A Physics Ph.D. Student’s Step-By-Step Journey to Storrs and Distant Galaxies
UConn Physics graduate student Mohammed (Mo) Akhshik works on data gathered using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and has led to exciting discoveries, some while he served as the science Principle Investigator of the REQUIEM HST program from which he is co-author on two publications, one in Nature and one in Nature Astronomy. Akhshik is also […]
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Professor Daniel Anglés-Alcázar research featured in ‘UConn Today’ and CBC radio interview
At the center of galaxies, like our own Milky Way, lie massive black holes surrounded by spinning gas. Some shine brightly, with a continuous supply of fuel, while others go dormant for millions of years, only to reawaken with a serendipitous influx of gas. It remains largely a mystery how gas flows across the universe […]
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Dear Friends of UConn Physics
As we approach the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, UConn is set for having classes in person again, students on campus, and our first taste of somewhat normal university life in a year and a half. Students, faculty, and staff are all required to be vaccinated, masks are required indoors, classrooms will be fully […]
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Physics alumnus Prof. Douglas Goodman and Professor Emeritus Winthrop Smith Featured in Online Peer Review Journal
Prof. Emeritus Winthrop Smith and former student Prof. Douglas Goodman (Quinnipiac University) Edit Special Issue of Open Access Journal Atoms, on Low Energy Interactions between Ions and Ultracold Atoms The Special Issue of the online journal Atoms is a collection of current peer-reviewed articles by experts in the field of ultracold collisions and reactions involving […]
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New Faculty Hire-Dr. Anh-Thu Le
The Physics Department welcomes our newest faculty member, Dr. Anh-Thu Le, although he prefers to be called simply AT. AT worked for many years at the well-known James R. Macdonald Laboratory, rising to the rank of Research Professor. He worked alongside a world-known theorist, Dr. Chii-Dong Lin. Dr. Le went on to become an Assistant […]
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CANCELLED, Dr. Steve Mirmina, NASA (UConn Physics Colloquium), CANCELLED Dr. Steve Mirmina, NASA (UConn Physics Colloquium)3:30pm
10/15
CANCELLED, Dr. Steve Mirmina, NASA (UConn Physics Colloquium), CANCELLED Dr. Steve Mirmina, NASA (UConn Physics Colloquium)
Friday, October 15th, 2021
03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Other CANCELLED
CANCELLED
Dr. Steve Mirmina, NASA (UConn Physics Colloquium)
Title and abstract: TBD -
Prof. Cara Battersby, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Our Galaxy's Center: a Window into the High-Redshift Universe", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm
10/15
Prof. Cara Battersby, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Our Galaxy's Center: a Window into the High-Redshift Universe", Graduate Student Seminar
Friday, October 15th, 2021
12:15 PM - 01:15 PM
Storrs Campus GS-119
Prof. Cara Battersby, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
Our Galaxy's Center: a Window into the High-Redshift Universe
Galaxy centers are the hubs of activity that drive galaxy evolution, from supermassive black holes to dense stellar clusters and feedback from newly-formed stars. Our own galaxy's center has properties (densities, temperatures, and turbulent line widths) that are reminiscent of galaxies at the peak of cosmic star formation, but in our own cosmic backyard, where the interplay of these physical processes can be resolved in detail. In this talk, I will discuss gas inflow into our Galaxy's Center, properties of the gas, and incipient star formation. I will discuss simulations of gas flows into the Galactic Center, which are thought to contribute to the unusual properties of star formation in this region, namely that it is producing 10x fewer stars than predicted by standard scaling relations. I will describe observations of the gas and incipient star formation in this region, as well as discuss efforts to measure whether or not this unusual environment results in a change to the Initial Mass Function. -
