Physics Colloquia
No Physics Colloquium – Thanksgiving Break
Lapham 160 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI, United StatesNo Physics Colloquium this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Physics Colloquium – Chuck Steidel
Lapham 160 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI, United StatesChuck Steidel, Caltech
Imaging the "Baryon Cycle" of Forming Galaxies
The rapid increase in the universal star formation density between z~6 and z~2 (12.5-10.5 Gyr ago) was driven by high rates of accretion onto galaxy-scale dark matter halos, but was simultaneously modulated by energetic feedback from massive stars, supernovae, and AGN activity whose large-scale effects remain uncertain. The competition between rapid accretion from the intergalactic medium and outflows driven by sources of energy and momentum originating near a galaxy's center is arguably the least well-understood aspect of the current galaxy formation paradigm.
Physics Colloquium – Andrew Ferguson
Lapham 160 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI, United StatesAndrew Ferguson, University of Chicago
Reconstructing All-Atom Protein Folding from Low-Dimensional Experimental Time Series
Data-driven modeling and machine learning present powerful tools that are opening up new paradigms and opportunities in the understanding, discovery, and design of soft and biological materials. In the first part of this talk, I will describe an approach integrating ideas from dynamical systems theory and nonlinear manifold learning to reconstruct multidimensional protein folding funnels from the time evolution of single experimentally measurable observables.
Math and Physics Joint Colloquium – Dr. Tomáš Bzdušek
EMS E495 3200 North Cramer Street, Milwaukee, WI, United StatesDr. Tomáš Bzdušek, Paul Scherrer Institute and University of Zurich
Mathematics of Topological Insulators and Semimetals
Many properties of crystalline materials, such as conductivity or the tendency to become magnetically ordered at low temperatures, derive from their so-called “electronic band structure.” Although this is an established notion in solid state physics, dating back to the early days of quantum mechanics, our understanding of electronic band structure has been greatly challenged and revolutionized over the past 15 years by the discovery of so-called topological materials.
Physics Colloquium – Gregory Rudnick
Lapham 160 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI, United StatesGregory Rudnick, University of Kansas
The Life Cycle of Galaxies in Clusters Over 10 Billion Years
Galaxies live in a range of environments, characterized by their volume density. For example, the densest regions of the Universe are in galaxy clusters, which contain hundreds to thousands of galaxies all in pseudo gravitational virial equilibrium. These dense environments can in turn alter the properties of the galaxies themselves in striking ways via a variety of gravitational and hydrodynamic processes. The result of these processes alter galaxy shapes, their internal dynamics, and shuts off the formation of new stars.
Physics Colloquium – Wynn Ho
Lapham 160 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI, United StatesWynn Ho, Haverford College
The Impact of Pulsar Glitches and NICER on Gravitational Wave Searches
Pulsars are the rotating remnant of massive stars and are unique probes of dense matter physics. They are famous for having very precisely measured spin rates, and this spin evolves extremely regularly for most pulsars. However, young pulsars can occasionally undergo sudden spin changes, known as glitches.
Physics PhD Colloquium – Deep Chatterjee
Lapham 160 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI, United StatesDeep Chatterjee, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee PhD Candidate
Title and abstract TBA
Ionel Popa: Postponed Until Fall 2020
Lapham 160 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI, United StatesIonel Popa, UWM Physics Faculty
Title and abstract TBA
Michelle Larson: Postponed Until AY 2020/2021
Lapham 160 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI, United StatesMichelle Larson, Adler Planetarium
Title and abstract TBA
Physics Colloquium – Mark Williamsen
KIRC 1150 3135 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI, United StatesMark Williamsen, Quantum Design, Inc
Applications of AC Bridges in Cryogenic Measurements
AC (alternating current) bridges have proven to be useful in making precise measurements at low temperature, including thermometry as well as length change with respect to either thermal expansion (dilatometry) or applied magnetic field (magnetostriction). Techniques now in use allow one leg of the bridge to be placed at the cryogenic sample site while the other legs remain at room temperature, with the intervening temperature gradient being imposed along a length of coaxial cable.