|
|
Calendar,
Fall 2005
|
Fall 2005
Week 1 - August 29 - September 2
Monday, August 29
First day of classes for Fall Semester.
Friday, September 2, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Hall to join the department for stimulating conversation. We'll have a table reserved for Physics.
Week 2 - September 5-9
Friday, September 9, 12PM - 1PM Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Dempsey Lounge (the room behind the partition at the south end of Lower Dempsey Dining Room) to join the department for stimulating conversation with our distinguished visitor.
Thursday, September 8, 7:30 p.m.
The 2rd Annual Donald M. Hamister Distinguished Lecture in Physics (Brandi
Recital Hall) Dr. Chris
Quigg, Theoretical Physics Department Fermi
National Accelerator Laboratory Title:
"The Coming
Revolutions in Particle Physics" Abstract : Wonderful opportunities await particle
physicists over the next decade, with new instruments and experiments poised to
explore the frontiers of high energy, infinitesimal distances, and exquisite
rarity. We expect a new era of discovery that brings answers to questions that
speak to our understanding of the everyday world: why are there atoms? Why
chemistry? Why stable structures? And even what makes life possible? We are
probing profound mysteries surrounding elemental bits of matter: what makes an
electron an electron and a top quark a top quark? Important clues, including
the remarkable neutrality of atoms, lead us to investigate the unity of the two
main classes of matter, the quarks and leptons. Gravity and particle physics,
long separate disciplines, are enjoying a stimulating reunion, and we are
learning how to investigate -- with experiments -- new conceptions of spacetime.
For more information about Dr. Quigg, please visit:
http://lutece.fnal.gov/
Reception to follow Storer
Hall Lobby.
Friday, September 9, 3:10PM - 4PM
Physics
Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
Chris Quigg, Theoretical Physics
Department Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory. Title: “The Double Simplex: Envisioning Particles and Interactions” Abstract: Dr. Quigg will present a new way to envision the particles and interactions. Any chart or mnemonic device should be an invitation to narrative and a spur to curiosity, and that is what I intend for the double simplex. His goal will be to represent what we know is true, what we hope might be true, and what we don’t know--in other terms, to show the connections that are firmly established, those we believe must be there, and the open issues. He will also express the spirit of play, of successive approximations, that animates the way scientists work. Reception to follow in Hayes Hall Lobby.
Week 3 - September 12 - 16
Friday, September 16, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Week 4 - September 19-23
Friday, September 22, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Week 5 - September 26 - 30
Friday, September 30, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Friday, September 30, 3:10PM - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109) Casey Watson, The Ohio State University, Title: “X-raying the Universe: The Star Formation and Supermassive Black Hole Accretion Histories of “Normal” Galaxies” Abstract: Thanks to the Chandra X-ray Observatory, XMM-Newton and their predecessors, we have made great strides in understanding the accretion history of the Universe. The X-ray properties of galaxies with quiescent nuclei, i.e., "normal" galaxies, remain poorly understood, however. One reason for this is that probing a sizeable (representative) sample of this X-ray faint population between redshifts z = 0.1 and z = 1 would require simultaneously deep and wide-area observations, and such a campaign would place unreasonable demands on astronomical resources. As a result, most of our knowledge to date about these systems comes from either large-area, local surveys or high-redshift, small-volume deep fields. To bridge this gap, we combine optical data from the NOAO Deep Wide-Field and AGES Surveys with Chandra X-ray coverage of galaxies in a 9.3 square degree field. By using the multiwavelength constraints from these three surveys, we are able to measure and interpret the X-ray evolution of thousands of "normal" galaxies over the largely unexplored redshift range 0.1 < z < 1. After describing the possible sources of the signal we detect, i.e., stellar (X-ray Binaries) vs. nuclear (accreting supermassive black holes), I will discuss our classifications for the galaxies and which source dominates the emission from each galaxy type. Interestingly, the evolutionary trends we find for the star formation and supermassive black hole (SMBH) accretion rate densities of these normal galaxies are in good agreement with those found in previous studies of much brighter sources. Our work shows that there is a continuum rather than a sudden break in the accretion histories of galaxies from the powerful starbursts and Active Galactic Nuclei of the past to the fainter, optically-normal galaxies that are more prevalent today. Reception to follow in Hayes Hall lobby.
