Fall 2006
Week 1 -
August 30 - September 3
Monday, August 28
First day of classes for Fall Semester.
Friday, September 1, 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.
Friday, September 1, 3:10PM - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
No Talk
Week 2 -
September 4-8
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.
Friday, September 8, 3:10PM - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
Frank Peiris, Assistant Professor of Physics, Kenyon College.
Title: "My Second Innings as a Graduate
Student: Batting on a Reactive Wicket” Abstract: Batting
for the second time on five-day cricket games can be very precarious.
The wicket (pitch) develops cracks, dries up, and often deceives the
batsman because the ball gathers a lot of spin upon bouncing on such a
wicket. Although difficult, batsmen are often grateful for the
opportunity to face the music for the second time.
Some of the boundaries Dr. Peiris wanted to hit during his first
innings as a physics grad-student, he managed to accomplish during his
second innings as a chemistry grad-student during the past two years at
the University of Toronto. Although not officially so, Dr. Peiris was
no more than a grad-student since materials synthesis and the other
chemical procedures he was attempting to work with were completely new
to him. In other words, a very different wicket compared to what he had
experienced before.
This talk will deal with both the chemistry and physics of two very
important classes of materials: periodic mesoporous silica and photonic
crystals. Periodic mesoporous silica is an exciting class of materials
with potential application in microelectronics, catalysis, and chemical
sensing. Photonic crystals are artificially engineered structures that
have a periodic modulation of its dielectric constant (or the index of
refraction) in one, two, or three dimensions. Due to this periodic
modulation, photonic crystals exhibit some fascinating properties from
both a fundamental as well as an applicational point of view. In
addition to discussing the properties, especially their optical, of
these two types of materials, Dr. Peiris will describe his recent
results pertaining to a structure similar to a ham sandwich
(ham=periodic mesoporous silica, bread=photonic crystals). Reception to follow
in Hayes Hall Lobby.
Week 3 -
September 11 - 15
Friday, September 15, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to
join the department for stimulating conversation.
Friday, September 15, 3:10 - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
TBD
Week 4 -
September 18-22
Friday, September 22, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to
join the department for stimulating conversation.
Friday, September 22, 3:10PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
Max Lavrentovich, '08
Title: “PDEs on Random Grids: Finding
Stability in Unstable Spaces” Abstract: In physics,
partial differential equations (PDEs) are a class of relations that
involve functions of time and space variables and their partial
derivatives with respect to these variables. PDEs describe the
dynamics of many systems in quantum and classical mechanics,
electrodynamics, biology, and other areas. Since analytic solutions to
PDEs are often difficult or impossible to find, numerical solvers are
crucial tools in the study of these equations. Computational algorithms
that do not require a regular partitioning of space are particularly
important in practical applications, where PDEs may describe processes
on irregular geometries. Max will discuss the unique problems
associated with algorithms that compute spatial derivatives using
random arrangements of points. In particular, he will address the
notorious instabilities that can ruin numerical solutions. In
doing so, he will present a novel method, that he, Dr. Sullivan, and
Dr. Palffy-Muhoray from Kent State U. developed, of dealing with these
instabilities through von Neumann stability analysis. Max will
also discuss practical ways of partitioning space without relying on
regular lattices. Finally, he will address an interesting
biological application that is motivating further exploration of this
method. Reception to follow in
Hayes Hall lobby.
Week 5 -
September 25 - 29
Friday, September 29, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to
join the department for stimulating conversation.
Friday, September 29, 3:10PM - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
David Slochower, '07,
Title: "Coded Aperture
Imaging"
Abstract: The goal of nuclear medicine is to
use radioactive materials to diagnose and treat disease. Nuclear
medicine imaging is unique because it is a non-invasive technique that
provides information about both structure and function. To create
nuclear images which represent the distribution of radioactivity within
the body, we use a coded aperture to cast a coded image onto a nuclear
detector, much like a traditional pinhole camera. The coded aperture is
a thin sheet of Tungsten which contains a carefully chosen pattern of
pinholes which allow gamma rays to pass. Mr. Slochower will present
results from spring break when this setup was used in vivo to image
mouse bones and pig sentinel lymph nodes. The reconstructed images have
better resolution, sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio than
traditional imaging systems. Reception
to follow in
Hayes Hall lobby.
