University of California, Davis Physics Department
High School Apprenticeship Program in Materials Science: Summer 2019

Sponsored by:

The United States Department of Energy
"The mission of the Energy Department is to ensure America's security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. "

Oak Ridge Institute of Science Education
"Supporting DOE and other federal agencies' missions to strengthen the nation's science education and research initiatives"
(Special thanks to Marie Westfall and Terri Stone of DOE and ORAU.)

Our FANTASTIC 2019 Summer Interns!

Astuti Kumar Maxwell Wright Maximiliano Zamora Seeley Ferouz Laura Huang Ayzhanae Dubose

Samuel Wall Auster Zhang Anita Heath Victor Leflar Dennis Gutierrez

Our students come from River City High School in West Sacramento.

Our instructors

Richard Scalettar (and friends) Valentin Taufour Dubarrie Fagout Jen Garcia Mayra Leon-Sandoval Miguel Alba

What we do:

We learn to code in python! This program evolves the pole strengths in a random magnetic material.

import random
import math
n=20
ntime=80
magnet=[[0]*n for y in range(n)]
newmagnet=[[0]*n for y in range(n)]
Ja=[[0]*n for y in range(n)]
Jb=[[0]*n for y in range(n)]
Jc=[[0]*n for y in range(n)]
Jd=[[0]*n for y in range(n)]
J=1.0
width=0.8
T=3.0
mix=0.3
for y in range(1,n-2):
for x in range(1,n-2):
magnet[x][y]=random.uniform(-1,1)

print
print("LIST OF MAGNETIC INTERACTION VALUES")
print(" x y Ja Jb Jc Jd ")
for y in range(1,n-2):
for x in range(1,n-2):
Ja[x][y]=J+width*random.uniform(-1,1)
Jb[x][y]=J+width*random.uniform(-1,1)
Jc[x][y]=J+width*random.uniform(-1,1)
Jd[x][y]=J+width*random.uniform(-1,1)
print("%3d" % (x)),
print("%3d " % (y)),
print("%5.3f" % (Ja[x][y])),
print("%5.3f" % (Jb[x][y])),
print("%5.3f" % (Jc[x][y])),
print("%5.3f" % (Jd[x][y]))
print
print("LIST OF STARTING MAGNETIC POLE STRENGTHS")
print(" x y Pole ")
for y in range(1,n-2):
for x in range(1,n-2):
print("%3d" % (x)),
print("%3d " % (y)),
print("%5.3f" % magnet[x][y])
print
print(ntime)
for time in range(0,ntime):
for y in range(1,n-2):
for x in range(1,n-2):
a=magnet[x][y-1]
b=magnet[x][y+1]
c=magnet[x-1][y]
d=magnet[x+1][y]
field=a*Ja[x][y]+b*Jb[x][y]+c*Jc[x][y]+d*Jd[x][y]
field=field/T
newmagnet[x][y]=mix*math.tanh(field)+(1.-mix)*magnet[x][y]
print("LIST OF MAGNETIC POLE STRENGTHS AT TIME STEP"),
print(time)
for y in range(1,n-2):
for x in range(1,n-2):
magnet[x][y]=newmagnet[x][y]
print("%3d" % (x)),
print("%3d " % (y)),
print("%5.3f" % magnet[x][y])
print
print

Here's a movie of magnetic domains forming that our code produced.

We build a superconducting levitating train!

Some photos:

Learning how magnetic materials are synthesized In the computer lab Building the train

Some more photos:

Visiting Crocker Nuclear Lab More coding and train building. Assessing wood for the train track.

A closing song by Pete Seeger (May 3, 1919 - January 27, 2014), an American folk singer.

This Land Is Your Land, This Land is My Land