ESP Biography



JACOB SANDERS, Harvard senior studying physics and mathematics



Major: Physics, mathematics, chemistry

College/Employer: Harvard College

Year of Graduation: Not available.

Picture of Jacob Sanders

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I'm a senior at Harvard studying physics, mathematics, and chemistry. I especially enjoy abstract algebra, organic chemistry, quantum mechanics and, of course, relativity. I have conducted research in quantum optics, studying the nature of the interactions between light and matter.

I am from northern New Jersey. In high school, I especially loved taking enrichment science courses on Saturday at Columbia University. I am really eager to be participating in a similar program, now as a teacher.

I love teaching and learning, as well as blackboards and chalk. At Harvard, I have been a Teaching Assistant for Organic Chemistry and for Abstract Algebra. As a result of student reviews, I received a Certificate of Distinction for Excellence in Teaching in Fall 2007.

I'm really looking forward to teaching Special Relativity and Particle Physics this fall, and I hope to see you in class! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the course.



Past Classes

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

S1494: Special Relativity and Particle Physics in HSSP Fall 2008 (Sep. 13, 2008)
What does $$E = mc^{2}$$ really mean? Why can't anything travel faster than light? Is time travel possible? How are new particles discovered? Following in the footsteps of Einstein, we'll embark on a careful study of special relativity. We'll cover time dilation, length contraction, Lorentz transformations, velocity addition, energy and momentum, and particle collisions. We'll discover that space and time are really weird, and we'll resolve many cool paradoxes. We'll then consider gravity, leading us briefly into general relativity and black holes. Finally, we'll conclude with particle physics; you'll learn the difference between bosons and fermions, quarks and leptons, and matter and antimatter. I intend to be mathematically rigorous but, fortunately, a complete treatment of special relativity requires surprisingly few prerequisites. Prerequisites: High-school algebra, trigonometry, and a physics course on basic Newtonian mechanics For more information, including a syllabus, please visit the course website at <a href="http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~sanders/HSSP">http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~sanders/HSSP</a>.