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Welcome to Physics

The University of Connecticut is consistently ranked the Number 1 Public University in New England. The University's first Physical Review article was published in 1899, and the first physics course was taught in 1918. The Department of Physics granted its first Ph.D. in 1954. One (so far) of the Department's Graduate Students, David M. Lee, went to receive a Nobel Prize in Physics.

The Department of Physics offers a wide range of graduate and undergraduate courses, as well as a vibrant research program with 29 full-time faculty.

Upcoming Events

Apr 20 PhD Dissertation Defense10:30am
Apr 20 UConn Physics Colloquium3:30pm
Apr 23 Particles, Astrophysics and Nuclear Physics Seminar2:00pm
Apr 23 Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Seminar4:00pm
Apr 25 Astronomy Seminar Series2:00pm

PhD Dissertation Defense

Friday, April 20th, 2018

10:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Storrs Campus
IMS147B

Scott Galica, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut

Polychromatic Optical Forces in Diatomic Systems

This dissertation discusses an experiment to demonstrate the application of the stimulated bichromatic optical force (BCF) on the diatomic molecule calcium monofluoride (CaF). The research demonstrates the deflection of a supersonic beam of CaF through the application of BCF under a variety of conditions, highlighting distinctive characteristics of the force. Results show that the measured deflection of the molecular beam is consistent with the behavior of BCF under the tested conditions. In particular, we have measured a predicted reversal in the direction of the force as well as an applied force which exceeds the radiation pressure force. Detailed modeling of the BCF in multilevel systems corroborates our findings. We discuss the development and application of these models with respect to non-ideal conditions present in the experiment. The construction of the molecular beam source and BCF laser systems are discussed in detail. A brief discussion of further modeled extensions of the BCF through the addition of higher order sidebands is presented as well. Overall, our results demonstrate that the BCF is a potentially useful tool for the manipulation of cold molecules.

Contact Information: Prof. P. Gould

UConn Physics Colloquium

Friday, April 20th, 2018

03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

Storrs Campus
Physics Building, Room PB-38

UConn Physics Colloquium

A celebration in recognition of Professor Douglas Hamiltonâs teaching, scholarship, and service

We will come together to honor Professor Douglas Hamilton upon the occasion of his retirement from teaching, scholarship, and academic service at the University of Connecticut. The colloquium will open with remarks, recollections and anecdotal observations concerning Dougâs 39-year academic career at UConn by his former doctoral students, colleagues, and associates. Time permitting, Doug will reflect on some of the highlights of his experiences and accomplishments.

Jason Hancock
with organization by Dave Perry

Friday, April 20, 2018
3:30 p.m.
Gant Science Complex
Physics, Room PB-38

Refreshments will be served prior to the talk at 2:30 p.m. in Room P-103

Contact Information: Prof. Doug Hamilton, Prof. Nora Berrah

Particles, Astrophysics and Nuclear Physics Seminar

Monday, April 23rd, 2018

02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

Storrs Campus
Physics Building, P121

Dr. Yibo Yang, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University

A glimpse of the proton spin through lattice

Deep-inelastic scattering experiments reveal that contrary to the naive quark model, the quark spin contribution to the proton spin is quite small, about 30%. In an effort to search for the missing proton spin, recent analyses of the high-statistics 2009 STAR experiments at RHIC showed evidence of non-zero glue helicity in the proton. However, the results are limited by very large uncertainty in the x < 0.05
region.

To address this issue from the theoretical side, we made the first lattice QCD calculation of the glue spin in the proton based on the LaMET framework, and the results suggested that a large part of the missing component of the proton spin comes from the gluon spin. The results on the other parts of the proton spin will be also presented.

Contact Information: Prof. Luchang Jin

Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Seminar

Monday, April 23rd, 2018

04:00 PM - 05:00 PM

Storrs Campus
Physics Building, P121

Dr. Robert R. Jones, Department of Physics, University of Virginia

Controlled Transfer of Electronic Wavepacket Motion Between Distant Atoms

The establishment, observation, and potential control of correlated multi-electron dynamics is a complex problem of interest across disciplines with numerous applications in a variety of contexts, from femtosecond interatomic Coulomb decay and attosecond charge migration within small molecules, to energy transfer in photosynthetic systems, to quantum control of few- and many-body systems, and quantum information processing. The extreme sensitivity of Rydberg atoms to electric fields, including those produced by neighboring atoms, makes them superb candidates for studying such phenomena. In a quantum analogy to classical far-field radio transmission from a source to receiver antenna, we have transferred electronic wavepacket motion established within Rydberg atoms in a dilute nearly-frozen gas to neighboring Rydberg atoms. The transfer is enabled by electron correlations resulting from electric field-controlled, atom-atom couplings and relies on the use of both cold atom and ultrafast techniques.

Contact Information: Prof. C. Trallero

Astronomy Seminar Series

Wednesday, April 25th, 2018

02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

Storrs Campus
IMS159

Luke Kelley, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Harvard University

LIGO has now detected Gravitational Waves (GW) from numerous, stellar-mass black-hole binary systems. Pulsar Timing Arrays can use the incredibly precise radio flashes from pulsars to measure GW from binaries of supermassive black-holes (SMBH). We use state-of-the-art, cosmological hydrodynamic-simulations ("Illustris") to model the mergers of galaxies and the SMBH they host. In this talk, I will outline the key physical processes which mediate the SMBH-binary merger process, and present our predictions for the GW signals that Pulsar Timing Arrays will observe. I will highlight the physical information about SMBH & SMBH-environments encoded in those GW signals, and discuss how long we'll have to wait for the first detections in this exciting new regime.

Luke Kelley is a finishing PhD student in the Harvard Astronomy Department, working with Prof. Lars Hernquist on Massive Black-Hole Binaries using data from the Illustris cosmological simulations. Luke's work makes important predictions for gravitational wave signals detectable by Pulsar Timing Arrays in the next decade. If you would like to meet with Luke, please email Cara Battersby (cara.battersby@uconn.edu) to set up a time.

Contact Information: Prof. C. Battersby

Physics News

In memoriam – George H. Rawitscher (1928-2018)
Muon g-2 Theory workshop
Physics students boost interdisciplinary research in materials
Workshop ‘Dynamic Quantum Matter’ organized by UConn faculty
One Giant Leap in Mapping the Universe – UConn Today
Controlling Chemistry with the Tools of Physics
Prof. C. Trallero awarded multiple research grants
Astronomers granted early science time on James Webb space telescope
Special Lecture on Diversity and Inclusion
Thousands attended eclipse viewing hosted by UConn Physics
Undergraduate achievements receive wide attention
The Solar Eclipse Viewing Party
UConn astronomers on the American eclipse
Physics student John Mangeri wins prestigious fellowship
Physics society names three APS Fellows
Edward E. Eyler: 1955-2016
Professor William Stwalley Retires
UConn Physics welcomes new teaching faculty
Welcome to Three Assistant Professors in Astronomy
Employee appreciation
Prof. Sochnikov is a recipient of Montana Instruments Cold Science Exploration Awards
“Physicists Solve Low-Temperature Magnetic Mystery”
“Caution: Shrinks When Warm”

Contact Us

Phone:	(860) 486-4915
E-mail:	officestaff@phys.uconn.edu
Address:	Department of Physics 2152 Hillside Road, Unit 3046 Storrs, CT 06269-3046
More:	http://physics.uconn.edu/about-us/contact/

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