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West High School & L&N STEM Academy

The West High School & L&N STEM Physics Academy program is dedicated to create communication between UT Physics faculty and high school teachers and students. As part of the program, interested UT physics faculty members will present lectures in school classrooms. This will create a great opportunity for high school students to interact with physicists and to learn more about their research, and STEM fields in general. We hope that this program will motivate enough interest in students to join the UT undergraduate physics program.

Spring 2023 Schedule
Gibbs High School
    January 18: Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time

West High School

Year 1 IB:

  • February 27: Max Lavrentovich—The Second Law Of Thermodynamics
  • April 11: Tova Holmes—Quarks, Leptons, and Bosons: Understanding the Building Blocks of the Universe

Year 2 IB:

  • January 30: Cristian Batista—The Strange World of Quantum Physics: The Dual Particle and Wave Nature of Matter
  • March 6: Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Theory of Gravity
L&N STEM Academy Physics Lectures

AP Physics

  • January 23: Kate Jones—The Periodic Table's Cosmic Origin

Honors Physics Section I

  • February 21: Lucas Platter—The Physics of the Sun

Honors Physics Section II

  • March 27: Larry Lee—Unsolved Mysteries (of Elementary Particles)

Astronomy Section I

  • April 19: Sean Lindsay—TBA

Astronomy Section II

  • April 20: Sean Lindsay—TBA


Speakers & Topics
Speaker Title
Cristian Batista The Strange World of Quantum Physics: the Dual Particle and Wave Nature of Matter
Kate Jones The Periodic Table’s Cosmic Origin
Tova Holmes Quarks, Leptons, and Bosons: Understanding the Building Blocks of the Universe
Yuri Kamyshkov Dark Matter
Max Lavrentovich The Second Law of Thermodynamics
Larry Lee Unsolved Mysteries (of Elementary Particles)
Sean Lindsay TBA
Jian Liu Everyday Quantum Physics: from Spin to Magnetic Applications
Anthony Mezzacappa Einstein’s Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time
Einstein's Theory of Gravity
Thomas Papenbrock Quantum Physics in our Everyday Life
Lucas Platter The Physics of the Sun
George Siopsis Quantum Information—the Light Edition
Soren Sorensen What is Everything Made of?

Previous Lectures

Fall 2022

  • December 13: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time

Fall 2021

  • November 30: Professor Soren Sorensen—What is Everything Made of?
  • November 24: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Research on the Origin of the Elements, in your own Back Yard
  • November 22: Assistant Professor Max Lavrentovich—The Second Law of Thermodynamics
  • November 22: Professor Yuri Kamyshkov—Dark Matter
  • November 17: Professor Thomas Papenbrock—Quantum Physics in our Everyday Life
  • November 15: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time
  • November 10: A Professor nthony Mezzacappa—Research on the Origin of the Elements, in your own Back Yard
  • November 10: Professor Soren Sorensen—What is Everything Made of?
  • November 5: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time
  • November 1: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time

Spring 2021

  • April 8: Professor Soren Sorensen—What is Everything Made of?
  • April 16: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein’s Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time
  • April 22: Professor Kate Grzywacz-Jones—The Periodic Table’s Cosmic Origin Story

Spring 2019

  • February 5: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Special Relativity
  • February 6: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—General Relativity
  • February 26: Assistant Professor Maxim Lavrentovich

Spring 2018

  • February 1: Kranti Gunthoti—Static Electricity

Fall 2017

  • October 5: Assistant Professor Sowjanya Gollapinni—Particle Physics
  • October 5: Kranti Gunthoti—Electromagnetism
  • November 16: Professor Yuri Kamyshkov—Matter/Antimatter
  • November 17: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa —Special Relativity

Spring 2017

  • May 11: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Special Relativity

Fall 2016

  • November 2: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa, Assistant Professor Sowjanya Gollapinni, and Kranti Gunthoti—Physics and Society.
  • December 12: Assistant Professor Sowjanya Gollapinni—Neutrinos

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