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Events During the Week of October 23rd through October 30th, 2016

Monday, October 24th, 2016

Graduate Introductory Seminar
Condensed Matter Physics
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Place: 5280 Chamberlin Hall
Speaker: Brar, Coppersmith, Eriksson, Joynt, Levchenko, McDermott, Onellion, Rzchowski, Vavilov, Winokur
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Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar
Simulation study of FRC stability
Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall
Speaker: Elena Belova, PPPL
Abstract: The field-reversed configuration (FRC) is a confinement approach that offers a unique potential because of its compact and simple geometry, translation properties, and high plasma beta. The most important issues are FRC stability behavior with respect to low-n MHD modes, and new FRC formation and current drive methods. A 3D nonlinear hybrid and MHD simulation code HYM, has been used to study the relative roles of various competing kinetic effects on FRC stability properties, nonlinear evolution, toroidal spin-up, and the effects of the neutral beam ions. The talk will cover the FRC stability properties from MHD-like regime to highly kinetic configurations.
Host: Sarff
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Tuesday, October 25th, 2016

Chaos & Complex Systems Seminar
Footprints on Black Mountain: science and the subtlety of influence
Time: 12:05 pm - 1:00 pm
Place: 4274 Chamberlin (refreshments will be served)
Speaker: Marjorie Senechal, Mathematics and History of Science and Technology, Smith College
Abstract: When C. P. Snow decried the "two cultures" in 1959, he not only named a problem, he created one. For better or worse, the humanities and sciences have been cast through his prism ever since. But, in the immortal words of Poul Anderson, "I have yet to see a problem, no matter how complicated, that if you look at it in the right way, does not become still more complicated." In that spirit, we will look at the legendary, every-more-celebrated crucible of the arts, Black Mountain College, through the stories of several scientists who taught there. And through the eyes of someone (me) who grew up in a curiously similar milieu, in that era.<br>
Host: Clint Sprott
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Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology)
Exploring El Dorado with intersecting D6-branes
Time: 3:30 pm
Place: 5280 Chamberlin
Speaker: Wieland Staessens, IFT, Madrid
Abstract: Toroidal orbifolds represent the most fruitful and best understood backgrounds for string model building. When it comes to type IIA intersecting D6-branes, the most promising toroidal orbifold is undoubtedly T6/Z2xZ6 with discrete torsion. In this talk, we will discuss how to obtain on this background three generational chiral models without unwanted exotic matter charged under the Standard Model gauge group and present global supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model. A second part of the talk will discuss deformations of the singularities and their implications for the global models.
Host: Gary Shiu
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Wednesday, October 26th, 2016

No events scheduled

Thursday, October 27th, 2016

R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar
Suppression of energy relaxation in a superconducting qubit by the spectrum engineering
Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Place: 5310 Chamberlin Hall
Speaker: Vladimir Manucharyan, University of Maryland
Abstract: We have designed a superconducting circuit around the fluxonium artificial atom such that it has transitions with both very large and very small transition dipoles. A small dipole decouples the corresponding transition from conventional dissipation sources (e.g. dielectric loss) while the large dipole transitions couple the weak one to a microwave cavity thereby allowing to read out its quantum state. By tuning the circuit parameters with a magnetic flux, we have tuned the frequencies and dipole moments of the transitions and achieved T1 > 0.5 ms. In this talk we will discuss how the multi-level spectrum of the fluxonium artificial atom can be utilized for quantum information processing in analogy with atomic clocks.
Host: Alex Levchenko
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Cosmology Journal Club
An Informal discussion about a broad variety of arXiv papers related to Cosmology
Time: 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm
Place: 5242 Chamberlin Hall
Abstract: Please visit the following link for more details:
http://cmb.physics.wisc.edu/journal/index.html
Please feel free to bring your lunch!
If you have questions or comments about this journal club, would like to propose a topic or volunteer to introduce a paper, please email Amol Upadhye (aupadhye@wisc.edu).
Host: Amol Upadhye
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Careers for Physicists
IF I CAN DO PHYSICS, SO CAN YOU : Excerpts from the diary of a journeyman physicist
Time: 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Place: 5280 Chamberlin Hall; Post-presentation informal gathering in Room 5294 with refreshments
Speaker: Harold Persing, Applied Materials, Glouchester, MA
Abstract: Post-presentation informal gathering in Room 5294 with refreshments.