Dr. Erez Michaely, UCLA, "Collisional Dynamics in the Field: Ultra-Wide BH Systems as Sources of GW Signals ", Astronomy Seminar2:00pm
10/13
Dr. Erez Michaely, UCLA, "Collisional Dynamics in the Field: Ultra-Wide BH Systems as Sources of GW Signals ", Astronomy Seminar
Wednesday, October 13th, 2021
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Other Online
Dr. Erez Michaely, UCLA
Collisional Dynamics in the Field: Ultra-Wide BH Systems as Sources of GW Signals
Dynamical interactions are known to play an important role in the evolution of dense stellar systems such as globular clusters and galactic nuclei. In contrast, the galactic field (where most of the stellar systems are) is a low-density environment, where strong stellar encounters were thought to be too rare to play any role in collisional dynamics. However, the low density in the field also allows for the existence of long-lived ultra-wide systems which would have been quickly destroyed in a dense environment. The large separation of such binaries can therefore compensate for the low densities and still allow for relatively high rates of interactions with field stars. Such interactions change the orbital properties of the binaries or outer binaries in the case of triples. Therefore, when considering the evolution of ultra-wide systems one needs to account for random gravitational interaction with passing stars, flybys, even in low-density environments like the field of the host galaxy. The outcome of the interactions between ultra-wide black-holes (BH) systems with random field stars may excite the eccentricity of the system sufficiently to radiate gravitational waves (GW) and drive the system to a merger within Hubble time. This channel may explain a fraction of the current observed binary BH merger rate and provides predictions for future observational runs, e.g. eccentric mergers. The underlying dynamics of this channel is not unique to BH or GW sources, and have implications to other stellar exotica such: low-mass X-ray binaries, Type Ia SNe, main sequence - white dwarf collisions, and more.
Meeting URL: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/drl20003 -
Prof. Dan Milisavljevic, Purdue University, "Multi-messenger Autopsies of Stellar Death", UConn Physics Colloquium3:30pm
10/8
Prof. Dan Milisavljevic, Purdue University, "Multi-messenger Autopsies of Stellar Death", UConn Physics Colloquium
Friday, October 8th, 2021
03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Other online
Prof. Dan Milisavljevic, Purdue University
Multi-messenger Autopsies of Stellar Death
The expanding zoo of astronomical transients has become one of the most important driving forces of scientific discovery in extreme astrophysics. Increasingly sophisticated all-sky surveys are uncovering unexpected phenomena that are forcing radical revisions to long-accepted models of massive star evolution and their compact remnant objects. These discoveries, which will increase by orders of magnitude in the upcoming decade, are shaping the priorities of the next generation of science facilities such as the Rubin Observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, and Extremely Large Telescopes.
I will review how radio-through-X-ray investigations of transients are revolutionizing our understanding of stellar death and its myriad impacts. This includes the terminal and often dramatic evolutionary phases massive stars pass though when approaching core collapse; the physical mechanisms behind the subsequent supernova explosion; and the formation of powerful compact objects that can participate in the explosion dynamics. I will also discuss how the new synergy between electromagnetic, neutrino, and gravitational wave facilities can enable transformative progress towards finally solving the enigma of core collapse by accurately interpreting the multi-messenger signals from the next Galactic supernova, which will first be detected by the global network of neutrino facilities known as the Supernova Early Warning System.
