UConn Today: A New Phase for the Gant Science Complex
The UConn Today published an article highlighting the state of 10-year renovation of the Gant Science Complex. The Complex was first constructed between 1974 and 1978 and was home to the departments of mathematics and physics for several decades. The renovation to this 285,00 square-foot campus landmark is part of Next Generation Connecticut, the initiative […]
[Read More]
Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell – 2019 Katzenstein Lecturer
The UConn Physics Department is delighted to announce that our 2019 Distinguished Katzenstein Lecturer will be Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell is world-famous for her discovery of pulsars in 1967. Pulsars are a special type of neutron star, the rotating dense remnant of a massive star. Pulsars have highly magnetic surfaces, and emit a beam of electromagnetic radiation […]
[Read More]
Research Spotlight: Exploring the nature of the universe with Dr. Thomas Blum
The Daily Campus published an article highlighting the research of Prof. Thomas Blum about Quantum Chromodynamics, a theory which describes the interactions between elementary particles. The development of this theory could help further understanding of the Standard Model of particle physics. The Standard Model is what physicists use to describe the fundamental building blocks of […]
[Read More]
Astronomer Jonathan Trump interviewed on UConn 360
UConn Astrophysicist and observational astronomer Jonathan Trump was a recent guest on UConn 360, a podcast from the Storrs campus of the University of Connecticut. In this conversation, Jonathan tells about how attending a lecture as an undergraduate at Penn State captured his interest and changed the course of his professional career. Now Jonathan offers […]
[Read More]
Greetings from the Department Head
New building, new teaching approach, new people – there is a lot of change and excitement in the air for the Physics Department in 2019. The most obvious change is that physics has moved into a newly renovated building. What most alumni will remember as the Math Building has been taken down to its frame […]
[Read More]Recent Events
-
23rd Annual Katzenstein Distinguished Lecture Series4:00pm
11/8
23rd Annual Katzenstein Distinguished Lecture Series
Friday, November 8th, 2019
04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Storrs Campus Student Union Theater
Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell from the University of Oxford in England is world famous for her discovery of pulsars in 1967. At the time of the discovery of pulsars, Bell Burnell was a graduate student at the University of Cambridge and worked with her supervisor, Anthony Hewish. This discovery is considered one of the most important achievements of the 20th century and was recognized by a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1974, awarded to her supervisor Anthony Hewish as well as to astronomer Martin Ryle.
In 2018, she also received the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. Bell Burnell donated her full $3 million Breakthrough prize to fund "women, underrepresented ethnic minority, and refugee students to become physics researchers." She told http://space.com, "I feel that I made my contribution in part because I felt an outsider," she added. "I was one of very few women, and I wasn't from the southeast of England, the affluent part of the country. So, I think increasing diversity of the workforce actually allows all sorts of things to develop."
Professor Dame Bell Burnell has a highly distinguished career including serving as the head of the Royal Astronomical Society, the first female president of both the Institute of Physics and The Royal Society of Edinburgh. For services to astronomy she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2007.
View the livestream at: https://www.youtube.com/TheUCTVchannel14 -
Prof. Meredith Hughes, Wesleyan, "Using Debris Disks to Trace the Dynamics of Planetary Systems", Physics Colloquium (Prof. Meredith Hughes, Wesleyan)3:30pm
11/1
Prof. Meredith Hughes, Wesleyan, "Using Debris Disks to Trace the Dynamics of Planetary Systems", Physics Colloquium (Prof. Meredith Hughes, Wesleyan)
Friday, November 1st, 2019
03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Storrs Campus BPB 131
Prof. Meredith Hughes, Wesleyan
Using Debris Disks to Trace the Dynamics of Planetary Systems
Debris disks are signposts of mature planetary systems, and millimeter-size dust is an excellent tracer of the gravitational landscape around planets. I will describe observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) that leverage the presence of debris disks to explore the dynamics of planetary systems. For example, we can use the vertical puffiness (or lack thereof) to hunt for otherwise invisible Uranus and Neptune analogs, and in systems with directly imaged companions we can use the chaotic zone extent as a measurement of the dynamical mass of the companion. We are also using millimeter disk morphology as a test of theories of the origin of wide-separation planets.
Cookies will be served prior to the talk, at 3:00 p.m. outside BPB-131 -
Prof. C. Battersby, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "The Milky Way Laboratory", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm
11/1
Prof. C. Battersby, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "The Milky Way Laboratory", Graduate Student Seminar
Friday, November 1st, 2019
12:15 PM - 01:15 PM
Storrs Campus GS-119
Prof. C. Battersby, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
The Milky Way Laboratory
Our own Milky Way Galaxy is a powerful and relatively nearby laboratory in which to study the physical processes that occur throughout the Universe. From the organization of gas on galactic scales to the life cycle of gas and stars under varied environmental conditions, studies of our Milky Way underpin many areas of modern astrophysics. I will present a brief tour of our Milky Way Laboratory, including 1) the connection between long, filamentary molecular clouds and spiral structure, and 2) how observing our extreme, turbulent Galactic Center (the Central Molecular Zone) can help us learn more about how gas is converted into stars during the peak epoch of cosmic star formation. I will also briefly discuss the Origins Space Telescope, a NASA mission concept study for the 2020 Decadal survey, opening up about 3 orders of magnitude of discovery space on science from first stars to life.
