ESP Biography



ERIC COOPER, Stanford Physics PhD Student




Major: Physics

College/Employer: Stanford

Year of Graduation: G

Picture of Eric Cooper

Brief Biographical Sketch:

I am a physics PhD student at Stanford, currently studying atomic physics. Before Stanford, I was undergraduate at Pomona College. My senior thesis focused on understanding the aerodynamics of ballistic seed dispersal. I am passionate about sharing my love for physics through teaching. I also enjoy playing cello and hiking.



Past Classes

  (Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

S7862: Understanding LIGO with a Quantum Computer in Splash Spring 2023 (May. 20 - 21, 2023)
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) searches the skies for the ghostly echos of black hole mergers and other cosmic cataclysms. The whispers from these events are so weak that LIGO has to use the quantum nature of light in order to have any hope of detecting them. In this class we'll use a quantum computer to explore the quantum effects that make up the backbone of the LIGO laser interferometer. By understanding the universality of quantum behavior at the world's smallest length scales, we open windows into phenomena at the universe's largest scales.


C7546: Clocks: More than just a Tool to Measure Time in Splash Fall 2019 (Nov. 16 - 17, 2019)
We all know that clocks measure time, but did you know that they also play a central role in navigation (like GPS) and other precision measurements? Clocks were even used to take a picture of a black hole last year! With a mixture of lecture and hands-on clock building, we will trace the history of clocks through the centuries, culminating with a discussion of the atomic clock - a device at the heart of our interconnected information age.


C6789: Physics of Paper Airplanes in Splash Fall 2018 (Dec. 01 - 02, 2018)
Have you ever wondered what makes a paper airplane fly? In this hands-on class we will learn how the physics of lift, drag and stability determine what makes some paper airplanes fly well while others tumble to the ground. We will see these concepts in action as we build our own paper airplanes and discover how to make them fly long and far.