The credit for the inception of the outreach program should go to Ms. Elaine Chang, formerly a student in the L. B. Johnson Science Academy a Magnet School in East Austin and now freshman at Stanford University. Elaine has attended a lecture Professor Demkov gave to the audience of high-school science teachers and students as a part of the UT Department of Physics outreach. Much to his surprise, Elaine contacted Professor Demkov in late April and asked to spend the summer with his group learning about physics and high-performance computing. As a teenager Demkov had spent a summer in a national lab and that experience had determined his future, so though Elaine's request was somewhat unusual he agreed. Elaine got a UT electronic identification number, library card, office space, desk-top computer, etc. and was participating in group's research activities as well as the intellectual life on campus! A brief summary of Elaine's study of small Si clusters and their oxidation can be found below. Please note that Elaine has also created the Demkov Group web site! Now Elaine has entered into Stanford University to begin her college life! Below is her summary for her activities in that summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY OF 2005 SUMMER'S ACTIVITIES AT UT

 

Books and Articles Read

-Model Simulations of Zeolite Supralattices: Semiconductor Si Clusters in Sodalite (Phys Review)

-Oxygen Adsorption on small Si clusters: a full-potential linear-muffin-tin-orbital molecular dynamics study (Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter)

-Ab initio study on oxidized silicon clusters and silicon nanocrystals embedded in SiO2: Beyond the quantum confinement effect (Phys Rev)

-Sections of Introduction to Solid State Physics, Kittel

-College Chemistry and sections of General Chemistry, Linus Pauling

-Sections from several Physics books (General Physics, College Physics, Introductory Physics)

 

 

Actual Tasks

 

-Learned Linux and ran Fireball to find the base energy geometries of simple silicon clusters (Si 2-7) and oxidized silicon clusters (Si 2-5 and corresponding number of O's).

 

-Learned HTML and created group web site.

 

 

What I Gained/Learned from the Experience

 

-Proficiency in basic Linux commands and HTML code

 

-Understanding of the very basics of solid state physics (lattice arrangement), as well as some quantum concepts (Schrodinger's, Hamiltonian operator, wave function, particle in a box, etc.).

 

-Introduction to a wide range of subjects that I hadn't known existed: image rendering, computational biology, quantum computing, etc. via lectures, dissertation proposals and defenses, and seminars held on campus during the summer.

 

-Access to a huge number of resources, including the library's