Events at Physics |
Events During the Week of October 3rd through October 10th, 2010
Monday, October 4th, 2010
- Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar
- Propagation of Large-scale Structures in Plasma Turbulence
- Time: 12:05 pm
- Place: 2535 Engineering Hall
- Speaker: Olaf Grulke, MPI for Plasma Physics, Greifswald, Germany
- High Energy Seminar
- Measurement of the WW+WZ Production Cross Section in the Lepton+Jets Final State at CDF Using the Di-jet Invariant Mass.
- Time: 2:00 pm
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Pierluigi Catastini, Fermilab
- Abstract: The study of Di-boson production represents an important part of the Electroweak Physics program in 1.96 TeV p p-bar collision at the CDF experiment . Di-bosons are of great interest because they provide unique opportunities to test the Standard Model at the TeV scale. Moreover, the process WW+WZ -> l nu + jj shares the same event topology of WH -> l nu + b b-bar, the golden channel for low mass Higgs searches at CDF. As a consequence, establishing Di-boson production with jets in the final state represents a crucial milestone for the development and understanding of techniques used in Higgs boson searches at the Tevatron. In this seminar, we will focus on the observation of Di-boson production at CDF in the lepton-missing Energy +jets final state by looking at the Di-jet invariant mass.
- Host: Matthew Herndon
- Plasma Theory Seminar
- Effects of 3D Magnetic Perturbations on Toroidal Plasmas
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 514 ERB
- Speaker: James Callen, UW-Madison Engineering Physics
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar
- Probing non-Abelian statistics with quantum Hall interferometry
- Time: 10:00 am
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Kirill Shtengel, University of California-Riverside
- Abstract: States of matter are conventionally classified according to broken symmetries. Topologically ordered phases fall outside of this paradigm: with no local order parameter, they nevertheless have many peculiar properties setting them apart from disordered phases. In 2D, such phases may support anyons - quasiparticles that are neither bosons nor fermions. Moreover, anyons with non-Abelian statistics can occur, particularly in the fractional quantum Hall regime. In this talk, I will focus on solid state interferometers designed to detect such exotic statistics. I will discuss recent experiments in the the quantum Hall regime at 5/2 filling where the evidence for the existence of non-Abelian anyons may have in fact been observed for the first time. I will also mention potential applications of such interferometeric schemes for topological quantum computation.
- Host: Andrey Chubukov & Robert Joynt
- Chaos & Complex Systems Seminar
- Sustainability: The Lay of the Land for 2010
- Time: 12:05 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Tom Eggert, UW-Madison School of Business
- Abstract: Tom Eggert is the Co-Director of the Business, Environment & Social Responsibility Program at the WI School of Business, and also is the Executive Director of the WI Sustainable Business Council. His talk will focus on the adoption of "green" or sustainable practices by institutions throughout the state.
- Department of Physics
- Pizza Lunch with Jennifer Ouellette
- Time: 12:15 pm
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Jennifer Ouellette, UW “Science Writer in Residence” blogger at Cocktail Party Physics and author
- Abstract: Please come by to meet her and discuss the intersection of science and popular culture. Jennifer Ouellette is the UW "Science Writer in Residence" blogger at Cocktail Party Physics and author of popular science books, including "Black Bodies and Quantum Cats: Tales from the Annals of Physics" and "The Physics of the Buffyverse."
Cocktail Party Physics Website
http://twistedphysics.typepad.com
Jennife Ouellette's Website
http://www.jenniferouellette-writes.com
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
- Department Meeting
- Time: 12:15 pm
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin Hall
Thursday, October 7th, 2010
- Astronomy Colloquium
- Casting Shadows on the standard intersteller medium paradign with GALFA-HI
- Time: 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
- Place: 4421 Sterling Hall Same Location
- Speaker: Josh Peek, Columbia University
- Abstract: Our understanding of the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) revolves around the balance of pressures between warm and cold phases and the interruption of that balance by the explosion of stars in supernovae. I will show new results enabled by the GALFA-HI survey that throw these standard theoretical underpinnings into disarray. I will discuss our investigation of the nearest cold neutral medium (CNM) to the sun, deep within the boundaries of the local cavity. High spectral resolution observations of this object present interesting constraints to theorists and simulators who propose that CNM clouds are formed by the collision of warmer clouds. Observations of the absorption of soft X-rays by this CNM show that X-rays emanate much nearer to the sun than was thought before, casting doubt on the local hot bubble theory. We have also investigated hundreds of compact HI clouds in our Galaxy, many of which seem to be in extreme force imbalance with the expected ambient ISM. These finding all suggest we have much to learn about the Galactic ISM we call home.
- Host: Snezana Stanimirovic
- NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forum
- Dark matter, under different angles
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Alberto Vallinoto, Fermilab
- Abstract: Most often, the dark matter puzzle is analyzed along a single perspective, thus trying to answer a single question. Either "what is the dark matter?", focusing on its microscopic nature, or "how is dark matter distributed?" and "how does it cluster?" focusing on the large scale structure of the universe, or still "how does it
affect what we observe in the sky?", focusing on gravitational lensing. Both my scientific interests and some random fluctuations at the beginning of my career have conspired so that I would take on projects in all these fields. Leaving aside the ambition -- and the impossible task -- to be comprehensive, I will review some interesting aspects of these fields and some of my contributions. - Host: Peter Timbie
- Graduate Introductory Seminar
- Condensed Matter Theory
- Time: 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
- Place: 2223 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Bruch, Chubukov, Coppersmith, Joynt, Perkins, Vavilov
Friday, October 8th, 2010
- Theory/Phenomenology Seminar
- Dark Light Higgs
- Time: 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
- Place: 5280 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Hao Zhang, University of Chicago
- Host: Pavel Fileviez Perez