Summer Research Projects.

During the summer months, undergraduates have the opportunity to apply for summer projects , in which students work on practical and theoretical problems, sometimes leading to publication. These mentored internship experiences provide vital preparatory experience for research.

Janos Perczel (left)
William Simpson (right)

Some Recent Projects:

Two examples of summer projects, conducted under the supervision of Ulf Leonhardt:

According to Fermat's Principle, light follows the trajectory of the shortest optical path, that is, the path over which the integral of the refractive index function is minimal. Therefore, the refractive index of an optical medium determines how light propagates within it. Consequently, by a suitable choice of refractive index profile for an optical medium, light rays can be bent around and made to propagate in closed loops... [More]

It is possible to levitate things on 'nothing'. A recent experiment published in Nature has conclusively shown that the normally sticky quantum force of empty space can be turned from attraction to repulsion. In such cases small objects can levitate on the forces of the vacuum, which could be applied in novel micro- and nanomachines. In this research I hope to find a better understanding of these fascinating phenomena by modernizing some aspects of a theory that has been stagnant for nearly half a century... [More]