Spring 2006
Week 1 - January 16 - 20
Monday, January 16
First day of classes for Spring Semester.
Friday, January 20, 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 2 - January 23 - 27
Friday, January 27, 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, January 27, 3:10PM - 4:00PM
Physics Colloquium, Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall (RBH
109). Katharina Christandl, Kenyon College, Visiting
Professor Title:
“Manipulating Atoms with
Light: The Quest for the Optical Atom Chip” Abstract:
The fundamental physics of the interaction of atoms and light can be
exploited to manipulate atoms. Atoms are routinely cooled and trapped
using laser light and can be put into desired quantum states at will
(“optical pumping”). The question is, how far can we take this control,
and how can we put it to (scientific) use? The talk will present a
newly designed optical atom chip that allows trapping of single atoms
in a periodic array as close as ~10 nm to a dielectric surface. Such
chips could be used to probe the atom-surface interaction in the 10 -
100 nm range, simulate two-dimensional “designer” solid state systems,
or they could someday become the chips of a quantum computer. In this
talk I will review how atoms are trapped in light fields and I will
show how a simple interference pattern formed above an optical
waveguide can be used to trap single atoms 10-100s nm above the
waveguide surface. I will present computational results that indicate
that these trap arrays are suitable for quantum computing, and I will
show an experiment designed to demonstrate this optical atom chip in
the laboratory. Reception to
follow in Hayes Hall
Lobby.
Week 3 - January 30 - February 3
Friday, February 3, 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, February 3, 3:10 - 4:00PM
Physics
Colloquium, Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall (RBH
109). Dedra Demaree, The Ohio State University Title: "Challenging Common Beliefs About Writing
To Learn: Is It Effective In The Physics Classroom?" Abstract:
Many colleges and universities promote writing across the curriculum,
both for developing writing skills and for gaining content knowledge,
but does writing in the physics classroom actually work as a learning
tool? Historically writing in the disciplines is assumed
beneficial, but most published papers fail to show a link between
writing and improved conceptual understanding within a
discipline. Writing activities require a significant time
investment on the part of course instructors, so it is very relevant to
determine if writing is effective in the physics classroom, and if so,
how best to use it. Members from both the Physics and English
departments at the Ohio State University and Rochester Institute of
Technology are involved in an ongoing study aimed at
answering these questions. This talk will provide a review of
writing in physics classrooms, our research plan to provide
evidence-based answers, and what we have found so far.
Co-Authors: Dedra Demaree, Catherine Gubernatis, Gordon Aubrecht
(all at OSU) Scott Franklin, Lisa Hermsen (from RIT)
Reception to follow in Hayes Hall
Lobby.
Week 4 - February 6 - 10
Friday, February 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, February 10, 3:10 - 4:00PM
Physics Colloquium, Franklin
Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall (RBH
109). TBD Reception to follow in Hayes Hall
Lobby.
Week 5 - February 13 - 17
Friday, February 17, 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, February 17, 3:10PM - 4:00PM
Physics Colloquium, Franklin
Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall (RBH
109). TBD Reception to follow in Hayes Hall
Lobby.
Week 6 - February 20 - 24
Friday, February 24, 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, February 24, 3:10PM - 4PM
Physics Colloquium, Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall (RBH
109). Timothy S. Sullivan, Physics Department, Kenyon College Title: "The
Dynamics of Unmixing: Challenging Conventional
Wisdom" Abstract:
The dimensionless Cahn-Hilliard equation,
,
is a model which describes how two phases of matter
separate from an initially uniform state. Originally developed to study
the
formation of domains as metal alloys were cooled and solidified, it has
gained
a new currency in the study of the formation of rafts in biological
membranes. I
will present the results of numerical simulations of the Cahn-Hilliard
equation. These simulations cover a wider range of initial conditions
and
covered an order of magnitude longer simulation time than any previous
computer
simulations of the Cahn-Hilliard model. This push to longer times was
an effort
to verify the widely held belief in the community that the size of a
typical
domain, 
,
should grow in time like 
(the
Lifshitz-Slyozov law). The story does not yet have an
unambiguous conclusion, despite computations representing approximately
2.5
years of 2 GHz Pentium-4 CPU time, but there are indications that the
Lifshitz-Slyozov law does not tell the whole story. Reception to follow in Hayes Hall
Lobby.
Week 7 - February 27 - March 3
Friday, March 3, 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 in celebrating the beginning of Spring Break!
Spring Break! March 6 - 17
Week 8 - March 20 - 24
Friday, March 24, 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. We will regale each
other with Spring Break adventure stories.
