The Summer Job

I felt like it a little overdue to describe what my job is this summer, but here goes.

This year was the first time, almost ever, that I've had an over-supply of job offers which are actually legitimate. The feeling was awesome - I felt like a real person, and I highly suggest it. All three job offers were NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) USRAs (Undergraduate Student Research Awards), which I get paid about $6800 over the summer for, depending on how rich your department is. The job offers (in order of how good they were) were:

1. Quantum Phases and Semi-definite Programming in Math Department at Queen's
2. Ethanol Accounting in Portable Electronics at the Fuel Cell Research Centre
3. Mathematical Physics in Materials for the Materials Dept. at Queen's

I rejected number 3 for number 2, and then number 2 for number one, as that's the order I received them in. I'm not regretting my choice at all, as its turning out to be way more interesting than I expected. My "interview" consisted of me sitting in my supervisor's office for an hour while he explained the project to me, after which I was sold. Disadvantages of the other jobs:

- Project boring/not well-defined
- People not as enthusiastic/present

I geuss this is because the projects I rejected were sort of made "for" me, as I was going around asking for them, whereas the research I'm working on has a strong establishment in the department. While you would think that would make it boring, there is actually lots of development as it is a relatively new field.

So what am I actually doing?

Here's our webpage, which has a description.

The motivation for the project is to gain a better understanding of high-temperature superconductivity, and generally for all "quantum phases" in a solid lattice (e.g. ferromagnetic, etc.). Superconductivity is a state in which a material has no resistance to electricity, which traditionally occurs at only very low temperatures, usually below 20 K (Kelvin). Expanding superconductivity to a more reasonable temperature has all sorts of useful application, as no energy loss occurs, no heat is produced, and current will flow forever in superconductive circuits. High-temperature superconductivity, which has been produced in the lab at temperatures up to 130 K, is generally still unknown as it is not explained under the same theory as conventional superconductors. Curiously, all high-temperature superconductors found to date have had a two-dimensional lattice structure, meaning that they conduct poorly in one dimension, and perfectly in the other two.

Science does have method to describe the behaviour of electrons (or any particle) called the Schrodinger Wave Equation, but this is too computationally intensive to solve for almost any useful problem, despite its high accuracy. I actually remember that Richard Feynman mentioned this for atomic nuclei (as the equation applies to protons and neutrons) in one of his lectures, which I own on CD.

This leads to the reason this research is associated with Math Department and not the Physics Department, as we are working on an algorithm which is fast and less intensive, while still being shown to compare very closely (like 4 decimals) to Schrodinger Equation results. This method is called Semidefinite Programming, a very fresh technique (for the world of math) and is based on the Pauli Principle, meaning simply that two electrons of the same spin cannot occupy the same position in a lattice. This reduces the problem to onlyvery large (~800 x 800) matrices which need to be minimized according to certain constraints, which is a typical semidefinite programming problem. The minimum matrix will represent the ground state of the electron distribution, meaning the lowest energy level. An investigation of what this is represents will determine where the electrons are and how they are moving - if they are in Cooper Pairs, then we are looking at superconductivity.

Where the dimensionality comes in (remember that high-temperature superconductors only operate in two dimensions?) is the simulations to come. So far, the Master's was done on a ring, representing one-dimension. Hopefully by the end of the summer we will refine our algorithms enough to go up to two dimensions by using a torus, followed by a hypertorus for three dimensions. Then, dimensionality can be compared.

So what am I doing right now? Writing this entry. The last few weeks I've been proving some theorems to myself and doing alot of reading to catch up to the speed of my supervisors. I'm also working with one other student (Ben) which is a plus compared to the other jobs, as working alone last summer drove me crazy! I've also written some useful algorithms which are already being used to investigate old data. And as its a research job, I'm generally slacking off most of the time and relaxing, which tends to be the best attitude to inspire creativity and learning.

HEAT

It doesn't make much of a difference which side of the bars you're on - you still feel the heat.

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My eyes peer out from my personal shadow; the guard leaning against the wall is relaxed. He is slowly melting. The whole place sweats, including the walls. I remember some moaning, some time ago, which suddenly stopped. Not violently. The sound ceased to matter; the body decided that it was not in its best interest.
Oh, the heat.

