Events

Driving the first steps of Life in non-equilibrium settings

Abstract: How could life emerge on the early Earth? Our experiments investigate the first steps of molecular evolution through non-equilibrium experiments. Typically, we use millimeter-scale temperature gradients, including the effects of water-air interfaces, to mimic conditions in early Earth rock pores. In chambers that simulate heated rock pores, the first information containing molecules of life are shuttled back and forth by surface tension, evaporation, the rmophoresis, and gravity. These environments accumulate and select for length, drive strand separation for replication, and offer a continuous supply of fresh molecules while performing wet-dry cycles. Using sequencing, we see how sequence information emerges from randomness by performing very simple ligation reactions. The experiments illuminate the pitfalls to establishing open-ended evolution. In some cases, the studies are accelerated by using proteins, but we are approaching the realistic case of using only RNA. The effort is embedded in an interdisciplinary network to study autocatalytic networks prior to the on set of Darwinian evolution.

The news from the LHCb: flavor anomalies and exotic hadrons

Abstract:   The LHCb experiment is devoted to searches for new types ofinteractions in loop decays of heavy quarks. Recently several studies of b→sll(l=e, μ, or τ leptons) rare decays exhibit tensions between experimentalresults and the Standard Model predictions of branching fractions, angulardistributions and lepton universality. None of these results is significantenough to constitute observation of new physics on their own. The LHCb detectoris being upgraded right now, and next few years should clarify theseobservations. Meanwhile, the LHCb has discovered a number of pentaquark andtetraquark states in decays to ,  to  and  , pointing to looselybound hadron-hadron molecular states, as well as tightly bound states by directcolor couplings. This has revitalized hadron spectroscopy. I will discuss theseresults and future prospects.

This colloquium will be held in Tate B50 with a remote option:
https://umn.zoom.us/j/94831171860 

Kevin Gotrik, 3M scientist 
Inside Perspective on How a Research Oriented Company Works
 
 

Abstract: 3M is among the largest multinational corporations that also possess their own research and development labs. Technological corporations that manage to exist for >100 years (since 1902) are rare but they do share cultural similarities that point to keys to successfully transitioning fundamental and applied research over the innovators ‘Valley of Death’ into successful products. In this talk, the question of how best to bring science out of the lab and into the world will be explored.

Bio: Kevin Gotrik holds a B.S. in Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison where he worked on synchrotron studies of polymer thin films. During this time he had the opportunity to work in Germany both at the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research in Dresden and at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology in Stuttgart. He obtained his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013, where he worked under Prof. Caroline Ross on annealing strategies for block copolymer thin films and with Prof. Karl Berggren on strategies for finely controlling nanoscale self-assembly with electron beam lithography. Since 2013, Kevin has worked at 3M in the corporate labs working on applications of nanoscale thin films and has filed over 50 patents (5 granted). Since graduating he has shared his experience as a scientist in industry by speaking to students at MIT, Columbia University (NYC), and the Federico Santa María Technical University in Chile.


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These virtual events are intended to introduce the study of space and our Universe in a fun and engaging way, while providing a "peek behind the curtain" at modern research in astrophysics. 

Menu: Hamburgers, Hot dogs, Black bean burgers, Potato Salad, Coleslaw, Potato chips and Mini Cupcakes.

Venue change to PAN, due to predicted rain. Masks will be required in the food line and in PAN.

Claudia Felser, Max Planck Institute For Chemical Physics of Solids

Magnetic Materials and Topology

Abstract:  Topology, a mathematical concept, recently became a hot and truly transdisciplinary topic in condensed matter physics, solid state chemistry and materials science. All 200 000 inorganic materials were recently classified into trivial and topological materials: topological insulators, Dirac, Weyl and nodal-line semimetals, and topological metals [1]. Around 20% of all materials host topological bands. Currently, we have focused also on magnetic materials, a fertile field for new since all crossings in the band structure of ferromagnets are Weyl nodes or nodal lines [2], as for example Co 2 MnGa and Co 3 Sn 2 S 2 . Beyond a single particle picture and identified antiferromagnetic topological materials [3].


1. Bradlyn et al., Nature 547 298, (2017), Vergniory, et al., Nature 566 480 (2019).
2. Belopolski, et al., Science 365, 1278 (2019), Liu, et al. Nature Physics 14, 1125 (2018), Guin, et al.
Advanced Materials 31 (2019) 1806622, Liu, et al., Science 365, 1282 (2019), Morali, et al., Science
365, 1286 (2019)
3. Xu et al. Nature 586 (2020) 702.

Professor Roberta Humphreys of the School of Physics and Astronomy will deliver the first colloquium of the 2021-2022 school year on the topic of Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), rare, extremely large stars known as Hypergiants and their imposters.

Abstract: The most massive stars end their brief lives dramatically as supernovae when their massive cores collapse to black hole or neutron stars. Prior to their terminal state though, massive stars experience high mass loss episodes that alter their evolution and their eventual fate. Forty years ago, our comparison of the most luminous stars in our region of the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud revealed comparable populations of massive stars and the recognition of an empirical upper-luminosity boundary that was not predicted by theory or models at that time. Up until that time it was generally accepted that red supegiants were the end produce of massive stars evolution. But the lack of red supergiants above a certain luminosity implied an upper mass for stars that could evolve to red supergiants with important implications for stellar evolution. We suggested then that the upper luminosity boundary was due to mass loss, including high mass loss episodes near the Eddington limit. Today, observations in the Galaxy and nearby resolved galaxies have revealed evolved stars of different types experiencing high mass loss, stars that characterize the upper luminosity limit, and provide clues to the origin of their high mass loss events prior to their terminal state. These include the Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), warm and cool hypergiants, B[e] supegiants, and “superpnova impostors”. I'll just have time to introduce you to some of the most interesting stars I know.

The Physics Force will preform two back-to back shows, at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.