Week 6 -
October 2 - 6
Friday, October 6, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund PRIVATE Dining Room to
join the department for stimulating conversation.
Week 7 -
October 9 - 13
Monday, October 9 and Tuesday, October 10
October Reading Days!
Friday, October 13, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to
join the department for stimulating conversation.
Friday, October 13, 3:10PM - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109) Franklin Miller, Department of
Physics Title:
"Luis Alvarez: Remembered" You can find a brief biography of
Luis Alvarez here:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1968/alvarez-bio.html
Reception
to follow.
Week 8 -
October 16 - 20
Friday, October 20, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to
join the department for stimulating conversation.
Friday, October 20, 3:10PM - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
Sebastien Fournier,
University of Toronto, Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical
Engineering Title:
"Nanomachines... Dreams or Reality?" Abstract: In a world where the prefix "NANO"
has become a buzz word for most scientists (especially those who want
to get their research funded) but also for the media who love to create
dramas with futuristic earth filled with nanorobots (aka nanobots)
overpowering the human race, it is sometimes difficult to see where the
research in the field really stands. This talk will give a brief
introduction on nanomachines followed by a look at what one can find in
the nanochemistry toolbox. A tantalizing glimpse on how to
transform some passive tools into active (or "living") nanomachines
will be presented. Reception
to follow in
Hayes Hall lobby.
Week 9 -
October 23 - 27
Friday, October 27, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your
lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department for stimulating
conversation.
Friday, October 27, 3:10PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
John Hungerford, '07
Title: "Interacting Boolean Networks:
Abstract: Groups of discrete
dynamic systems known as Random Boolean Networks have been shown to be a useful
abstract model for the genetic regulatory network of biological cells. This talk
will present a new kind of Boolean Network model where identical networks can
interact with each other as neighbors in a manner similar to cellular automata.
The dynamic activity of each network can be viewed from an internal perspective,
where the interest is on the network states themselves, or it may be viewed from
an external course-grained perspective, which we call the “basin of attraction”
viewpoint. An examination of the Shannon entropies these systems from both perspectives
reveals the degree to which order results as the level of interactivity varies.
The results of this analysis may give insight into the role that Boolean dynamics,
outside of any evolutionary engineering, might play in the transfer of information
between cells in multi-cellular organisms. Reception to follow in Hayes Hall
lobby.
Week 10
- October 30 - November 3
Friday, November 3, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to join the department
for stimulating conversation.
Friday, November 3, 3:10 - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
Stephen FitzGerald,
Department of Physics, Oberlin University Title: "The Quantum Dynamics of Hydrogen
Storage" Abstract:
There is much talk
about the “Hydrogen Economy” and the possibility that someday we will
all drive around in environmentally friendly hydrogen powered cars. The biggest
obstacle to this becoming reality is our inability to store sufficient hydrogen
for a reasonable journey. In my talk I will show how infrared spectroscopy can
be used to probe the quantum dynamics of trapped hydrogen and in particular the
degree to which it is bound within a storage matrix.
To read about Professor
FitzGerald's research, please visit: http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/sfgerald/
Week 11
- November 6 - 10
Friday, November 10, 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.
Friday, November 10, 3:10 - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
Dr. Andrew Resnick, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Case Western Reserve
University Title: "Possible
Role of the Primary Cilium as a Flow Sensor" Abstract:
A goal of this talk is to make biological research comprehensible to physical
scientists. Recent experimental evidence has pointed to the primary (nonmotile)
cilium as the mechanosensory organelle in epithelial cells. While most studies
to date have reported cellular responses, such as elevation of intracellular Ca2+
to acute force applications, three recent studies have described angiotensin receptor
expression, STAT6 translocation, and decreased transepithelial sodium current
to chronic application of low forces. Chronic force sensing occurs at levels significantly
lower than previously reported, and mechanosensing is abolished when the primary
cilium is removed. This provides evidence that the cilium is a seat of mechanosensation
in this cell system. We conclude that the cellular response occurs even when the
applied force is, at an upper limit, 4.6*10-3 pN, only twice that of thermal noise
(kT/L = 2*10-3 pN). Dr. Resnick will attempt to make the relevant biology comprehensible
to a physicist, to show how physics makes a vital contribution to this type of
research, and also to show why the above work is important to biologists.
