Department Colloquia

Past colloquia

Martin Weiner Lecture Series
Department of Physics Colloquium
4:00pm, Abelson 131
Refreshments at 3:30pm outside Abelson 131 

Fall 2009 Colloquia


Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The Make-Believe World of Real-World Physics
Eric Mazur, Harvard University
 

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Intrinsic Alignments of Galaxies: Effects of Large-Scale Structure on Galaxy Formation
Tereasa Brainerd, Boston University

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

How the Hippies Saved Physics
David Kaiser, MIT 

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Watching Worlds Collide
Matthew Kleban, NYU

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

No colloquium.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Quantum and Fluid Mechanics of Global Warming
Brad Marston, Brown University

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Precision Cosmology with 21 cm Tomography
Max Tegmark, MIT

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Models and manipulations: Min oscillations inside an  E.coli bacterium
Andrew Rutenberg, Dalhousie University

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Ionic Membranes and Gels
Monica Olvera de la Cruz, Northwestern University

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Shape Dependence of Fluctuation-Induced Forces
Mehran Kardar, MIT

Abstract:  The Casimir force is an attraction between parallel conducting plates due to quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic (EM) field. Thermal fluctuations of correlated fluids (such as critical mixtures or superfluids) are also modified by boundaries, resulting in similar interactions. A nice demonstration is provided by the thinning of a wetting film of helium at and below the superfluid transition. Quantitative understanding of the latter requires inclusion of surface undulations. The EM Casimir force is also modified for corrugated surfaces in non-trivial fashion. I shall also discuss other geometries, such as spheres and cylinders.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Remarkable Power of General Relativity
Gary Horowitz, UC Santa Barbara

Abstract: Einstein's general theory of relativity describes gravity in terms of the curvature of space and time. This theory has been very successful in describing a wide range of gravitational phenomena. Surprisingly,  it has recently been shown that general relativity can describe other areas of physics as well, including aspects of particle physics and condensed matter physics. This is a result of  the gauge/gravity duality that has emerged from string theory. I will explain this remarkable development and show how general relativity reproduces properties of QCD and superconductivity.

Spring 2010 Colloquia


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Mark O. Robbins, Johns Hopkins University

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Pedro Miguel Reis, MIT

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Bogdan Dragnea, Indiana University

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Nicholas Abbott, University of Wisconsin

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Ilya Gruzberg, University of Chicago

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

William Gelbart, UCLA

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

David Chandler, University of California Berkeley

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Frans Pretorius, Princeton University

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Eisenbud Lecture Series in Mathematics and Physics
Daniel Freed, University of Texas at Austin

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Randall Kamien, University of Pennsylvania

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

TBA

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Scott Aaronson, MIT