Nuclear Astrophysics -
H. Perry Hatchfield, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Understanding Enigmatic Star Formation Activity in the Milky Way's Galactic Center", Astronomy Seminar2:30pm
10/30
H. Perry Hatchfield, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Understanding Enigmatic Star Formation Activity in the Milky Way's Galactic Center", Astronomy Seminar
Wednesday, October 30th, 2019
02:30 PM - 03:00 PM
Storrs Campus GS-119
H. Perry Hatchfield, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
Understanding Enigmatic Star Formation Activity in the Milky Way's Galactic Center
The CMZoom Survey, a Submillimeter Array (SMA) large program, has produced a catalog of dense objects in the 1.3mm dust continuum, complete within all high (\(>10^{23}\) N(H2)) column density clouds across the inner 300 pc of the Milky Way. This region, known as the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is well studied for its extreme densities, pressures, temperatures and turbulent forces relative to the Galactic disk, as well as a mysterious deficiency of star formation relative to its dense molecular gas content. To understand this deficiency, we are building a suite of hydrodynamic simulations with a consistent dynamical model for the CMZ, implemented with variable physics. By developing these simulations and observations together, we aim to compile a set of tools to better understand the relationship between dense gas and star formation across galactic environments. -
Gloria Fonseca Alvarez, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project Radius Luminosity Relation", Astronomy Seminar2:00pm
10/30
Gloria Fonseca Alvarez, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project Radius Luminosity Relation", Astronomy Seminar
Wednesday, October 30th, 2019
02:00 PM - 02:30 PM
Storrs Campus GS-119
Gloria Fonseca Alvarez, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project Radius Luminosity Relation
Results from a few decades of reverberation mapping (RM) studies have revealed a correlation between the radius of the broad-line emitting region and the continuum luminosity of active galactic nuclei. This "radius-luminosity" relation allows us to estimate black-hole masses across cosmic time, using single-epoch spectroscopy rather than long-term RM monitoring.
I will discuss results from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping project that differ significantly from the previously established radius-luminosity relation, introducing new challenges for single-epoch black hole masses. -
Dr. Leonid Glazman, Department of Physics, Yale University, "Topology of the Fermi surface wave functions and magnetic oscillations in metals", Condensed Matter Physics Seminar2:00pm
10/29
Dr. Leonid Glazman, Department of Physics, Yale University, "Topology of the Fermi surface wave functions and magnetic oscillations in metals", Condensed Matter Physics Seminar
Tuesday, October 29th, 2019
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Storrs Campus GS 119
Dr. Leonid Glazman,
Department of Physics, Yale University
Topology of the Fermi surface wave functions and magnetic oscillations in metals
In the traditional Fermiology, the size and shape of the Fermi surface in a metal is often deduced from the period of magnetic oscillations of transport or thermodynamic characteristics, e.g., from the de Haas -- van Alphen effect. We find that the intercept g of the infinite-field asymptote of the oscillations yields information about the topology of the Fermi surface wave functions. The topological invariance of g originates from the symmetry of extremal orbits, which depends not only on the space group but also on the field orientation with respect to the crystal axes. The wave functions fall into 10 distinct classes stemming from the crystalline symmetry; transitions between the classes occur via magnetic breakdown. -
Prof. Chunlei Guo, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, "Material Functionalization with Femtosecond Lasers", Physics Colloquium (Prof. Chunlei Guo, University of Rochester)3:30pm
10/25
Prof. Chunlei Guo, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, "Material Functionalization with Femtosecond Lasers", Physics Colloquium (Prof. Chunlei Guo, University of Rochester)
Friday, October 25th, 2019
03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Storrs Campus BPB-131
Prof. Chunlei Guo, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester
Material Functionalization with Femtosecond Lasers
Femtosecond lasers are a powerful tool for high-precision material processing and functionalization. In this talk, I will discuss some of our recent advancements in femtosecond laser micro- and nano-processing, including the resulting surface structures, their formation dynamics, the drastically altered surface functionalities, and demonstration of various applications. I will also discuss the broader research activities in my labs, including extreme nonlinear optics, advanced material development, nanophotonics, and ultrafast metrology.
Cookies will be served prior to the talk, at 3:00PM outside Room BPB-131 -
Prof. M. Gai, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Nuclear Astrophysics", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm
10/25
Prof. M. Gai, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Nuclear Astrophysics", Graduate Student Seminar
Friday, October 25th, 2019
12:15 PM - 01:15 PM
Storrs Campus GS-119
Prof. M. Gai, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
Nuclear Astrophysics
Stellar evolution and Cosmological processes (after the first three minutes) are for the most part, nuclear processes. Nuclear Astrophysics, the study of these processes, reached a level of maturity where Stars and Cosmological events can be used to study fundamental questions in Physics. We will review some of these processes as an introduction to Nuclear Astrophysics, where stars have been used to study neutrino properties and deviation from the standard model. I will review a few of these questions that were studied at the Laboratory for Nuclear Science (LNS) at Avery Point together with an emphasis on open questions that are now being addressed at the LNS.