Dr. Persing obtained his B.S. and Ph.D. (Engineering Physics) from UW-Madison. After his work at UW he took a position at the Australian National University (ANU) conducting research into the fabrication of planar optical devices using plasma deposition and etching of silicon dioxide. He then joined the Australian Scientific Instruments to develop a tool principally devoted to geological dating. After his sojourn in Australia he helped run a lab at the U. S. Geological Survey in California with the Sensitive High
Resolution Ion MicroProbe as its focal point. Currently he is a Senior Member of Technical Staff at Applied Materials (AMAT) where he helped design and now is developing implant and deposition processes for AMAT's Plasma Doping tool (PLAD).
Host: Chun Lin
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Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology)
Phenomenology of Enhanced Light Quark Yukawa Couplings and the Wh Charge Asymmetry
Time: 3:30 pm
Place: 4274 Chamberlin Hall
Speaker: Felix Yu
Abstract: I propose the measurement of the Wh charge asymmetry as a<br>
consistency test for the Standard Model Higgs, which is sensitive<br>
to enhanced Yukawa couplings of the first and second generation<br>
quarks. I present a collider analysis for the charge asymmetry in the<br>
same-sign lepton final state, pp to Wh to l nu l nu jj, <br>
aimed at discovery significance for the SM Wh <br>
production mode in each charge channel with 300 fb^-1 of 14 TeV<br>
LHC data. Using this decay mode, I estimate the statistical precision<br>
on the charge asymmetry should reach 0.4% with 3 ab^-1<br>
luminosity, enabling a strong consistency test of the SM Higgs<br>
hypothesis. I also discuss direct and indirect constraints on light<br>
quark Yukawa couplings from direct and indirect probes of the Higgs<br>
width as well as Tevatron and Large Hadron Collider Higgs data. While<br>
the main effect from enhanced light quark Yukawa couplings is a rapid<br>
increase in the total Higgs width, such effects could be mitigated in<br>
a global fit to Higgs couplings, leaving the Wh charge<br>
asymmetry as a novel signature to test directly the Higgs couplings to<br>
light quarks.
Host: Joshua Berger
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Astronomy Colloquium
Milky Way Archaeology with APOGEE and Kepler
Time: 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Place: 4421 Sterling Hall, Coffee and cookies at 3:30, Talk starts at 3:45 PM
Speaker: Jennifer Johnson, Ohio State University
Abstract: The history of a galaxy can be traced through its stars: their
compositions, their ages, and their motions. The Milky Way provides an ideal case for performing detailed Galactic archaeology to investigate the evolution of spiral galaxies. The SDSS-APOGEE spectroscopic survey, using a high-resolution, multi-object NIR spectrograph, has observed ~150,000 stars in the Galaxy, with particular emphasis on red giants in the Kepler and K2 fields and in the dust-obscured regions of the disk and bulge. I will discuss how we are using spectroscopic and asteroseismic results to measure age and metallicity gradients, the prevalence of radial mixing of stars in the disk, and the origin of chemically peculiar populations in our Galaxy.
Host: Astronomy Department
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Friday, October 28th, 2016

Physics Department Colloquium
2016 Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Place: 2241 Chamberlin hall
Speaker: Ellen Zweibel, UW-Madison
Abstract: There will be a reception the celebrate Ellen Zweibel, who won the 2016 Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics, followed by Ellen’s colloquium. The reception will begin at 3 pm on Friday October 28th in the Chamberlin lobby, just outside the 2241 colloquium room, the colloquium will begin at 3:30 pm.
Host: Forest
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