Wolfgang Pauli is an important historical figure in the story of Modern Physics. Those remembering back to the last chemistry class they took might remember “Pauli Exclusion’s Principle” as a rule that helps you figure out where all the electrons want to go in an atom, mathematicians might know him from the Pauli Matrices named after him, and he’s also known for boldly predicting the existence of one of the most mysterious subatomic particles being researched today— the neutrino.
I bring him up not for any of those worthy and important accomplishments, but as a way to bring up a different, lesser-known idea in physics called The Pauli Effect.
When I began at Dordt, one of the challenges ahead of me was developing and teaching the laboratory courses. Like Pauli, I am a theoretical physicist by training— give me a few textbooks, a chalkboard (and these days a high-performance computing cluster), and I’m quite happy. Giving me the key to rooms full of lab equipment was probably like throwing pearls before swine.
This is a known and repeatable effect in physics, named after our dear theoretical physicist Pauli.
Thankfully, I’ve learned a lot from my colleagues in Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering. It’s been exciting and rewarding to develop my experimental skill and intuition, and over years I’ve sought opportunities to help develop in these areas. This presentation is a summary of some of those experiences.