Events at Physics |
Events During the Week of February 15th through February 22nd, 2009
Monday, February 16th, 2009
- Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar
- Exponential Growth and Filamentary Structure of Nonlinear Ballooning Instability
- Time: 12:05 pm - 1:05 pm
- Place: 3345 Engineering Hall
- Speaker: Ping Zhu, UW-Madison, Dept of EP
- High Energy Seminar
- Search for charged massive stable particles at D0
- Time: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin: (Coffee and Cookies at 3:45 pm)
- Speaker: Tulika Bose, Boston University
- Host: Matt Herndon
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
- Chaos & Complex Systems Seminar
- Poetry, mathematics, and science
- Time: 12:05 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Robin Chapman, UW Department of Communicative Disorders
- Abstract: Several recent anthologies have focused on the use of mathematics and science in poetry across the centuries. I'll read from my own and other's work, particularly the collection Strange Attractors: Poems of Love and Mathematics, in honor of Valentine's Day, and discuss briefly what questions a science of poetry comprehension might ask.
- Astronomy Colloquium
- Title to be announced
- Time: 3:30 pm
- Place: 6515 Sterling Hall
- Speaker: Ethan Vishniac, Johns Hopkins University
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
- NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forum
- Cosmological recombination: The effect of high-n states
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Daniel Grin, Caltech
- Abstract: I will present ongoing work to incorporate the effects of very high excitation states of atomic hydrogen on the recombination history of the universe. After a review of recombination, I will discuss the relevance of cosmological recombination for CMB observables, our approach to the high-n problem, and preliminary results.<br><br>
- Host: Daniel Chung
Thursday, February 19th, 2009
- NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forum
- Science with the International X-ray Observatory
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Randall Smith, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
- Abstract: In July 2008, the International X-ray Observatory (IXO) was announced to the > astronomical community. IXO is a joint mission with participation from ESA, NASA and JAXA, superseding the US Constellation-X mission concept. IXO is dedicated to high resolution X-ray spectroscopy, with 100 times the throughput for high resolution spectroscopy of previous X-ray missions. The baseline for IXO features a single large X-ray mirror and an extensible optical bench with a 20-25m focal length and moveable focal plane. The instruments include an X-ray wide field imaging spectrometer, a high spectral resolution non-dispersive X-ray spectrometer, an X-ray grating spectrometer, a hard X-ray imaginer and an X-ray polarimeter.
I will discuss the IXO science objectives and how it will help answer the following questions: How do super-massive Black Holes grow and evolve? Does matter orbiting close to a Black Hole event horizon follow the predictions of General Relativity? What is the Equation of State of matter in Neutron Stars? How does Cosmic Feedback work and influence galaxy formation? How does galaxy cluster evolution constrain the nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy? Where are the missing baryons in the nearby Universe? When and how were the
elements created and dispersed? How do high energy processes affect planetary formation and habitability? How do magnetic fields shape stellar exteriors and the surrounding environment? How are particles accelerated to extreme energies producing shocks, jets, and cosmic rays?
- Host: Dan McCammon
Friday, February 20th, 2009
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar
- Disorder-induced superfluid-to-insulator transition in an optical lattice
- Time: 12:00 pm
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Brian DeMarco, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Abstract: We experimentally realize the disordered Bose-Hubbard model by introducing fine-grained disorder to ultra-cold atoms confined in an optical lattice. Transport measurements reveal that the equivalent of resistivity is unaffected in the quantum critical regime if the disorder strength is less than or comparable to the Hubbard interaction energy U. For extreme disorder, i.e., much greater than U, we observe a disorder-induced superfluid-to-insulator transition.
- Host: Maxim Vavilov
- Theory/Phenomenology Seminar
- Spontaneous R-parity Violation in Supersymmetry
- Time: 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
- Place: 5280 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Sogee Spinner, UW-Madison Physics Dept.
- Physics Department Colloquium
- Experiments on Dirty Bosons
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall (coffee and cookies at 3:30 pm)
- Speaker: Brian DeMarco, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Abstract: Ultra-cold atom gases trapped in an optical lattice are now poised to make strong contributions to resolving outstanding questions in condensed matter physics. In these experiments, atom gases are cooled to temperatures below a millionth of a degree of absolute zero and confined in a crystal of light. I will talk about how we are using this system to simulate models relevant to dirty superconductors. I will report on the first experiments using optical lattices that include fine-grained disorder, including the observation of a disorder-induced superfluid-to-insulator transition.
- Host: Saffman