Events at Physics |
Events During the Week of February 21st through February 28th, 2010
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
- Wonders of Physics
- Wonders of Physics Public Presentations
- Time: 1:00 pm
- Place: 2103 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Clint Sprott, University of Wisconsin - Madison
- Abstract: In 1984, the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Department of Physics began a program called The Wonders of Physics aimed at generating interest in physics among people of all ages and backgrounds. The heart of the program is a fast-paced presentation of physics demonstrations carefully chosen to be entertaining as well as educational.
Free tickets are recommended and are available using the On-Line Ticket Form. Alternately, you may call (608) 262-2927 or e-mail wonders@physics.wisc.edu - Host: Clint Sprott
- Wonders of Physics
- Wonders of Physics Public Presentations
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 2103 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Clint Sprott, University of Wisconsin - Madison
- Abstract: In 1984, the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Department of Physics began a program called The Wonders of Physics aimed at generating interest in physics among people of all ages and backgrounds. The heart of the program is a fast-paced presentation of physics demonstrations carefully chosen to be entertaining as well as educational.
Free tickets are recommended and are available using the On-Line Ticket Form. Alternately, you may call (608) 262-2927 or e-mail wonders@physics.wisc.edu - Host: Clint Sprott
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
- Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar
- Measurements of Core Turbulence Suppression on DIII-D
- Time: 12:05 pm
- Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Morgan Shafer, UW-Madison Dept of Engineering Physics/General Atomics
- Plasma Theory Seminar
- Multiple Mirror Effects in Laboratory and Astrophysical Plasmas
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 514 ERB
- Speaker: Vladimir Mirnov, UW-Madison Dept of Physics/Plasma
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
- Chaos & Complex Systems Seminar
- Pictures fro Piles of Data
- Time: 12:30 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Michael Gleicher, UW-Madison, Dept. of Computer Science
- Abstract: Most of my work is focused around a single (broad) question: How can we use our understanding of human perception and artistic traditions to improve our tools for communicating and data understanding? In problems ranging from molecular biology to video editing, we are faced with a deluge of data. In this talk, I'll survey some of the ways we've tried to turn this problem into solutions. I'll discuss our efforts in scientific visualization and multimedia, showing how we can use ideas from art and perception to create novel tools for a range of problems. Time permitting, I might also discuss some of my efforts to create a cross-disciplinary course on Visualization.
- Astronomy Colloquium
- The MiMeS Project: Magnetism in Massive Stars
- Time: 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
- Place: 3425 Sterling Hall
- Speaker: Gregg Wade, Royal Military College of Canada
- Abstract:
Massive stars are rapidly-evolving astrophysical systems with intense radiation fields and powerful stellar winds that drive the chemistry, structure and evolution of galaxies. The evolution of a massive star is intimately tied to the mass it loses by its stellar wind and to its rapid rotation, both of which can be strongly influenced by magnetic fields. The Magnetism in Massive Stars (MiMeS) Project is a consensus collaboration among the foremost international researchers of the physics of hot, massive stars, with the basic aim of understanding the origin, evolution and impact of magnetic fields in these objects. The cornerstone of the project is the Franco-Canadian MiMeS Large Program at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, which represents a dedication of 640 hours of telescope time from 2008-2012. The MiMeS Large Program exploits the unique capabilities of the ESPaDOnS spectropolarimeter to obtain critical missing information about the poorly-studied magnetic properties of these important stars, to confront current models and to guide theory. This talk will review the goals and strategy of the Large Program, and will present the results of the first three semesters of observations and data analysis.
- Host: Richard Townsend
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
- No events scheduled
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar
- FFLO and pair density wave superconductivity
- Time: 10:30 am
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Daniel Agterberg, UW-Milwaukee
- Abstract: With the groundbreaking work of Fulde, Ferrell, Larkin and Ovchinnikov (FFLO), it was realized that superconducting/superfluid order can also break translational invariance, leading to a phase in which the Cooper pairs develop a coherent periodic spatially oscillating structure. Such pair density wave (PDW) superconductivity/superfluidity has become relevant in a diverse range of systems, including cuprates, organic superconductors, heavy-fermion superconductors, cold atoms, and high-density quark matter. In this talk I discuss recent theoretical developments on PDW/FFLO phases. This will include both a discussion of the microscopic origin of such phases in materials with and without inversion symmetry and a phenomenological description of these phases highlighting the role of fractional vortices and thermal fluctuations.
- Host: Robert Joynt
- Department Meeting
- Time: 12:15 pm
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin Hall
Friday, February 26th, 2010
- NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forum
- Joint with Phenomenology
- Comprehensive Solution to the Cosmological Constant, Zero-Point Energy, and Quantum Gravity Problems
- Time: 2:30 pm
- Place: 5280 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Philip Mannheim, University of Connecticut
- Abstract: We present a solution to the cosmological constant, the zero-point energy, and the quantum gravity problems within a single comprehensive framework.We show that in quantum theories of gravity in which the zero-point energy density of the gravitational field is well-defined, the cosmological
constant and zero-point energy problems solve each other by mutual
cancellation between the cosmological constant and the matter and
gravitational field zero-point energy densities. Because of this
cancellation, regulation of the matter field zero-point energy density is not needed, and thus does not cause any trace anomaly to arise. We exhibit our results in two theories of gravity that are well-defined quantum-mechanically. Both of these theories are locally conformal invariant, quantum Einstein gravity in two dimensions and Weyl-tensor-based quantum conformal gravity in four dimensions (a fourth-order derivative quantum theory of the type that Bender and Mannheim have recently shown to be ghost-free and unitary). Central to our approach is the requirement that any and all departures of the geometry from Minkowski are to be brought about by quantum mechanics alone. Consequently, there have to be no fundamental classical fields, and all mass scales have to be generated by dynamical condensates. In such a situation the trace of the matter field energy-momentum tensor is zero, a constraint that obliges its cosmological constant and zero-point contributions to cancel each other identically, no matter how large they might be. Quantization of the gravitational field is caused by its coupling to quantized matter fields, with the gravitational field not needing any independent quantization of its own. With there being no a priori classical curvature, one does not have to make it compatible with quantization. - Physics Department Colloquium
- Special Joint Physics/Astronomy Colloquium Talk
- Confronting the Dark Energy Crisis in Fundamental Physics
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall (coffee at 3:30 pm)
- Speaker: Christopher Stubbs, Harvard University, Physics and Astronomy
- Abstract: The best evidence we currently have for physics beyond the standard model comes from astrophysical observations: Dark Energy (repulsive gravity in the vacuum!) , Dark Matter (ordinary matter is a minority component of the mass budget of the Universe), and even the cosmic abundance of matter over antimatter are each indications of shortcomings in our understanding of basic physics. I will describe our efforts to understand the nature of the Dark Energy, and why this particular problem merits our collective attention. I'll also present the status of PanSTARRS and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), two ambitious ground-based optical systems that will provide new capabilities for studying diverse topics in astronomy and astrophysics, and fundamental physics.
- Host: Karsten Heeger