Events Archive

Apr
19
2012
The Astrophysics of Super Massive Black Holes
Biosketch: Dr. David Ballantyne obtained his Ph.D. in 2002 from the University of Cambridge, and has been an Assistant Professor at the Center for Relativistic Astrophysics in the School of Physics since 2008.  His research concentrates on topics in high-energy astrophysics with an emphasis on interpreting existing data and making predictions for future observations. His main interests are the evolution of galaxies and their central supermassive black...
Apr
19
2012
Computing gravitational perturbations and metric reconstruction for extreme-mass-ratio inspirals on a Schwarzschild black hole using frequency domain methods
Extreme-mass-ratio binaries, composed of a small compact object (SCO) and supermassive black hole (SMBH), are eventual observational candidates for future space-based gravitational wave observatories.  Theoretically, these binaries are examples of the as-yet not thoroughly solved two-body problem in general relativity.  Extreme-mass-ratio inspiral (EMRI) calculations proceed by using black hole perturbation theory.  The gravitational field of the small mass affects its own orbit in the background geometry,...
Apr
19
2012
3D Anderson Localization of Ultracold Matter
Apr
18
2012
C21U Town Hall: Udacity's Sebastian Thrun to speak on Reinventing the Universities
Sebastian Thrun recently left Stanford University and started Udacity. Udacity is an online university that seeks to reach the 99% of the world population that are presently excluded from high-quality higher education. The first class on Artificial Intelligence, jointly offered with Stanford, attracted 160,000 students, of which 23,000 graduated with Stanford-level qualifications. The speaker will discuss his experience with traditional forms of education, and brainstorm how higher education may look like in the digital age. Thrun is co-founder of Udacity, a Google VP, and a Stanford Research Professor. At Google, he runs Google X, home to the Google self-driving car...
Apr
17
2012
Entropic elasticity and structural change in biofilament networks
In this talk we will focus on the elasticity of soft filamentous networks. We will begin with the mechanical behavior of fibrin networks whichhave been shown to be highly extensible in recent experiments. We believe that the high extensibility of the networks has its origins in the force inducedstructural change in the proteins making up the fibrin fibers. We will present a model and experimental evidence in support of our hypothesis. In theremainder of the talk we will describe how the quasi-harmonic approximation of statistical mechanics can be combined with the finite element method (usedin structural analysis of buildings,...
Apr
16
2012
Cellular Mechanics: The active polymer networks underlying force transmission in living cells
Apr
11
2012
The role of the interfaces in heterostructures of complex oxides
Understanding the new states at the interfaces and the resulting whole behavior of the heterostructures and multilayers is a hot topic at the forefront of the fundamental research, as demonstrated by the huge number of theoretical and experimental studies published in the topmost level scientific journals. In this context, s...
Apr
09
2012
Ford Commemorative Lecture: "God does play dice: Why quantum mechanics is craps, How chaos crafted the Kuiper belt, and other curmudgeonly concepts"
Joseph Ford saw beauty in "Chaos" and the potential for ``villainous chaos" to be used in a constructive manner. His ideas have proved prescient. The talk will focus mainly on how chaotic dynamics may have played a key constructive -- rather than destructive -- role in shaping certain features of the Kuiper belt: in particular, the formation and properties of binary objects in the transneptunian part of the Solar System. Kuiper belt binaries stand out from other known binary objects in having a...
Apr
05
2012
Surface States in Topological Insulators and Superconductors: Discovery and Recent Results
Bulk Topological Insulators are a new phase of electronic matter which realizes a non-quantum-Hall-like topological state in the bulk matter and unlike the quantum Hall liquids can be turned into superconductors. In this Lecture, I will first review the basic theory of topological matter and...
Apr
03
2012
Einstein Toolkit Workshop - April 3rd - April 6th
The workshop will provide a general introduction into numerical relativity and in code development within large collaborations.  The number of addendees are limited, and while registration is free, it is required. In order to register, write an email to workshop@einsteintoolkit.org.  

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