Events at Physics |
Events During the Week of November 3rd through November 9th, 2024
Monday, November 4th, 2024
- Climate & Diversity
- Climate and Diversity Committee Open Hours
- Time: 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
- Place: Chamberlin 5310
- Speaker: Rachel Zizmann, UW-Madison Physics
- Abstract: Open Hours are welcome for everyone in the department! During these sessions, we have the option to discuss the topic listed, that is not required or necessary for attending
- Host: Rachel Zizmann
- Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar
- A novel parallel-kinetic-perpendicular moment model for magnetized plasmas
- Time: 12:05 pm - 1:00 pm
- Place: 1610 Engineering Hall
- Speaker: James Juno, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
- Abstract: Many plasma systems, from pulsar magnetospheres to magnetic confinement devices, are highly magnetized. Simultaneously these myriad of plasma environments are often sufficiently tenuous and hot to be best described by kinetic theory and the full six dimensional Boltzmann-Maxwell system of equations, thus making these systems computationally demanding to model. To facilitate new kinetic models of magnetized plasmas, I will discuss a recent innovation which separates the parallel and perpendicular dynamics starting from the kinetic equation while staying agnostic to the inclusion of effects important to consider in diverse environments, such as strong flows in certain fusion reactors, relativistic energies in astrophysical plasmas, or complex boundary conditions and geometry in lab plasma modeling. The key component of the derivation lies in a spectral expansion of only the perpendicular degrees of freedom, analogous to spectral methods which have grown in popularity in recent years for gyrokinetics, while retaining the complete dynamics parallel to the magnetic field. We thus leverage our intuition that a magnetized plasma’s motion is different parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field, allowing for the treatment of complex phase space dynamics parallel to the magnetic field but at reduced computational cost. This approach also naturally couples to Maxwell’s equations, thus permitting everything from a transition across energy scales in astrophysical plasmas to the straightforward inclusion of all aspects of an experiment, from vacuum regions to external coils. The utility of this approach will be demonstrated with a variety of classic benchmarks of turbulence and reconnection, along with simulations of laboratory plasma experiments.
- Host: Vladimir Zhadankin and John Sarff
Tuesday, November 5th, 2024
- Wisconsin Quantum Institute
- Quantum Coffee Hour
- Time: 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
- Place: Rm.5294, Chamberlin Hall
- Abstract: Please join us for the WQI Quantum Coffee today at 3PM in the Physics Faculty Lounge (Rm.5294 in Chamberlin Hall). This series, which takes place approximately every other Tuesday, aims to foster a casual and collaborative atmosphere where faculty, post-docs, students, and anyone with an interest in quantum information sciences can come together. There will be coffee and treats.
Wednesday, November 6th, 2024
- Outreach
- Nerd Nite — 100 trillion neutrinos through you each second: why they matter
- Time: 8:00 pm
- Place: High Noon Saloon, 701 E Washington Ave, Madison
- Speaker: Lu Lu, Physics, WIPAC
- Abstract: Join us for Madison Nerd Nite’s 100th show featuring our own Prof. Lu Lu! Learn about how a detector at the South Pole captures neutrinos to unravel the mysteries of the universe.
This free event begins at 8:00pm at the High Noon Saloon and includes two additional talks plus free (limited) swag.
More info: Thursday, November 7th, 2024
- Astronomy Colloquium
- Cosmic Reionization: Settling the Last Frontier
- Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
- Place: 4421 Sterling Hall
- Speaker: Nickolay Y. Gnedin, University of Chicago
- Abstract: In the last decade, the study of cosmic reionization progressed from an almost purely theoretical field to one led by data – thanks to the Hubble Frontier Fields program and the breakthrough in discovering high redshift quasars. However, the game has just begun – with the quality of JWST observations exceeding all expectations and 30-meter class telescopes coming online around the end of this decade, the volume of observational data will increase some 100-fold. I will give an overview of what breakthroughs we can expect as this final frontier is being settled and will describe how outnumbered and underfunded theorists try to keep abreast with the mind-blowing observational progress.
- Host: Melinda Soares-Furtado
Friday, November 8th, 2024
- Physics Department Colloquium
- Semi-Classical Physics at Large Quantum Numbers
- Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
- Place: Chamberlin 2241
- Speaker: Zohar Komargodski, Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, Stony Brook University
- Abstract: In recent years it has been shown that strongly coupled many body systems become analytically tractable in the regime of large quantum numbers, such as large spin or large charge. We will review these developments and present applications to the theory of critical exponents.
- Host: Gary Shiu
