ESP Biography



GUSTAF DOWNS, MIT '13 studying atomic physics and fluid dynamics



Major: Physics

College/Employer: MIT

Year of Graduation: 2013

Picture of Gustaf Downs

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I came into MIT not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, but decided I should just choose the major whose homework I liked doing the best and hey! That's brought me here! I've done experimental research in 5 different labs during my time at MIT, and I've applied to grad schools to do the same. Specifically, my focus is on (and this next part is long) quantum simulation of phenomena in condensed matter physics using ultracold atoms in optical lattices. However, I'm currently working in a mathematics laboratory (you heard that right--experimental maths) working on developing an alternative interpretation of quantum mechanics that would reconcile many of the anti-intuitive postulates of the currently accepted interpretation.

Outside of school, I am a member of the MIT Logarhythms (an all-male a capella group) and a counselor for the Freshman Leadership Pre-orientation program. I love to cook, eat, exercise---when I have the time (school often gets in the way of all three of those). I'm excited to be teaching for HSSP!



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

S6921: The Coolest Stuff We've Ever Learned in HSSP Spring 2013 (Mar. 02, 2013)
Why do planes REALLY fly? What the heck is a FRACTAL? What was the coldest thing EVER? Does ANYONE understand quantum mechanics? In our combined 8 years at MIT, we've learned a bunch of stuff. We've forgotten most of it, but the bits we haven't are dangerously awesome. Join us as we take a tour of the highlights of a college education in physics and math, covering topics like fluid dynamics, chaos and fractals, thermodynamics and ultra-cold atoms, quantum mechanics and quantum computation. You don't have to be Einstein to sign up: any math beyond the pre-requisites will be introduced as needed. The instructors, (Tom Alcorn '14, Gus Downs '13) are two MIT students majoring in physics and math, and both love teaching excited students. Tom has focused on theoretical work in both condensed matter and astrophysics, while Gus has focused on experimental work in both ultra-cold atomic physics and quantum foundations.