Events

Abstract: Understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies remains one of the great challenges of modern cosmology. Rest-frame optical spectroscopy serves as a uniquely powerful tool for untangling many of the key processes in galaxy formation, including the nature of galaxies' stars, gas, and dust. We present a brief history of rest-optical spectroscopic probes of the galaxy formation process at high redshift, ranging from early ground-based attempts to the very latest results from the James Webb Space Telescope, which has revolutionized our ability to learn about the most distant galaxies in the universe. We focus in particular on questions related to the evolving enrichment and physical conditions in the interstellar medium of star-forming galaxies in the early universe, as these place critical constraints on the cycle of baryons through galaxies over cosmic time.

 The JWST Revolution in Galaxy Formation 

Dr. Alice Shapley (UCLA).

Understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies remains one of the great challenges of modern cosmology. Key outstanding questions include: Why do stars start and stop forming in galaxies? Galaxies are not island universes, so how do they participate in their larger cosmic environments? How does the breathtaking variety in galactic structures (spiral disks, spheroids, irregulars) originate? What is the ongoing relationship between galaxies and the supermassive black holes that live at their centers? And, of course, what is the nature of the very first galaxies in the early universe? Recently, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revolutionized our ability to answer these questions with direct measurements of galaxies observed as they existed over 13 billion years ago. In particular, we have gained unprecedented insights into galaxies in the very early universe by analyzing not only their images but also their spectra. These breathtaking new data provide essential clues about the origin of many key chemical elements such as oxygen and nitrogen, which, in turn, reveal the workings of the galaxy formation process itself. 

Bio: Alice Shapley is a full professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She obtained her AB at Harvard University in 1997, and a PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 2003. She was a Miller Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University, before joining the faculty at UCLA in 2008. Shapley uses both large ground-based telescopes (e.g., the Keck Observatory in Hawaii) and space-based facilities (e.g., the Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope) to collect optical and infrared images and spectra of distant galaxies, in order to address key questions in galaxy formation and evolution. She has been awarded honors for her research including Sloan and Packard Fellowships, and was recently elected a fellow of the American Physical Society.

RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeO_m22Qt5zU86hQ8nbAwDq3FeuQ-gDvQNcG8SI47QhoHlYPw/viewform

The public viewing is scheduled every Friday during the University's Fall and Spring semesters. Spring 2025 events will run from January 24th to April 25th, except March 14th and March 21st. A presentation will be given at each event regardless of the weather, so we will always have something for you. Observing will follow the presentation if the weather is acceptable (clear with wind chill above -15° F). Click here for the schedule. For other questions, please email the outreach coordinator at [email protected].

The presentation begins at 8:00pm in the Tate Laboratory of Physics, room B50. After the presentation, we move up to Tate 510 where we can access the telescopes on the roof deck and the historic 10.5" refractor in the dome. Telescope observing usually begins around 8:30pm.

Abstract: Condensed matter physics has witnessed emergent quantum phenomena driven by electron correlation and topology. In this talk, I will introduce a family of synthetic quantum materials, based on crystalline multilayer graphene, as a new platform to engineer and study emergent phenomena driven by many-body interactions. This system hosts flat-bands in highly ordered conventional crystalline materials and dresses them with proximity effects enabled by rich structures in 2D van der Waals heterostructures. As a result, a rich spectrum of emergent phenomena including correlated insulators, spin/valley-polarized metals, integer and fractional quantum anomalous Hall effects, as well as chiral superconductivities have been observed in our experiments.
 

The public viewing is scheduled every Friday during the University's Fall and Spring semesters. Spring 2025 events will run from January 24th to April 25th, except March 14th and March 21st. A presentation will be given at each event regardless of the weather, so we will always have something for you. Observing will follow the presentation if the weather is acceptable (clear with wind chill above -15° F). Click here for the schedule. For other questions, please email the outreach coordinator at [email protected].

The presentation begins at 8:00pm in the Tate Laboratory of Physics, room B50. After the presentation, we move up to Tate 510 where we can access the telescopes on the roof deck and the historic 10.5" refractor in the dome. Telescope observing usually begins around 8:30pm.

Abstract:  Electricity, the foundation of modern technology, is carried by electrons in solids. Understanding how electrons behave where they interact with Avogadro’s number of surrounding particles has been a central pursuit in condensed matter physics.  From early band theory, which classified insulators, metals, and semiconductors, to the exploration of quantum materials hosting exotic emergent electronic phenomena, the field has continually advanced. Research on these quantum materials has been revealing a diverse range of phenomena, including topological phases, hydrodynamic electron transport, unconventional superconductivity, and correlated insulating states, all of which open new avenues for novel electronic functionalities. In this talk, I will introduce a new monolayer quantum material that combines nontrivial topology with a high electronic density of states, providing an intrinsic and highly controllable platform for emergent collective behaviors. I will present a series of unusual electronic phenomena observed in this system, including dual quantum spin Hall insulating states, an electronically driven superlattice memory, and the realization of a Hall diode.

Abstract: Duality is a surprising phenomenon in quantum physics where two seemingly different systems are actually equivalent—they describe the same physical reality in different ways.  Often these dual descriptions are complementary, each shedding light on a different aspect of the dynamics.  Famous examples include Kramers-Wannier duality in the Ising model, and electric-magnetic duality in gauge theory.  Over the past few years, a new viewpoint on these dualities was uncovered, linking them with novel symmetry principles in quantum physics.  These special symmetries have remarkable algebraic properties and have opened up a new paradigm for understanding strongly coupled phases.  We will explain these remarkable symmetry principles and highlight their diverse applications in both particle physics and condensed matter.

Connect with University researchers as you explore the museum galleries! You’ll find them throughout the second floor with hands-on activities, demonstrations, and a wealth of knowledge to share.