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My mouth hangs open. I have to breathe in big gulps as the air is too thick to squeeze through my nose. My breaths don't come consciously, or even noticeably - it moves like an eddy in a bit of current. I have not lost my resolve, unlike those who lie amongst their fluids on the rock. The plate, hastily emptied, is free of crumbs.

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A crinkle of metal as a guard falls slightly and rights himself. The tip of my mouth turns up only slightly as he recieves an eye from his superior. The ceremonial armour may as well be worn by me or any other of the guests with my fate.

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Water drips slowly into a puddle, taunting someone to stop it, but no one does.

sound_philosophy(summer_time)

Last Night

Bread Baking

Improv Party Last Night.
Jim made bread.
I brought 6 pounds of watermelon.

We played very difficult charades, which someone compared to how if accountants were to have a party, they would get together on a really difficult case, and just end up working at the party.

I just finished a math exam.

I have a robot obsession

I was going to write something about the bipolar street performer I met last night who told me that he had a 90% chance of committing suicide. Then, I was going to write about the representation of computer games in recent films. But...

...I decided it would be much more fun to talk about robots. Specifically, my obsession with them.

I just sat down on my couch to draw something (yes, the couch IN MY ROOM) and the first thing I drew was a rectangular prism, followed by a sphere atop it, and then the words in block capital letters "EVIL ROBOT". This is a symptom of the problem.

Getting down to it - robots are sexy, seriously. They are what's hot right now. Popular media doesn't care about the human condition anymore, it cares about the robot condition - the struggle to find love, control your feelings, reproduce and find your purpose. Robots trying to look like people. For example:

- Battlestar Galactice
- BiCentennial Man
- A.I.
- Any and all Star Trek, etc. (I'm not a Trekkie)
- my friend Jim somehow

I'm also trying to build/program a virtual zoo called MyZoo using simple AI in the Second Life platform right now, which is probably why its on my mind, or maybe that's another symptom. Anyway, its sexy - we'll see what comes of this.

Fog: Real Time Computer Graphics Adventure

So last night I stepped of Glen Garry Glen Ross with Kate and Jenmy to very thickly fogged weather, which I found delightful. The conditions for it were just right: no wind, very moist cold air. The fog was uniform over our entire walk.

While I was walking, I realized just how difficult it must be to simulate fog, and shadows, and combinations of them for computer graphics. I really wish I had taken pictures of what was going on, how the street lights were interacting with the trees and power lines to make really sharp and diffuse shadows.

So, what is the behaviour of fog? Let's assume this: every point in a region of fog distributes all the light it recieves evenly over every angle. Also, the fog has a certain density in the air, which determines whether directionality or diffuseness of light dominates.

On the macro-level, I would notics that diffuseness seems to dominate: light sources have "clouds" of illuminosity surrounding them, which is why it is so useless to have headlights on. Back to computer graphics, this must be horrible to have to simulate, so perhaps (as with some games) it is slightly pre-rendered.

On the micro-level, and this is what is really cool, I noticed that thick, straight power lines or branches that were close to the light cast a planar shadow. This, obviously, isn't unexpected, but it looks fucking cool. For a first short bit the shadow is really harsh, and then lights fills in as it diffuses. What's also fascinating is that the shadows is a VOLUME, not a 2-dimensional pictures that were are used to seeing cast on a surface. As I was walking along I noticed that the shadow would change shape based on the thickness of its volume I was looking through, as it had no clear defined visible edges. This above effect further adds to the horror of trying to simulate this. which makes me content that the universe exists in its full volume and computational power to create pretty effects.

Hedonism, Gregarity, Selflessness and Everything Nice

Lessons learned: It's hard to change who you are, or maybe its just me. This was meant to be an experiment to see what variable X would be like enhanced for twenty-four hours, but it turned out to be more an experiment about whether or not I was capable of enhancing variable X.

So, round-up

Hedonism - fun day, nothing special though. Ended up staying at Pete's house and drinking seriously for the first time in like 4 months, I think I totalled 2 pitchers for the entire night, including dinner.

