Katsushi Arisaka - UCLA Physics & Astronomy

11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 1Katsushi ArisakaUniversity of California, Los AngelesDepartment of Physics and Astronomyarisaka@physics.ucla.edu

Outline11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 2Ø Overview 5 min.Ø Example of my lectures§ The very first lecture§ The lecture on “Eclectic Circuits”Ø Technical details20 min.15 min.Ø Open discussion10 min.Total40 + 10 min.

Brief Introduction to Katsushi ArisakaØ PhD from Tokyo Univ. in 1985§ Particle physics – Kamiokande Neutrino Experiment§ Thesis Advisor – Toshi Koshiba, Nobel prize in 2002Ø Came to the US with no English training§ Failed English class as an undergrad student!Ø Professor of Physics at UCLA since 1988§ Research on both Particle Physics & NeuroscienceØ Teaching “Electricity and Magnetism”§ to life science majors (mostly pre-med students) who hatephysics§ ~500 students per year for > 10 years§ In addition, honors classes (top ~10% students)Ø In 2010, awarded the campus-wide ”DistinguishedTeaching Award”11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 3

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Interview on “teaching honors students”11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 5

A message from a student a few days ago11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 6Dear Professor Arisaka,As I am sitting here studying for my final, I am just overwhelmed with how grateful I am thatI was given the opportunity to take Physics 6B with you this quarter. I just wanted to let youknow how much I enjoyed your Physics 6B course throughout this entire quarter! As a LifeScience student, I am completely intimidated by the world of physics and tend to performpoorly in all of my physics efforts. Your class is the first physics class I have ever taken thatI have thoroughly enjoyed- and actually performed decently as a student!!! I am going tohighly recommend you to all of my friends that share my same fear of physics! I sincerelyappreciate all of your enthusiasm and encouragement. I have never had a professor care asdeeply about their students as you do- and every single one of your students feels thesame! I think THAT in itself is the highest testament of your teaching credibility. You arewithout a doubt the BEST physics professor at UCLA as well as one of my favoriteprofessors I have ever had! Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the class. Thankyou for your constant support and words of encouragement. I honestly cannot express howgrateful I am that I was able to take a class with you!Again, thank you so very much! If only UCLA had more Professor Arisaka's on staff!!!! Ihope you have a wonderful spring break!

Another message from a student a few days ago11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 7Hi Professor,I just wanted to send this email to thank you for a truly wonderful quarter and excellentclass. Before this quarter, I was not really interested in physics and came into thiscourse with caution. However, I did not expect to enjoy this class so much and learn somany things not only about physics but about nature and the world around us. Isincerely hope that I will be able to take another course with you at some point in mylife and highly recommend you to anyone that asks!In addition, given the recent events in Japan and the other countries, I really hope thatall of your families and friends are safe and healthy and express my well wishes to all ofthem.Thank you again for such an amazing class!> 10 mails like this, shortly after the last lecture

Key points of today’s talk11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 8Ø How to create the excitement of learningphysics, when students actually hate it?Ø Time is short, but even within 10 weeks, thereis a way to accomplish the mission.Ø It is NOT a question of English, but a questionof communication skills with students.

Important Goals11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 9Ø Connect the topics with students’ own dailylife and their interestsØ Instructor's personal relation with studentsØ Define the concrete goal of learning clearlyØ Ultimate purpose : Change their life and theirway of thinking forever.

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The Very First Lecture (Jan 3)11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 11Ø Connect physics with student’s theirown interestsØ Show instructor’s own excitement inphysics

Why are we here?11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 12

11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 13Central ThemeØ Why are we here?§ Origin of Ourselves History§ Origin of Life Biology§ Origin of the Solar System Astronomy§ …§ Origin of Atoms Particle Physics§ Origin of the Universe CosmologyØ What is the most fundamental laws innature?

11/3/2011 ~100 Billions Stars in Katsushi a GalaxyArisaka, UCLA 14

Hubble Deep Field11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA ~100 Billion Galaxies 15

Red shiftup to ~1011/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 16

Hubble’s Law:Expansion of the Universe 11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 17Horizonof UniverseBig Bang!Sun/Earth 14 BillonLight YearsMoving Awayat Speed of Light

Hubble Deep FieldPhysicists’ View of Early Universe11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 18Fiat luxLet there be light

Structure of DNA11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 19

Symmetry Breaking11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 20Time01B years234567891011121314SimpleComplexSymmetryBreak Down

Seven Phases of Cosmic Evolution11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 2114 billion years agoOrigin ofParticlesOrigin ofStructureOrigin ofLifeOrigin ofConsciousness

CERN and LHC in Geneva11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 2227km Circumference7+7=14 TeV

LHC Tunnel with Magnets11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 23

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Particle detectorsconstructed at UCLANow at LHC, CERNSept 15, 2008 Issue11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA25

Seven Phases of Cosmic Evolution11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 2614 billion years agoOrigin ofParticlesOrigin ofStructureOrigin ofLifeOrigin ofConsciousness

