Evan Wiggs reports on his experience at the University of Chicago, Where he is attending “Physics of the Stars.” During his first week, Evan learned more about the university through an orientation session. He also connected with students from various states and countries from around the world.
“So far my journey at UChicago has exceeded my expectations in every way. One of my biggest surprises coming to UChicago is the stratification among the student body culturally. In my friend group alone, there are people from New York, Ann Arbor, California, Britain, Hong Kong, and Turkey. Aside from my academic experience, I have learned so much about other parts of the world and cultures through these people,” Evan says.
Evan’s first week in class was fast-paced and rigorous and included a guest lecturer.
“After one week of class, I am handling the coursework very well. Nothing is too challenging, but all of the material is geared towards a higher caliber of thinking and critical problem solving,” Evan explains.
“This week, my class covered electromagnetic radiation and spectra. This topic was very elementary to me, but the process only allowed for me to sharpen my skills on detail orientation in mathematical abilities. Guest lecturer Richard Kron, a professor at the University of Chicago, gave a presentation on wide-field observations and cosmological mapping of the universe. This presentation was very informational about a topic I have no experience with,” Evan says.
“The academic highlight of my week was the lecture given by my other professor Kayla. She covered the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram in great detail. By introducing concepts from quantum mechanics, like electron degeneracy pressure, she guided the class through the evolutionary progress of a star’s lifetime. She explained how the HR diagram represented different periods of time in a star’s life like the Mainstream Sequence, Red Giant Branch, Core Helium Flash, and the Horizontal Branch. Along with this, she taught the chemical processes that begin these phases with more quantum mechanics,” Evan adds.
When he is not attending lectures, Evan has lab work every day, along with coding assignments using Python.
“So far, we have done a Solar Flux lab, which measured the energy output of the sun and graphically related it. There are also many coding assignments to complete with the Python program. This is crucial because astrophysicists today use coding for practically everything they study. We have learned to create plots and arrays with multiple dimensions,” Evan explains.
Evan says that the professors and RAs he has met have been very helpful. In addition, he has made many friends and memories while attending the course.
“My greatest memory so far has been the intellectual talks with my friends I’ve made. I love the ability to express my thoughts on difficult topics and have well thought out responses. I would never have thought that one of my best conversations would have been about Greek philosophy, and its applications and still unknown answers to life. Each day is a new journey, and I wake up with anticipation for what is to come. From the laughing fits due to goofy questions to the mind-spinning conversations about the concepts of infinity and what it really means, this program has enriched my life and I will forever be grateful and remember this opportunity,” Evan says.
Week Two — Birth, Evolution, and Death of Stars
Evan says his second week has been filled with “exciting experiences,” and his homework level has “drastically increased” as he continues with the course. After careful deliberation, Evan has also decided that he would like to specialize in quantum astrophysics after graduating from high school.
“This week in my program, the course material shifted to a broader range of topics. In class, we talked about the birth, evolution, and death of stars. We talked about their chemical compositions and how they synthesized in great detail with the help of guest lecturer Alex Ji. We covered stellar spectra, which provided me with a deeper understanding of quantum mechanics and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. During this lecture, I found myself thinking of quantum mechanics and subjects like electron degeneracy pressure on a deeper level,” Evan says.
“We had a guest lecture by Fernanda Cortez on exoplanets. Honestly, I couldn’t find myself getting interested in this subject, but I embraced it for helping me with decisions about my future. On the death of stars, I learned so much information. I learned about the different pathways stars can take for their deaths, and how their masses affect that chance,” Evan adds.
“In another lecture this week, I learned about galaxies and their compositions. Deriving from this, I could learn about dark matter, black holes, pulsars, quasars, and gravitational lensing. For labs this week, the program shifted to a coding heavy environment. We learned how to pull information from real stellar data sets and follow trends and observations in the coding assignments using the knowledge attained in lectures,” Evan reports.
When not in class or studying, Evan has been busy participating in student activities on campus and exploring the city of Chicago.
“The ‘House Games’ is a type of tradition at UChicago where the different houses in the residential building compete to be the best house. There have been academic-based games, like trivia or a spelling bee, and there are also fun events like track meets and the UChicago traditional scavenger hunt,” Evan explains.
“The highlight of my week was the architectural boat tour. When we arrived, we loaded up on the Sea Dog, the speed boat at Navy Pier. Within 5 minutes of takeoff, everyone on the boat was drenched with freezing cold water. Following the chaos, we had the tour right down the Chicago River. It was amazing to see all of the tall buildings while learning history about them from our maniacal tour guide. The tour ended up running behind so we were stuck on the boat for an extra hour or so. This ended up working out in our favor because we got front-row seats to the city skyline at night and the summer fireworks on the lake. It truly was an amazing experience to be there under the glow of the fireworks and blaring music,” Evan says.
Week Three — Quantum Mechanics and Wave-Particle Duality
“My final week at the University of Chicago was one of the best weeks of my life. This week, we talked about observational astronomy, which is how we see light at different wavelengths and what we can infer from it. This covered the various wavelengths and led into a fundamental principle in quantum mechanics called wave-particle duality. I really enjoyed this lecture conceptually because it elaborated on the different wavelengths of light on a quantum level. We learned about telescopes and what ideal conditions need to be met for certain data collection. We also learned about high energy phenomena in space. High energy is essentially a term for extreme conditions in space and what occurs in those areas. High energy phenomena consist of kilonovae, supernovae, tidal disruptions, and pulsars. We looked at how high energy events are tracked and formulated,” Evan reports.
“To finish the week, our final lecture was on spatial unexplained events. This explored concepts like dark matter and covered theories derived for black holes and galaxy mergers. This week, I had to work on my final project. This project was a presentation on a topic of my group’s choice. The only requirement was a coding portion. This week was definitely the hardest with my work level. I worked on the final project for a combined total of 15 hours. I am glad that my group was on task and we all contributed equally to the creation of our final project,” Evan says.
Outside of class, Evan and friends explored more of downtown Chicago where they visited the “Bean” at Millenium Park, Sears Tower, and various stores. They also took a class trip to the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin.
“My class took a trip to Williams Bay, Wisconsin to the Yerkes Observatory. There, we got a chance to tour the same building that Albert Einstein and Carl Sagan studied in. The trip really increased my appreciation for the history of astrophysics, and the people who paved the way for eager minds like myself. I got a chance to do dark room photography, with some images previously collected from the observatory. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to use the large refracting telescope because it was raining,” Evan reports.
Evan and classmates were sad to see the course end, after forming such strong connections with each other.
“It is a great feeling having the sense of community created at this program; everybody wants their friends to be successful in their future academics. The sense of support is a phenomenal byproduct of the UChicago summer session. I am very saddened to leave the people I met. Thankfully, we have exchanged contact information and plan to continue to have connections through my senior year and through college. I am forever grateful for the friends and connections I have made at the University of Chicago. This opportunity has changed my life so drastically, and I cannot express my extreme gratitude for each day I had at this program, and the lifelong friends I made,” Evan says.
Excellent work, Evan! We are so happy to hear that your time attending the “Physics of Stars” was a success.
>> Learn about the other students’ experiences in the GFF Scholarship Program.
Evan shares a video of his boat tour of Chicago.
