Events at Physics |
Events on Tuesday, September 8th, 2015
- Chaos & Complex Systems Seminar
- Field Day Lab @ An introduction to memristors
- Time: 12:05 pm - 1:00 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin (refreshments will be served)
- Speaker: Wesley Thio, Ohio State University
- Abstract: In this talk, an introduction to the electrical circuit element called the “Memristor” will be given. The memristor was first mathematically postulated in 1971, but was not acknowledged by the engineering community until it was built for the first time in 2008. Aside from being an addition to fundamental circuit theory, the memristor also has some unusual properties such as being capable of remembering its past state. This makes the memristor potentially useful for neuromorphic circuits and other technologies. Some demonstrations with memristor emulators will also be given in this talk.
- Host: Sprott
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology)
- Natural Inflation and the Weak Gravity Conjecture
- Time: 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
- Place: 5280 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Pablo Soler Gomis, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Abstract: Axions, enjoying an approximate shift symmetry, are some of the most popular inflaton candidates in the market. Via mixing and alignment, they seem to yield viable models of (natural) large field inflation, with corresponding trans-Planckian inflaton excursions. I will describe in this talk how, however, generic considerations of quantum gravity prevent such mechanisms to generate the large field ranges required for successful inflation, thus putting the whole natural inflation program in jeopardy. I will also critically address possible loopholes of this “no-go” theorem and attempts to overcome it.
- Host: Amol Upadhye