Brain Universe100 Billions Neurons 100 Billions Galaxies New York Times 8/21/200611/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 27

Lecture on Electric Circuits (Feb 18)11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 28Ø Connect “boring circuits” to§ The most advanced computer system –IBM’s Watson§ The most advanced circuits in nature –our own brainØ Introduce my own researches whenappropriate:§ Brain imaging by high-speed opticalmicroscopes

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11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 30Transistors in ComputerWatsonWatson#CPUs : 2880 CPU(~ 10 12 Transistors)Speed : 3.5 GHzRAM : 16 TByte

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From No Brain to Big BrainParamecium (Single Cell)Bullfrog (~10 7 neurons)Lymnaea (~1,000 neurons)Zebrafish (~10,000 neurons)Rat (~10 8 neurons)11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 32

11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 33Neurons in BrainHumanRatFlogFishHuman~ 10 11 neurons~ 10 14 connectionsSpeed : 1 kHz

Computer vs. Brain11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 34Computer Human Brain Key Unit Transistor Neuron No. of units ~ 10 9 ~ 10 11 Connec1on Copper Wire Axon + Dendrite No. of Connec1ons ~ 10 10 ~ 10 14 Signal Carrier Electrons Ions (Na+, Ca+, K+) Clock Speed ~ 1 GHz ~ 1 kHz Method SequenJal Parallel Processing

Arisaka’s high-speed Microscope11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 35

UCLA Newsroom on January 11, 201111/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 36

Arisaka’s Campus-wide Collaborationson High-Speed Bio-imaging11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 37Dept. of Physics & Astronomy(Dolores Bozovic, Mayank Mehta)Dept. of Electrical Engineering(Bahram Jalali)Industrial Partners(Hamamatsu Photonics,Photron, Leica)Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry(Shimon Weiss)California Nano Systems Institute(CNSI, Laurent Bentolila)Dept. of Surgical Oncology(Manuel Penichet)Dept. of Neurology & Neurobiology(Carlos Portera-Cailliau,Jack Feldman, Tom Otis)

Some Technical Details11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA381. Easy-to-follow lecture style2. Complete lecture notes & Webcasts3. Massive e-mail distribution for intensepersonal communication (every day)4. Special office hours for students belowaverage.5. Extensive sample exams and reviewsessions6. Only conceptual questions in the exams

1. Lecture Organization11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 39§ Always quick review of the previous lecture in thefirst 5 minutes (to refresh their brains.)§ At least one eye-catching demonstration beforeintroduction of a new concept of the day (to get themaximum attention from the students).§ Only one new important concept per lecture (that isthe maximum students can absorb.)§ Absolutely minimum mathematical derivation on ablack board (to emphasize physics.)§ Enormous examples from daily life and bio/medicalexamples in class, usually every 5 minutes

An example of announcement11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 40

2. Lecture Note & Webcasts11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 41Ø Students can purchase the complete lecturenotes at the beginning of the 10 week course.Ø Only ~60% of textbook covered.Ø Summary of the materialsØ Webcasting all the lectures

Covered chapters in Textbook11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 42

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3. E-mails11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 45§ Administrative information• Home work assignment.• Information for the exams§ Summary of today’s lecture§ Preview of the next lecture

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4. Special Office Hours11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 48§ Open special office hours only for thestudents below average in the midterm.§ Teach them “how to learn physics bythemselves”• Critical thinking.• Become honest to his/her own understanding level

5. Sample Exams and Review Sessions11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 49Ø Sample Exams:§ Extremely long, challenging sample exams, basedon the real exams in the past.Ø Extensive Review Sessions.§ Two hours (x 3 time slots) for the first midterm§ Two sessions of two hours (x 3 time slots) for thesecond midterm and the final exam§ Focusing on the sample exam problems

6. Exams§ Very similar to the sample exams.§ Only conceptual questions§ All the answers must be derived from the mostfundamental laws of nature, such as Newton’s lawor Maxwell equations by themselves.§ No cheat sheet, no calculator, nothing allowed inthe exam, except their own brains and pencil.§ Memorization is the essential part, becausestudents cannot memorize the abstract conceptsand equations unless they understand.§ Once they understand, they will never forget.11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 50

Sample Exam Problem11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 51

Real Exam Problem11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 52

Summary11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 53Ø It is NOT a question of English, but a questionof communication skills with students.Ø There are several technical details whichappear effective on communications.§ E-mails, office hours, review sessions….Ø The most important aspect:§ Enjoy teaching§ Propagate your excitement§ Show that you care students.

Web Links of Winter 2011 Class11/3/2011 Katsushi Arisaka, UCLA 54Ø Physics 6B§ https://ccle.ucla.edu/course/view/11W-PHYSICS6B-2Ø Physics 89 (Honors class)§ https://ccle.ucla.edu/course/view/11W-PHYSICS89-1Ø This presentation§ http://home.physics.ucla.edu/~arisaka/Teaching/