Events at Physics |
Events During the 2026 Spring Semester
January 2026
- Thursday, January 8th
- Thesis Defense; 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm; B343 Sterling
- Improved Techniques for the Determination of the Neutrino Mass Ordering with IceCube1 DeepCore and the IceCube Upgrade, Joshua Henry Peterson, Physics PhD Graduate Student
- Friday, January 9th
- Atomic Physics Seminar; 10:00 am - 11:00 am; 5310 Chamberlain
- AMO Seminar, Pavel Stroganov, Harvard
- Tuesday, January 13th
- Preliminary Exam; 10:30 am - 12:00 pm; Chamberlin Hall Room 5280
- Progress towards Quantum Error Correction (QEC) on Neutral atom quantum computing., Linipun Phuttitarn
- Wednesday, January 14th
- Preliminary Exam; 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm; 5280 Chamberlin
- Tokamak Plasmas above Traditional Density Limits in the Madison Symmetric Torus, Joseph Flahavan
- Thursday, January 15th
- Graduate Program Event; 9:00 am - 10:30 am; 2241 Chamberlin
- Physics Qualifying Exam - Classical Mechanics
- Graduate Program Event; 11:30 am - 1:00 pm; 2241 Chamberlin
- Physics Qualifying Exam - Statistical Mechanics
- Preliminary Exam; 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm; B343 Sterling or
- Kinetic impacts on Rayleigh-Taylor-driven magnetic reconnection in accretion flows, Braden Buck, Physics PhD Graduate Student
- Notebook reclamation project; 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm; 4328 Chamberlin
- Notebook reclamation project - January 2026 edition, Sharon Kahn
- Friday, January 16th
- Graduate Program Event; 9:00 am - 10:30 am; 2241 Chamberlin
- Physics Qualifying Exam - Electricity and Magnetism
- Graduate Program Event; 11:30 am - 1:00 pm; 2241 Chamberlin
- Physics Qualifying Exam - Quantum Mechanics
- Monday, January 19th
- Academic Calendar
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Tuesday, January 20th
- Academic Calendar
- Spring Semester Instruction Begins
- Thursday, January 22nd
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar; 10:00 am - 6:00 pm; 5310 Chamberlin Hall, hosted by Tiancheng Song
- Coulomb Drag Studies of Interacting Luttinger Liquids, Mingyang Zheng, University of Florida
- Saturday, January 24th
- Outreach; 7:30 pm - 6:00 pm; Collins Hall, Hamel Music Center
- Quantz & Physics Lecture Recital, Elio König and Verità Baroque, UW–Madison Physics
- Tuesday, January 27th
- Council Meeting
- 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm; 2314 Chamberlin
- Wednesday, January 28th
- Department Meeting
- 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm; B343 Sterling
- Thursday, January 29th
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- What Are We Learning About Super-Eddington Accretion Disks From Simulations?, Prof. Chris Fragile, College of Charleston
- Friday, January 30th
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- Atomtricity: From Gauge Field Theory to Transistors for Matter Waves, Dana Z. Anderson, Infleqtion and University of Colorado, Boulder
February 2026
- Monday, February 2nd
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology); 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm; Chamberlin 5280
- Freezing-in the Axiverse, Christopher Dessert, Flatiron Inst., New York
- Thursday, February 5th
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling
- The Spectral Revolution at Cosmic Dawn: Interpreting High-Redshift JWST Observations with Next-Generation Models, Prof. Harley Katz, University of Chicago
- Friday, February 6th
- Black and Brown in Physics; 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- General Meeting
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- Search for Anyons in Quantum Materials, Philip Kim, Harvard University
- Saturday, February 7th
- Wonders of Physics
- 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm; 2103 Chamberlin
- Wonders of Physics
- 4:00 pm - 5:15 pm; 2103 Chamberlin
- Sunday, February 8th
- Wonders of Physics
- 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm; 2103 Chamberlin
- Wonders of Physics
- 4:00 pm - 5:15 pm; 2103 Chamberlin
- Thursday, February 12th
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar; 10:00 am - 6:00 pm; 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Orbital magnetism and flat bands in magnetic field, Oskar Vafek , UMN-FTPI
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- Unlocking Planetary Potential Through Studying Formation Environments, Prof. Ilse Cleeves, University of Virginia
- Friday, February 13th
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- The Black Hole Diet: How Accretion Controls Spin, Growth, and Feedback, Alexander Tchekhovskoy, Northwestern University
- Saturday, February 14th
- Outreach; 12:00 pm - 4:00 am; 2nd Floor of Chamberlin Hall
- Physics Fair
- Wonders of Physics
- 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm; 2103 Chamberlin