Friday, March 24, 3:10PM - 4PM
Physics Colloquium, Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall (RBH
109). John Linder, Physics Department, Wooster College Title: "Can Noise Improve Hearing? Stochastic
Resonance in Hair Cells"
Abstract: After providing an introduction and
overview of nonlinear dynamics, Dr. Linder will focus on a
specific application: In transducing acoustic stimuli into electrical
signals, the inner hair cells of the cochlea respond optimally to weak
periodic signals at natural, non-zero noise intensities. Kurt
Wiesenfeld, Matt Bennett, and Dr. Linder understand this stochastic
resonance by constructing a faithful mechanical model reflecting the
hair cell geometry and described by a nonlinear stochastic differential
equation. This Langevin description elucidates the mechanism of hair
cell stochastic resonance while supporting the hypothesis that noise
plays a functional role in hearing. Reception to follow in Hayes Hall
Lobby.
Week 9 - March 27 - 31
Friday, March 31, 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, March 31, 3:10PM
Physics Senior Exercise Talk. TBD Reception to follow in Hayes
Hall
Lobby
Week 10 - April 3 - 7
Friday, April 7, 12PM - 1PM
Physics Lunch. (Not the usual location, but close!) Bring
your
lunch tray to Lower Dempsey to join the department for stimulating
conversation.
Friday, April 7, 3:10 - 4:00PM
Physics Senior Exercise Talk.
TBA Reception to follow in Hayes Hall
Lobby
Week 11 - April 10 - 14
Tuesday, April 11
Honor's Day!
Friday, April 14, 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, April 14, 3:10PM - 4:00PM
Physics Colloquium, Franklin Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall (RBH
109). TBD Reception to
follow in Hayes Hall
Lobby.
Week 12 - April 17 - 21
Friday, April 21, 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, April 21, 3:10-4:00PM
Physics Colloquium, Franklin
Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall (RBH
109). Dr. Brian McLeod, Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory Title:
"Searching for Planets and the Most
Distant Galaxies with Extreme Digital Astrophotography" Abstract:
Megacam is a giant CCD mosaic camera in operation at the
6.5m MMT Observatory. The large field of view of the camera,
combined with the large collecting area of the telescope, provides a
unique tool for conducting deep surveys of the sky. Dr. McLeod
will begin by describing some of the challenges involved in building
and reducing data from such a large camera. Then he will turn to
two very different surveys currently in progress with Megacam.
The first is very deep imaging of a region of "empty" sky.
Combined with infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope they aim
to perform a census of the most distant galaxies known. The
second survey is a search for transiting extra-solar planets in the
open cluster M37. This winter they obtained 5000 exposures of the
cluster over a four week period with the goal of determining the
frequency of hot Neptune-sized planets. Dr. McLeod will present
preliminary results from these two surveys. Reception to
following in Hayes Hall Lobby.
Week 13 - April 24 - 28
Friday, April 28, 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, April 28, 3:10PM - 4PM
Physics Colloquium, Franklin
Miller, Jr. Lecture Hall (RBH
109). Dr. Robert Harmon. Department of Physics & Astronomy,
Ohio Wesleyan University Title: "The Magnetic
Personalities of the Stars" Abstract: Just
as the Sun exhibits sunspots, so too certain other stars are known to
have "starspots" on their surfaces. Like sunspots, starspots are a
manifestation of the star's magnetic field, so that studying them
provides insight into the workings of stellar dynamos. Starspots can be
detected by the variations they cause in the star's brightness as the
spots rotate into and out of view from Earth. If we knew the appearance
of the starspots, it would be easy to calculate the brightness
variations. Going in the other direction turns out to be much harder.
After discussing the physics of spots, Dr. Harmon will describe the
technique he and his students use to deduce their appearances based on
observed stellar brightness variations. Reception to
following in Hayes Hall Lobby.
Week 14 - May 1 - 5
Friday, May 5
Last day of classes for Spring Semester!
Friday, May 5, 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, May 5, 3:10-4:00PM
Event:
This week we are taking a road trip to visit the Greenslade Museum of
Natural Philosophy, located at 211 Ward Street: the yellow house
opposite the Norton Hall parking lot. This is a collection of 19th and
early 20th century physics teaching apparatus assembled by Prof.
Emeritus Thomas B. Greenslade, Jr., who will be on hand to discuss the
apparatus with students and faculty members.
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Contact:
Connie Miller, Dept. of Physics. |
Created by Bethany Anderson, Kenyon
College 2005
October 25, 2003
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