Events

Events at Physics

<< Fall 2009 Spring 2010 Summer 2010 >>
Subscribe your calendar or receive email announcements of events

Events on Friday, April 30th, 2010

NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forum
Joint with Phenomenology
A Lattice Calculation of QCD Critical Point from Canonical Ensemble
Time: 2:30 pm
Place: 5280 Chamberlin
Speaker: Keh-Fei Liu, University of Kentucky
Abstract: At zero chemical potential, the finite temperature transition of QCD is known to be a smooth crossover from lattice simulations. The conjectured first order phase transition and its critical point at finite density is of great theoretical and experimental interest.
I will review the status of the lattice calculation with grand canonical approach and present an algorithm in the canonical approach. The preliminary results on the identification of a first order transition and the determination of the critical point with the help of Maxwell construction will be reported.
Add this event to your calendar
Physics Department Colloquium
Plasma Turbulence in the Solar Wind
Time: 4:00 pm
Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall (coffee at 3:30 pm)
Speaker: Bill Dorland, University of Maryland
Abstract: Gyrokinetics is a first principles theory for the dynamics and thermodynamics of magnetized, ionized gas. It has been developed over the last three decades, primarily in the magnetic confinement fusion community, where it is widely used to interpret observations and to design experimental devices and operational scenarios. Gyrokinetic simulations of instabilities and turbulence in hot, rarefied plasma have been tested carefully in these laboratory settings. Recently, gyrokinetic ideas and codes have been successfully used to interpret observations of turbulent fluctuations in the solar wind. While magnetohydrodynamics remains the appropriate theory for {it dynamics} in larger, truly astrophysical plasmas (such as galaxy cluster plasmas), the appropriate framework for the study of many interesting thermodynamic processes in astrophysics (such as turbulent heating and transport) is gyrokinetics. Example applications will be shown.
Host: Forest
Poster: https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/posters/2010/1632.pdf
Add this event to your calendar