- Wonders of Physics
- 4:00 pm - 5:15 pm; 2103 Chamberlin
- Sunday, February 15th
- Wonders of Physics
- 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm; 2103 Chamberlin
- Wonders of Physics
- 4:00 pm - 5:15 pm; 2103 Chamberlin
- Tuesday, February 17th
- Preliminary Exam; 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm; 5310 Chamberlin
- Dynamics and implications of black hole decay, Puxin (David) Lin, Physics PhD Graduate Student
- Council Meeting
- 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm; 2314 Chamberlin
- Wednesday, February 18th
- Department Meeting
- 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm; B343 Sterling
- Thursday, February 19th
- NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forum; 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm;
- Phase-Aligned TeV Neutrinos from Pulsars and the Physics Behind the Fermi Fundamental Plane, Zorawar Wadiasingh, University of Maryland at College Park
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- Cosmic rays in cosmological simulations - bridging scales, Dr. Ludwig Boess, University of Chicago
- Friday, February 20th
- Black and Brown in Physics; 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- BBiP Black History Heritage Month Celebration, Taylor Bailey, Center for Campus History
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- Dense matter and neutron stars: what we have learned from NICER, M. Coleman Miller, University of Maryland
- Saturday, February 21st
- physics of curling; 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
- Curling, Sarah Perdue
- Monday, February 23rd
- Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar; 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm; Engineering Hall - 1227
- Optical analogy for stellarators: Ridges as caustics and coils as singularities, Dr. Wrick Sengupta , Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
- Thursday, February 26th
- Preliminary Exam; 11:00 am - 1:00 pm; Chamberlin 5280
- Searches for heavy resonances decaying into two Higgs bosons (HH) in the bb tau tau final state using Run 3 data from the CMS experiment., Mitanshu Thakore
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- Uncovering the Nature of Active Galactic Nuclei Accretion Disks with Radiation Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations, Machine Learning, and Laboratory Experiments, Dr. Amy Secunda, Flatiron Institute/CCA
- Friday, February 27th
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- Materials that exceed classical thermodynamic bounds on properties, Roderic Lakes, University of Wisconsin-Madison
March 2026
- Sunday, March 1st
- Graduate Program Event; 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm; Bakke Recreation and Wellbeing Center: Sub-Zero Ice Rink (1976 Observatory Drive | Madison, WI 53706)
- Ice Skating Social
- Wednesday, March 4th
- Thesis Defense; 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm; Chamberlin 5290
- Hunting heavy di-Higgs resonances in bbtautau final states and commissioning of GPUs for the CMS High-Level Trigger., Ganesh Parida
- Thursday, March 5th
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar; 10:00 am - 11:00 am; 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Dynamical breaking of inversion symmetry, strong second harmonic generation, and ferroelectricity with nonlinear phonons, Egor Kiselev , MPIPKS
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- TBD, Director Julianne Dalcanton, Flatiron Institute/CCA
- Friday, March 6th
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- Title to be announced, David B. Kaplan, University of Washington
- Monday, March 9th
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology); 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm; Chamberlin 5280
- Title to be announced, Yiming Chen, Stanford
- Thursday, March 12th
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar; 10:00 am - 11:00 am; 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Only the ambidextrous can flock: chirality destroys order in polar active matter, John Toner, University of Oregon
- Friday, March 13th
- Graduate Program Event; 8:00 am; 5280 CH
- Prospective Visit Days, Sharon Kahn
- Condensed Matter Theory Group Seminar; 11:00 am - 12:00 pm; 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- The whole is greater than the sum of its parts – a multimethod, multimessenger perspective on the quantum many-body problem, Thomas Schaefer, University of Trieste
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 6:00 pm; 2241 Chamberlin Hall
- Birth, Death, and Flocking: The Hydrodynamics of Dry Active matter, John Toner, U Oregon
- Monday, March 16th
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology); 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm; Chamberlin 5280
- Title to be announced, Zhen Liu, Minnesota U.
