Winter 2012

01/21/2012 | Einstein as a Cultural Figure -- Philip Glass, Sean Carroll (Johns Hopkins), Michael Turner (University of Chicago), Fred Adams (U-M Physics)

 Join us for this special day as Einstein on the Beach composer Philip Glass participates in a panel of special guests to ponder the cultural significance of Einstein. Glass is joined by Sean Carroll, a theoretical physicist from the California Institute of Technology who has been featured in Wired magazine, The New York Times, and on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, and University of Chicago theoretical physicist and cosmologist Michael Turner who co-authored The Early Universe. U-M faculty member Fred Adams moderates the discussion.  

01/28/2012 | Crystals Made of Light -- Rachel Sapiro (U-M Physics)

 Dr. Sapiro attempts to shed some light on how light waves can be aligned to interfere with each other to form a standing wave with a crystal lattice structure. This structure, called an "optical lattice," is a powerful tool that can be used for a wide variety of applications: it can force large microscopic and/or biological particles to form crystals; it can induce unique states of quantum matter; and it can be used to explore fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. An optical lattice can also be used such that the role of light and matter is reversed, with the matter behaving like a wave reflecting and diffracting off the crystal-like light.  

02/04/2012 | From Negative Refraction to Wireless Power Transfer: The Path of the Superlens -- Roberto Merlin (U-M Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)

 Professor Merlin's talk takes us from the late 1800's, when Abbe published his ground-breaking paper on the limit of resolution of an optical instrument, to the turn of the 20th century, when the field of near-field optics experienced tremendous growth, emphasizing recent work on sub-wavelength focusing using negative-index slabs. In the second half of the talk, he introduces the concept of near-field plates. These are grating-like planar structures, which provide focusing well beyond the diffraction limit, at arbitrary frequencies. The subwavelength electromagnetic-field distributions of the plates closely resemble those of negative-index slabs. Practical implementations of these plates hold promise for near-field data storage, non-contact sensing, imaging, nanolithography and wireless power transfer applications. Experimental results on a microwave near-field plate will be presented, which demonstrate focusing of 1 GHz radiation at a resolution of LAMBDA/20.  

02/11/2012 | String Theory and Our Real World -- Gordon Kane (U-M Physics)

 Professor Kane gives us a primer on string theory. It is an exciting field because it can address most or all of the questions we hope to understand about the physical world, about the quarks and leptons that make up our world, the forces that act on quarks and electrons to form our world, cosmology, and much more. Professor Kane explains why string theory is testable in the same ways as the rest of physics, why many people including string theorists are confused about that, and how string theory is already or soon being tested in several ways, including LHC physics and Higgs boson physics.  

02/18/2012 | Quantum Field Theory: The Language of Particle Physics -- Henriette Elvang (U-M Physics)

 Quantum field theory is the mathematical language of particle physics. It models the interactions between elementary particles in Nature and the forces through which they interact. The agreement between the theoretical predictions of quantum field theory and experimental results is remarkable, and currently new results are anticipated with excitement from the Large Hadron Collider. Professor Elvang illustrates the ideas of quantum field theory, why we need it, and how it is used in particle physics. Feynman diagrams will be explained, and she also outlines some novel approaches that reveal a surprising and enticing mathematical richness in particle scattering processes.  

03/10/2012 | The Shape of Our Universe: The Complexity of Large-Scale Structure and Large-Scale Science -- Brian Nord Jr. (U-M Physics)

 In the first of Dr. Nord's lectures he examines questions such as what is the size and shape of our universe? How do we know? What kind of experiments can we actually perform? The universe's shape and internal structure are primarily driven by the force of gravity and by the mysterious dark energy. Over the last century, dramatic strides have been made in our understanding of large-scale cosmic structure, in part due to successes in computational endeavors, which have produced intricate and complex simulations of the observable universe. He discusses both the cosmic web of structure in the universe and the webs of knowledge that support the modern paradigms of complex problems, like those found in physical cosmology. And finally, he examines the changing nature of the scientific endeavor -- for example, the evolution of astronomy from the early days of lone observers to large modern collaborations.  

03/17/2012 | Cosmic Engines: The Complex Evolution of Galaxies -- Brian Nord Jr. (U-M Physics)

 In his second lecture, Dr. Nord discusses galaxies, which are the building blocks of our universe's cosmic web. They are held together by invisible dark matter, house supermassive black holes in their cores, and act as homes to solar systems like our own. With such diverse aspects, the evolution of galaxies is a very complex process: it includes periods of passive growth, as well as epochs of turbulent upheaval. Moreover, the energy released by a galaxy often affects the environment far outside its confines -- potentially shutting off life in neighboring galaxies. Many complex systems are hard to understand, because physics at small scales strongly impacts physics are larger scales. Using both simulations and observations, Dr. Nord tells the tale of a galaxy's life, from birth to death; and discusses parallel scientific challenges that are closer to home, like the exploration of Earth's climate change.  

03/24/2012 | String Symphonies in the Sky: Understanding Black Holes Using String Theory -- Finn Larsen (U-M Physics)

 Professor Larsen speaks to us about the gravitational forces near a black hole. Apparently, they are so strong that they can activate the smallest imaginable structures in matter. In this domain, quantum properties dominate and gravity must be interpreted in terms of unfamiliar fundamental strings. Recent research gives convincing accounts of black hole properties by appealing to the intricate vibrational patterns supported by strings.