Students Make Quantum Leap

December 4, 2007

Alicia Duplessis
aduples@tulane.edu

Scientists use poster sessions to help explain the intricacies of their research to an audience, yet a group of students in the new “Modern Applications of Quantum Systems” course learned the process far earlier — in their first semester of college.

The course was offered for the first time this year as part of the Tulane InterDisciplinary Experience Seminars program (TIDES) that allows incoming first-year students an opportunity to explore an academic topic outside of the usual classroom setting.

When Dmitry Uskov, a research professor in the university’s Department of Physics, and Alexander Burin, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, decided to introduce the class, they weren’t sure if enough students would be interested.

“I found ways to explain quantum mechanics to people who may not fully understand the complex mathematical machinery behind the subject,” says Uskov. “We were able to offer brilliant presentations through our guest speakers as well as a field trip to the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory), which the students really loved.”

To the pleasure of the professors, six bright young students braved the one-hour course that introduced them to quantum computing, nano-optics, molecular spectroscopy and DNA photonics.

Both Uskov and Burin agreed that the idea of a “second quantum revolution” was reason enough to expose the new students to the world of quantum physics and encourage them to engage in research that could deliver quantum technologies in the future.

“We believe that we are currently in the midst of a second quantum revolution,” says Uskov. “The first quantum revolution gave us new rules that govern physical reality, and the second quantum revolution will take these rules and use them to develop into new technologies.”

At the conclusion of the course, the students made posters and invited other students and faculty members to share in all that they learned. The class poster session was organized in the form of a small scientific workshop.

Eric Schexnayder, a freshman majoring in engineering physics, said during the poster session that he wasn’t intimidated by the course title and viewed the class as an opportunity to explore something new.

“I liked the class because it was able to expose me to real math that wasn’t dumbed down,” Schexnayder said.

Although many of the students came into the course interested in the science field, a few non-science majors were also enrolled.

This TIDES course will be offered again next fall.