- Tuesday, March 17th
- Council Meeting
- 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm; 2314 Chamberlin
- Wednesday, March 18th
- Department Meeting
- 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm; B343 Sterling
- Thursday, March 19th
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- TBD, TBD, TBD
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- JWST Imaging of the Stellar Populations of Andromeda and Triangulum, Prof. David Nataf, University of Iowa
- Friday, March 20th
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- Title to be announced, Abhay Ashtekar, Penn State
- Monday, March 23rd
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology); 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm; Chamberlin 5280
- Title to be announced, Kimberly K. Boddy, University Texas, Austin
- Tuesday, March 24th
- Council Meeting
- 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm; 2314 Chamberlin
- Wednesday, March 25th
- Department Meeting
- 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm; B343 Sterling
- Thursday, March 26th
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar; 9:00 am - 6:00 pm; 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Quantum Information on Quantum Matter, Dafei Jin, University of Notre Dame
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- Toward Real Rocky Planet Interiors with Ideal Multicomponent Mixing, Dr. David Rice, UW-Madison
- Friday, March 27th
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- Title to be announced, Cecilia Lunardini, Arizona State University
- Saturday, March 28th
- Academic Calendar
- Spring Recess
- Sunday, March 29th
- Academic Calendar
- Spring Recess
- Monday, March 30th
- Academic Calendar
- Spring Recess
- Tuesday, March 31st
- Academic Calendar
- Spring Recess
April 2026
- Wednesday, April 1st
- Academic Calendar
- Spring Recess
- Thesis Defense; 10:30 am - 12:30 pm; Chamberlin 5310
- Some statistical results in ion temperature gradient-driven turbulence theory, Augustus Azelis
- Thursday, April 2nd
- Academic Calendar
- Spring Recess
- Friday, April 3rd
- Academic Calendar
- Spring Recess
- Saturday, April 4th
- Academic Calendar
- Spring Recess
- Sunday, April 5th
- Academic Calendar
- Spring Recess
- Monday, April 6th
- Academic Calendar
- Classes Resume
- Thursday, April 9th
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar; 10:00 am - 11:00 am; 5310 Chamberlin
- Title to be announced, Sheng Ran, Washington University in St Louis
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- TBD, TBD, TBD
- Friday, April 10th
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- Title to be announced, Justin Evans, University of Manchester
- Thursday, April 16th
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar; 10:00 am; 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Title to be announced, Maxim Khodas , Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- TBD, TBD, TBD
- Friday, April 17th
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- Title to be announced, Alex Kamenev , FTPI-UMN
- Monday, April 20th
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology); 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm; Chamberlin 5280
- Title to be announced, Hongwan Liu, Boston U.
- Tuesday, April 21st
- Council Meeting
- 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm; 2314 Chamberlin
- Wednesday, April 22nd
- Department Meeting
- 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm; B343 Sterling
- Thursday, April 23rd
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- The Virtual Planetary Laboratory and the Search for Signs of Life on Exoplanets, Victoria Meadows, Senior Research Scientist, SETI Institute
- Friday, April 24th
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- Title to be announced, Linda Young, ANL
- Monday, April 27th
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology); 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm; Chamberlin 5280
- Title to be announced, José Calderón-Infante, Caltech
- Thursday, April 30th
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar; 10:00 am; 5310 Chamberlin
- Title to be announced, Aditi Mitra, NYU
- Astronomy Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; 4421 Sterling Hall
- TBD, TBD, TBD
May 2026
- Friday, May 1st
- Academic Calendar
- Last Class Day
- Physics Department Colloquium; 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm; Chamberlin 2241
- RESERVED — Title to be announced, TBA, TBA
- Saturday, May 2nd
- Academic Calendar
- Study Day
- Sunday, May 3rd
- Academic Calendar
- Exams Begin
- Monday, May 4th
- Academic Calendar
- Exams
- Tuesday, May 5th
- Academic Calendar
- Exams
- Wednesday, May 6th
- Academic Calendar
- Exams
- Thursday, May 7th
- Academic Calendar
- Exams
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar; 10:00 am; 5310 Chamberlin
- Title to be announced, Shimon Kolkowitz, Berkeley
- Friday, May 8th
- Academic Calendar
- Exams End
- Academic Calendar
- Commencement: Doctoral & Medical Professional
- Graduate Program Event; 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm; 2241 Chamberlin
- Physics Graduation Celebration Event
- Saturday, May 9th
- Academic Calendar
- Commencement: Bachelor’s, Master’s, Law
- Tuesday, May 12th
- Council Meeting
- 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm; 2314 Chamberlin
- Wednesday, May 13th
- Department Meeting
- 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm; B343 Sterling
- Thursday, May 14th
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar; 10:00 am - 6:00 pm; 5310 Chamberlin Hall
- Title to be announced, Roman Kuzmin , UW-Madisoon