Week 6 - October 3 - 7
Friday, October 7, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Private Dining Room to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Week 7 - October 10 - 14
Monday, October 10 and Tuesday, October 11
October Reading Days!
Friday, October 14, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Week 8 - October 17 - 21
Friday, October 21, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Week 9 - October 24 - 28
Friday, October 27, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Week 10 - October 31 - November 4
Friday, November 4, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Friday, November 4, 3:10 - 4PM
Physics
Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
David Slochower, 07,
Title: "The
Molecular Dynamics of Water Surrounding Hen
Lysozyme Protein: A Comparison of Two
Models" Abstract: The first significant application of computational physics to biology
was in 1983 when Bernard Brooks and his colleagues at Harvard synthesized a
program (CHARMM) to model macromolecular systems using empirical energy functions. Currently, molecular dynamics (MD)
simulations are used throughout biochemistry and molecular biology to model
systems and understand concepts that are unavailable or difficult to gain
insight into through traditional experimentation. Through MD simulations, water
has been distinguished as a crucial molecule in the dynamics and functionality
of globular proteins (Bizzarri and Cannistraro, 2002).
In the past, typical simulations have been run with a single protein
with a diameter of 25 Angstroms in a box with sides of 64 Angstroms saturated
by as many as 6300 water molecules, while the study concluded that as few as
350 molecules were necessary for full hydration of the protein (Steinbach and
Brooks, 1993). This means that up to 80%
of the computation effort is spent on water molecules. Through simulations, I
intended the minimization of water to be not only a computational tool but also
to more accurately model physiological conditions. Reception to follow.
Week 11 - November 7 - 11
Friday, November 11, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Dempsey Lounge (the room behind the partition at the south end of Lower Dempsey Dining Room) to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Week 12 - November 14 - 18
Friday, November 18, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your
lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department
for stimulating conversation.
Friday, November 18, 3:10 - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109) John deBruyn, The Western
Ontario University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Title:
“Morphology
and Scaling of Impact Craters in Granular Media” Abstract: We study the size and
morphology of impact craters formed when a steel ball is dropped into a
container of small glass beads. We find that both the depth (measured from the
original surface) and diameter of the crater are proportional to the 1/4 power
of energy. This is as expected if the energy of impact goes into excavating the
crater and material strength is unimportant. We observe a variety of crater
morphologies as a function of impact energy and grain size: simple craters,
craters with a central peak, craters with slump terraces around the perimeter,
and multi-ringed craters. The progression of these changes in morphology is
similar to that observed in lunar craters. Dr. de Bruyn
will discuss this behavior in terms of the properties of the granular medium
and speculate on the relevance of our results in the context of planetary
craters. Reception to follow.
Thanksgiving Break Week - November 21 - 25
Week 13 - November 28 - December 2
Friday, December 2, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Week 14 - December 5 - 9
Friday, December 9, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Friday, December 9, 3:10 - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109) Glen Gillen, Air Force Research Labs Title: “Experimental And Theoretical Work In Linear Beam Propagation Through Materials And Structures, And Other Cool Stuff…” Abstract: The propagation of light through materials and structures is a fundamental phenomenon that occurs all around us. Although the propagation of light through linear optical media is a seemingly simple process, measuring, calculating and predicting the behavior of light within optical structures can become theoretically and experimentally challenging if a high degree of precision is desired. Accurate knowledge of the linear optical properties of exotic materials and the behavior of light propagation within those materials is essential for modeling and predicting the nonlinear behavior of light at higher intensities. The first half of the presentation will describe some of the experimental research conducted with infrared laser light propagating through semiconductor materials with the goal of measuring the materials linear refractive index and its temperature dependence. The latter half of the presentation will describe some theoretical work in modeling and predicting light distributions within a focusing medium. Reception to follow in Hayes Hall Lobby.
Week 15 - December 12 - 16
Tuesday, December 13
Last day of classes for Fall Semester!
Friday, December 16, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department for stimulating conversation.
Have
a safe and happy break. See you next year!
|
|
Contact: Connie Miller, Dept. of Physics. |
Kenyon College 2005 October 25, 2003 |
|
