ESP Biography



SANJAY RAMAN, ESP Teacher




Major: Physics

College/Employer: MIT

Year of Graduation: G

Picture of Sanjay Raman

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Not Available.



Past Classes

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

A15822: Composing Music!! in Splash 2023 (Nov. 18 - 19, 2023)
Ever wondered what makes music sound good? Ever wanted to try writing music yourself? Look no further! This class will teach you everything you could possibly want to know (and maybe things you don't want to know) about composing music. Come here to have a fun time and generally screw around with composing software!


S15823: strings in Splash 2023 (Nov. 18 - 19, 2023)
Ever heard of strings? Wait. You mean like a spool of thread? Nope. A violin string? Nope, but getting warmer. A 10-dimensional vibrating extended object whose oscillatory modes make up all the particles in the universe? Bingo. Want to learn more about string theory? Want to learn about weird science ideas that sound like shitposts? Want to ~understand the universe~? Look no further! This class will teach you nothing less than a theory of everything. Highlights include bubbles of nothing, the swampland, and the dark dimension. Be there or be a Calabi-Yau manifold.


A15665: Composing Music! in HSSP Summer 2023 (Jul. 09, 2023)
Ever wanted to learn why certain songs sounded so good? Wanted to try writing your own piece? Or did you just want to have fun listening to and learning about new music? This class will teach the basic elements of music theory, sound design, and composition. Over the course of the six weeks, everyone will have a chance to write their very own piece of music, from start to finish!


A15499: Composing Music! in Spark 2023 (Mar. 18 - 19, 2023)
Ever wanted to learn how to make your own music? Ever listened to a song and wanted to learn why it just sounds so good? You've come to the right place! In this class, we'll be going through the basic ideas of music theory, and we'll be working on our very own music compositions. At the end, we'll have a mini-recital for everyone to share what they created!


X15583: Bears!! in Spark 2023 (Mar. 18 - 19, 2023)
Do you like bears? Come to this class to learn cool facts about bears!


M15149: String Theory in a Nutshell in Splash 2022 (Nov. 19 - 20, 2022)
Ever heard of string theory? Wondered about how the universe could possibly be made up of strings vibrating in 10 and 11 dimensions? Look no further! This class will cover the some of the most mind-blowing ideas in this mysterious and fascinating branch of physics. Expect to come away knowing the answer to life, the universe, and everything.


W15434: Cardboard Box Forts in Splash 2022 (Nov. 19 - 20, 2022)
Cardboard! Tape! All sorts of building materials! Revisit your childhood and come build the fort of your dreams. Come armed with creavity; we'll provide the (foam) weapons.


A15044: Composing Classical Music: From Start to Finish in HSSP Summer 2022 (Jul. 09, 2022)
Interested in classical music? Enjoy playing an instrument but wonder how composers come up with their music? Ever wanted to write your own music? Perhaps you are already an experienced composer looking to show off your skills. In this class, we will go through the process of composing a short piece of classical music. We will discuss topics in harmony, counterpoint, arranging, and orchestration, and students will work and receive feedback on their own pieces. At the end of the class, we will have a recital where students play their music.


M14904: Quantum Field Theory: A Mathematical Perspective in HSSP Spring 2022 (Feb. 26, 2022)
This course is based on a class I taught at Splash 2021. Picture this: You're an aspiring physicist, and you find yourself interested in attending some seminars. You start scrolling through a list of talks offered at the nearest conference, and you see something about quantum field theory. This sounds exciting to you, so you sign up. On the day of the seminar, you show up, and the speaker immediately begins by saying this: "Of course, it is clear that a quantum field theory is a monoidal functor from a category of cobordisms to a category of Hilbert spaces." Now, if you're anything like me, it is not at all clear that this is true; in fact, it's not at all clear what any of these words mean! However, quantum field theory is a fascinating subject, and the mathematical foundations of it are even more intricate and exciting. In this course, we will explore quantum field theory from both physical and mathematical perspectives, studying the physics that explains our universe and the relevant underlying mathematics. If time allows, we will discuss exciting new developments in the field. Prior knowledge of quantum mechanics may be helpful but is not required. Possible physics topics include: Algebraic Quantum Field Theory, Conformal Field Theory, String Theory Possible math topics include: Cobordisms, Category Theory, Operator Algebras Expect to have your mind blown.


M14818: Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell in Splash 2021 (Nov. 20 - 21, 2021)
Picture this: You're an aspiring physicist, and you find yourself interested in attending some seminars. You start scrolling through a list of talks offered at the nearest conference, and you see something about quantum field theory. This sounds exciting to you, so you sign up. On the day of the seminar, you show up, and the speaker immediately begins by saying this: "Of course, it is clear that a quantum field theory is a monoidal functor from a category of cobordisms to a category of Hilbert spaces." Now, if you're anything like me, it is not at all clear that this is true; in fact, it's not at all clear what any of these words mean! Fear not. If any of the words in the above sentence pique your interest somehow, this is the class for you! We will be diving in to a diverse array of topics in math and physics to pick apart what this sentence means. Expect to have your mind blown.


S13177: A Brief Introduction to Time Travel in Splash 2019 (Nov. 23 - 24, 2019)
Learn about various types of time travel as portrayed in the movies from the perspective of physics students. We will be talking about paradoxes, implications, as well as the physics of time travel. Warning: will include spoilers for various time travel stories, most notably the movie, "Predestination."


M13286: The Art of Integration in Splash 2019 (Nov. 23 - 24, 2019)
While integration may seem like a rote task, there is actually a lot of beauty and structure we can exploit to evaluate seemingly impossible integrals. This course will discuss these methods of (definite) integration, and apply them to some tough but elaborate integrals compiled from math competitions and integration bees. Here is a brief sampling of the integrals we will learn how to solve in this course: $$\int_0^{\pi/2} \ln \tan x\,dx$$ $$\int_0^\infty \frac{1}{1+x^2}\cdot \frac{1}{1+x^e}\,dx$$