Meeting URL: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/cab16109 -
Prof. Menka Jain, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Functional and Multiferroic Materials", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm
10/8
Prof. Menka Jain, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Functional and Multiferroic Materials", Graduate Student Seminar
Friday, October 8th, 2021
12:15 PM - 01:15 PM
Storrs Campus GS-119
Prof. Menka Jain, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
Functional and Multiferroic Materials
In this talk, some of the basic properties of ferroics and multiferroics, and their applications in many devices will be discussed. Functional materials, such as ferroic materials have been grouped by the driving field that aligns their ordering parameters. Four primary ferroic materials: ferroelectric, ferromagnetic, ferroelastic, and ferrotoroidic, are characterized by a wealth of intriguing physical properties. The entire class of ferroic materials has found extensive applications in consumer electronics, a variety of sensors, memory devices, health care, and military applications. Current trends toward device miniaturization have led to an increased interest in multifunctionality, multifunctional devices, and thin-film microelectronics where a single device component can do multiple tasks simultaneously. Multiferroic materials with the coexistence of at least two ferroic order parameters have the potential for such multifunctional devices. One interesting class of multiferroics is magnetoelectric materials, which concurrently have some form of magnetic and ferroelectric order parameters. The synthesis techniques, properties, and process optimization will be discussed that can impact the direct applications of these aforementioned materials. -
Danya Alboslani: "Working with World Wide Telescope" , Astronomy Seminar2:00pm
10/6
Danya Alboslani: "Working with World Wide Telescope" , Astronomy Seminar
Wednesday, October 6th, 2021
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Storrs Campus GS-119
Danya Alboslani: "Working with World Wide Telescope"
Jasmine Ramirez: "Comprehending How Alkali Opacities Affect Brown Dwarf Spectra"
Niranjan Roy: "Simulating Star-Death: Hydrodynamical Simulations of Type La Supernovae"
Josiah Walker: "Using Neural Networks to Predict Momentum"
Meeting URL: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/cab16109 -
Prof. Chris Faesi, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "The Cycle of Gas and Stars in Galaxies", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm
10/1
Prof. Chris Faesi, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "The Cycle of Gas and Stars in Galaxies", Graduate Student Seminar
Friday, October 1st, 2021
12:15 PM - 01:15 PM
Storrs Campus GS-119
Prof. Chris Faesi, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
The Cycle of Gas and Stars in Galaxies
There exists a "life cycle" of baryonic matter within galaxies between stars and the gas from which they formed. Dense gas clouds coalesce from the diffuse interstellar medium then collapse locally under the influence of gravity into star clusters. The most massive stars emit copious amounts of ultraviolet radiation during their short lifetimes, ionizing and disrupting their natal clouds, culminating in supernovae that inject energy, momentum, and heavy elements back into the bulk interstellar medium, where the cycle starts anew. The locations and rates of these various stages in the baryonic life cycle greatly impact the dynamical and chemical evolution of galaxies, and yet the details are still poorly understood outside our home galaxy. New observational facilities are now for the first time providing data of sufficiently high resolution to study the individual clouds in which stars are born across the full extent of other galaxies, shedding light on the key similarities and differences in the matter cycle across the local Universe. I will highlight recent results from three large observing campaigns of nearby galaxies of which my group is a part, which includes submillimeter, optical, and ultraviolet programs targeting newly formed stars and dense and ionized gas. Among a number of interesting conclusions, we are discovering that while most dense clouds appear to be near virial equilibrium and thus capable of forming stars, their environments clearly regulate the local baryonic cycle. -
Dr. Shreyas Vissapragad, California Institute of Technology, "The Evaporating Atmospheres of Extrasolar Planets", Astronomy Seminar2:00pm
9/29
Dr. Shreyas Vissapragad, California Institute of Technology, "The Evaporating Atmospheres of Extrasolar Planets", Astronomy Seminar
Wednesday, September 29th, 2021
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Other Online
Dr. Shreyas Vissapragad, California Institute of Technology
The Evaporating Atmospheres of Extrasolar Planets
A majority of the extrasolar planets discovered by transit surveys reside surprisingly close to their host stars, and their atmospheres are so intensely irradiated that they can escape altogether. This critical evolutionary process may play a key role in clearing out the Neptune desert (a dearth of Neptune-mass planets on orbits shorter than five days). However, photoevaporation efficiencies are observationally unconstrained, so other processes like high-eccentricity migration remain plausible explanations. The recent discovery of the planetary metastable helium line, which probes tenuous gas near the wind-launching radius, allows us to place some of the first observational constraints on photoevaporation. In this talk, I will first discuss a novel narrowband photometric technique for studying atmospheric outflows using the Wide-field InfraRed Camera (WIRC) at Palomar Observatory. I will then mention some initial results from our survey of atmospheric escape in gas giant planets as well as in the young V1298 Tau system. I will also discuss how energetic considerations can greatly improve mass-loss inference from helium observations. Finally, I will propose some future directions for atmospheric escape studies.
Meeting URL: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/meet/cab16109