to the ...
This lecture explains the scientific basis for particle physicists' confidence, both in the discovery potential of the LHC and in its absolute safety.
The Enormous Subatomic Paradox Professor Steve Nahn Accompanying the start of the Large Hadron Collider has been speculation of discoveries treading the line between science and science fiction: mini-black holes, new particles, extra dimensions, mechanisms for how fundamental particles have ...
An MIT take on the Lagrangian skeleton of turbulence in an experimental fluid flow.
A Silnikov attractor reconstructed from experimental data taken from a liquid crystal flow.
A sand-carrying cart on a track leaves a trail of sand when it travels over a rotating table. This demonstrates the Coriolis Effect. For more, watch The Coriolis Effect.
Two demonstrators sit at either end of a rotating platform and toss a ball back and forth. When viewed from the rest frame (when the camera is mounted to the ground), the ball follow a straight line but doesn't reach its target because during the ball's flight the target rotates away. When ...
A ripple tank is placed above a mirror and a projection screen. A horizontal bar, whose frequency can be varied, taps the surface of the water and produces plane waves. The waves are incident on a barrier containing an adjustable opening. With a narrow single slit ...
A ripple tank is placed above a mirror and a projection screen. Two synchronous point sources, whose frequency can be varied, tap the surface of the water and produce circular waves. The interference pattern of the waves including the lines of nodes can be observed on ...
A long beaded chain is looped over a motor pulley. When the motor is turned on, a disturbance in the chain causes waves to propagate through it. When the motor is brought up to full speed and the chain is knocked off the pulley it will maintain its shape for a few seconds and appear to ...