Reception to follow in Hayes Hall Lobby. To read about Professor Resnick,
please visit: http://physiology.case.edu/faculty.php?id=65
Week 12
- November 13 - 17
Friday, November 17, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to
join the department for stimulating conversation.
Friday, November 17, 3:10 - 4PM
No Physics Colloquium
Thanksgiving Break Week -
November 20 - 24
Week 13
- November 27 - December 1
Friday, December 1, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to
join the department for stimulating conversation.
Friday, December 1, 3:10PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
Ido Braslavsky, Assistant Professor of Physics, Ohio University Title:
Investigation of the Interactions Between Antifreeze Proteins and Ice Surfaces
Using Fluorescence Microscopy and Microfluidic Techniques" Abstract:
Biomineralization, the
control of crystal growth by biological systems, is a fascinating phenomenon.
Our work on biomineralization focuses on the mechanism of action of antifreeze
proteins (AFPs), which inhibit ice crystal growth. These naturally occurring proteins
have many potential applications in areas such as food preservation, agriculture,
cryobiology and dairy industry. The goal of our research is the characterization
and understanding of the physical interactions between AFPs and ice. In my talk
I will describe our investigation of AFPs using fluorescence microscopy in combination
with microfluidic techniques that allows us to directly check the assumptions
underlying the theories that describe AFPs activity. A better understanding of
how AFPs control crystal growth should enable the design of AFPs for particular
applications, and provide a platform for controlling crystal growth in future
nanotechnology applications. To read about Professor Braslavsky, please visit: http://www.phy.ohiou.edu/people/faculty/braslavsky.html
.
Week 14
- December 4 - 8
Friday, December 8, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. Bring your lunch tray to Gund Dining Room to
join the department for stimulating conversation.
Friday, December 8, 3:10 - 4PM
Physics Colloquium (Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall, RBH 109)
Rob de Ruyter van Steveninck,
Professor, Department of Physics, Biocomplexity Institute. Indiana University
Title: "From
Photons to Motion Perception: Signal, Noise and Optimality
in Visual Information Processing"
Abstract: Visual information processing begins
in the retina, where light is converted into electrical signals. Those signals
are used by the brain to extract features useful in guiding action. An example
of this is the estimation of visual motion, which is very important in animal
navigation. A fundamental constraint in this process comes from the physics of
light. Light is absorbed in packets, called photons, which arrive at random in
time. The visual input signal therefore contains an irreducible noise component,
which will affect any computations performed by the brain.
In our group we are interested in how the statistics of visual signal and
noise affect the computation of motion. I will present two approaches to this
problem:
* Concurrent sampling of natural visual signals and motion, which allows us
to derive the computational form of the optimal motion estimator.
* Recording from blowfly motion sensitive neurons. This tells us how a relatively
small, but visually sophisticated, animal is affected by visual signal statistics.
The first approach leads to the somewhat surprising result that, in order to
be optimal, the estimation of velocity must be biased at low contrasts. The
neural recordings show that the fly exhibits a very similar bias, suggesting
that its brain implements a form of optimal processing. Some of the more general
implications of this result will be discussed.
Reception to follow in Hayes Hall
Lobby. If you would like to read about Professor Beggs' work, visit
-- http://www.physics.indiana.edu/faculty/DeRuyter.shtml.
Week 15
- December 11 - 15
Tuesday, December 12
Last day of classes for Fall Semester!
Friday, December 15, 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. |
Created by Bethany Anderson,
Kenyon College 2005
October 25, 2003
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