Caltech Freshman Published

An incoming member of the Freshman class at Caltech has already been published in Physical Review Letters, a respected physics publication.

By Briony James

Amith Varambally is an incoming first-year student this fall at Caltech majoring in Physics.

Last year, Varambally, along with Ourania Glezakou-Elbert, during their senior years in High School, participated in Boston University’s intern program at Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory. They co-wrote a paper on the physics behind superconducting diodes.

The group of interns developed a new diode that will better limit energy loss through heat dissipation, a problem with more conventional conductor diodes. This new diode is a thousand times thinner than a human hair and capable of being cooked to such a degree that all electrical resistance is eliminated. Such a diode could greatly enhance computer operating servers among many other high-tech uses.

This is a rare honor and an indication of great promise in these young physicists as they look for ways to streamline and advance the materials used in cloud and large-scale internet programs.

Varambally was surprised to be able to achieve such recognition. He is looking forward to being part of the new class at Caltech in STEM and furthering what looks to be a bright future in physics.