Gregarity - for one intended to be a social butterfly, this was a pretty dissapointing day. I spent most of my time working on an assignment.

Selflessness - I cleaned the kitchen, and did everyone else's dishes, which I think is pretty damn selfless. Didn't donate to a charity or anything, or pick a child out of a sewer, but that's really because neither of those presented themselves.

So, there you have it. I want to do this again sometime , but maybe for like a week. Oh yeah, I also have a sweet job this summer, which is awesome, but unfortunately, its in Kingston. Judging from my supervisor though, the hours will be flexible, which is the only way Dustin works.

Time to work on a lab....

Productivity

So this entry was a little late, but today is the day of Hedonism, so I'm fucking going to enjoy myself, which does not include blogging.

I defined Productivity for my purposes as to produce as many tangible, finished items as possible. This didn't happen, but I felt that it did. Starting at 7:30, I had alot of momentum coming out of bed and through the day, but, around 3 pm, my resolve started to wane. I wasn't allowing any downtime for myself. Finally, nearly having my lab finished it all broke down and I became screwing around. Nothing happened for a long time, it sucked.

As drastic as that sounded, it really wasn't generally, my days doesn't change. Life isn't a movie, unfortunately, so I didn't cure cancer or anything yesterday. The day of productivity wasn't as inneffectual as the day of impulsivity, but it still drags. This experiment isn't being as successful as I had hoped.

Today is the day of Hedonism, which isn't being as hedonism as I hoped (no grapes being fed to me by nude women). Most of this stems from my confusion over the definition: Is it hedonistic in the moment? or hedonistic in the long-term? I am fine doing both, and the latter is simply calculated selfishness. The definition from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is: "Hedonism: The doctrine that pleasure is the chief good is like." Man, hedonism gets knocked alot, mostly because people have a narrow view of what pleasure is. It's not all fucking and massages (I haven't had a massage yet, but I came shortly after midnight, putting today off to a good start. No, not alone!) Please can be riding bikes, doing something productive, eating or whatever - whatever makes you feel good.

Okay - this entry is starting to drag so I'm off to pursure more pleasure.

Impulsivity

A day of following in the moment impulses. For myself, I defined being impulsive as not thinking of the past or present (within limits, obviously).

Like I said already, looking at my overall day, nothing changed on the macro-scale. I didn't end up in Tahiti, sleep with 100 women, or anything memorable. What I did do is read papers in class, chug a Red Bull and a half each with Thom, and touch stuff unusually, yell out. I felt warm inside in the moment, but I'm left feeling rather hollow. I didn't get anything major done. I DID find out that I got an NSERC grant though today, which is ridiculously good.

So what have I learned? When I act "Impulsive", I simply act crazy. I yell out, jump around, drink wierd things, but am left with nothing. There is no calculation of benefits but within the next few seconds. I have no lasting worthy memories.

I have decided the difference between impulsiveness and hedonism is that hedonism is calculated, like Ayn Rand would have loved, whereas impulsiveness is random. I've found extreme impulsiveness is rather bad.

Tommorow's trait: Productivity. I've already got my alarm clock set for 7:30. Until midnight though: Rumble Box!

Week 1102: The Week of Change

Today's Theme: Impulsivity

This is the only planned thing I do today.

Every once in a while I get a creeping fear that I am becoming a boring, full-grown, integrated member of society. This is a symptom of those fears, and I'm having a personality experiment to mess with it. The schedule for this week is as follows:

Monday: Impulsivity
Tuesday: Productivity (for the sake of bourgeoisis)
Wednesday: Hedonism (sort of indistinguishable from impulisivity, except I'm allowed to be sloppy)
Thursday: Social Butterflyness (aka Gregarity)
Friday: Selflessness (something I need to work on)

So start the grand experiment. The first 12 hours have gone fine, I haven't noticed major changes on the macro-scale of my life but I feel different, with impulsivity being highlighted.

My major concern coming up is this job decision I have. I geuss I am content that either way I will make a relatively large amount of money this summer for someone my age.

I just discovered the sweetest game! Rumble Box! I'm going to play some now then watch Battlestar Galactica!

Rocks!