‘His solution was better than their solution, and . . . a little more correct.’ : Physics Student Stumps the Judges

Eli Glezer, the San Diego high school graduate believed to be one of the top physics students in the country, has been awarded a bronze medal at the International Physics Olympiad in East Germany after a week of grilling in thermodynamics, electronics and plasma physics.

Glezer, 18, who came to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1980 and graduated this spring from University City High School, had been chosen from students nationwide to serve on the five-member U.S. team in the competition against teen-agers from 25 other countries.

Grueling 5-Hour Tests

On Sunday, he and two team members received bronze medals during a ceremony in Jena. The awards were based on their scores in two grueling five-hour tests in theoretical and experimental physics conducted over the previous week.

The Romanian team was the top scorer, earning two gold medals and one silver, an American Institute of Physics spokeswoman said. The only other gold medal went to the Dutch team. Ten silver and 14 bronze medals were awarded among the 125 contestants.

Dr. Jack Wilson, a University of Maryland physics professor and a coach for the U.S. team, said Glezer received one of the top scores in the experimental portion of the testing, which involved measuring the index of refraction of glass and a fluid in two different ways.

Was Given a Zero

But in the theoretical portion, Wilson said Tuesday, the East German judges initially gave Glezer a zero for his solution to one of the three problems. Skeptical, Wilson said he immediately began studying Glezer’s method and became convinced that the student was right.

Wilson said he stayed up from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. that night working through the problem.

“I took a look at his solution to the problem, and it struck me that his solution looked correct and it looked very elegant,” Wilson said. “I decided that his solution was better than their solution, and actually a little more correct.

“The problem was it used more powerful mathematical techniques that most students would not be familiar with until they were into graduate work.”

At 2 a.m., Wilson went to see the Soviet coach. According to Wilson, the coach

examined Glezer’s approach and agreed. The next morning, the two coaches presented their conclusions to one of the East German judges.

“He sat down and he started to work it,” Wilson said. “He worked for about two hours on it, with the Russian coach and me. Finally, he looked up at me, and he said, ‘You know, he’s right. This is a good problem for a (whole) weekend.’ ”

Glezer then was given full credit for the solution.

The competition was the 18th Physics Olympiad and included teams from the United States, the Soviet Union, China, Canada, Czechoslovakia, East and West Germany, Great Britain, Cuba and Vietnam. It was the second year that a U.S. team had taken part.

“Our students were every bit as bright and creative (as other nationalities), but they didn’t have the experience,” Wilson said. “We work at a tremendous handicap because of the lack of science in our secondary school system.”