News & Events

Crystals, Fluids, Lithography…Oh My! Towards Miniaturizing Optical Processors Using Photo-sensitive Polymers  

Light not only has the power to help us learn about the physical world, but it can also help us solve problems that are hard to solve in other ways. That is, if we can get the optical systems out of the lab and into the field. I work with photopolymers (i.e., light-sensitive plastics) to facilitate the fabrication of integrated optofluidic devices. These devices combine optical and microfluidic components into a single portable chip using processing techniques that are potentially easier than current methods of creating these devices. I will start this talk by describing the device that motivated me to start miniaturizing devices. Then I will talk about what I am doing and plan to do with integrated optofluidic devices.

physics of electronic transport in solids and molecular magnetism

Presented by Olivia Falk, Maxwell Kuschel, and Hayley Williams

13.7 billion years ago the big bang occured and in the fastest whirlwind known to humanity all reality sprung forth. The events that followed helped characterize the very matter that forms and surrounds you. To help us understand this we look at the very first sights of reality.

Students in the Methods of Experimental Physics will present a poster session for members of the School.

Abstract: Since bottoming out in 1999, the number of physics bachelor’s degrees awarded annually has increased dramatically for all reported racial and ethnic groups except African Americans. The reasons why were presented in the 2020 TEAM-UP report of the American Institute of Physics, along with recommendations for individuals, departments, universities, and professional societies to eliminate this racial inequity. This talk will summarize key findings and recommendations of the report and place them in the context of the School of Physics and Astronomy, the physics and astronomy professions at large, and the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

For further information on the TEAM-UP Report see https://www.aip.org/diversity-initiatives/team-up-task-force

Abstract: The complexity of living systems poses a formidable challenge to physical scientists interested in biology. I will discuss one theoretical approach towards gaining possible insight into biological phenomena: to design systems to exhibit similar phenomena. To do so, we start with systems with complex energy/cost landscapes, which have far more variation in their properties than those with simple ones. This natural variation can be pushed even further by design, allowing us to tune in properties inspired by those common in living matter, such as the ability of proteins (e.g. hemoglobin) to change their conformations upon binding of an atom (oxygen) or molecule, or the ability of the brain’s vascular network to send enhanced blood flow and oxygen to specific areas of the brain associated with a given task. We create ensembles of systems designed for a given task to gain new insight into the relation between microscopic structure and function that may help us to understand living systems.

The American Institute of Physics recently completed a report on increasing African American representation in undergraduate physics and astronomy programs.  The report and some additional resources are posted at:

https://www.aip.org/diversity-initiatives/team-up-task-force

Among the follow-up activities based on this report is a series of webinars sponsored by APS and AIP.  One of these is scheduled for this Friday, November 20th  (1:00 - 3:00 central time) and will also be recorded for those who wish to register but are not available during that time.  The registration link is at

https://www.aps.org/programs/minorities/webinars/teamup.cfm

This webinar is recommended to members of the School. There will be a Colloquium on December 12th that will discuss the task force results.

USC Professor and History Channel's The Universe contributor, Clifford Johnson

Gamma Ray Astronomy: From Pulsars to Supermassive Black Holes

Presented by Anne Duerr, Ann Isaacs, and Anna Boldt

Gamma rays are the highest energy photons in the electromagnetic spectrum, created by the densest, most energetic processes in the universe. They have so much energy that they can't be reflected and focused onto a detector like lower energy photons. Though it developed considerably later than other, more traditional, modes of astronomy, gamma ray astronomy allows us to peer into the inner workings of mysterious systems like the jets of supermassive back holes, neutron stars, solar flares, and more!

Cecilia Levy (University of Albany)

Abstract: Dark matter is still one of the greatest mysteries of the Universe. The nature of the particles and fields that constitute dark matter remains elusive. The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment will be the most sensitive direct detection dark matter experiment to detect the weak interactions between dark and ordinary matter, with a projected spin-independent cross-section sensitivity of 1.6 x 10^{-48} cm^2 for a 40 GeV WIMP mass, for a 1000 live day run. LZ uses dual-phase liquid xenon TPC technology to detect dark matter, and is nearing the end of construction, 4850 ft underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota. In this talk, I will give an overview of dark matter, and of the LZ experiment.