2000-2001 Physics & Astronomy Colloquia

15 Sept. Prof. Timothy Halpin-Healy – Barnard College
BSC 106 – 2:30 PM
“Extremal Paths in a Random Energy Landscape”
21 Sept. Prof. Jocelyn Bell Burnell, The Open University (UK)
Convocation – Public Lecture – TCL 123 – 8:30 PM
“Tick, Tick, Tick Pulsating Star, How We Wonder What You Are!”
23 Sept. Prof. Daniel Kleppner – M.I.T.
Convocation – Public Lecture – TCL 123 – 3:00 PM
“Two Hundred Years of Quantum Physics”
6 Oct. Astronomy Summer Students Research Talks
TBL 202 – 2:30 PM
Students: Gabriel Brammer ’02, Bethany Cobb ’02, Kathleen Gibbons ’03, Mike Gioiello ’02, Daniel Seaton ’01, Joel Iams ’01, Joey Shapiro ’01, and Darik Velez ’01
13 Oct. Prof. Priyan Dias – University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
TBL 202 – 2:30 PM
“Constructing a Philosophy of Engineering” [abstract]
20 Oct. Dr. Alexander D. Cronin – M.I.T. – Cambridge, MA
TBL 202 – 2:30 PM
“Atom-beam Interferometry and the Transition from Quantum to Classical Behavior”
27 Oct. Prof. David S. Citrin ’85 – Washington State University
TBL 202 – 2:30 PM
“How Fast Can Semiconductors Emit Light? Exciton Polaritons in Low-Dimensional Systems” [abstract]
3 Nov. Prof. Frank Moscatelli – Swarthmore College
TBL 202 – 2:30 PM
“NIST F2 – The Cesium Fountain Atomic Clock” [abstract]
10 Nov. Prof. Bill Wootters – Williams College
Joint Computer Science/Physics/Astro colloquium
TCL 202 – 2:30 PM
“Computing in Parallel Worlds: The Quantum Search Algorithm”
30 Nov. Dr. Seth Shostak, SETI Inst.
Public Lecture – Brooks Rogers – 8:00 PM
Title: Searching for Extraterrestrials”
1 Dec. Prof. John Krupczak – Hope College – Holland, MI
TBL 202 – 2:30 PM
“Demystifying Technology: Using Consumer Products to Explain Some Principles of Physics”
3 Jan. Dr. Eric Pilger – Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology/SOEST
TPL 205 – 2:30 PM
“Hotspot Detection: Remote Monitoring of Fires and Volcanoes Using Weather Satellites”
4 Jan. Dr. Michael I. Larkin – Columbia University
TPL 205 – 4:15 PM
“Unconventional Superconductors: How Many Ways Can Electrons Avoid the Pauli Exclusion Principle?”
5 Jan. Honors Thesis Progress Reports
TPL 205 – 2:30 PM
Students: Benjamin Cooper ’01, Paul Friedberg ’01, Andrew Sullivan ’01, Kenneth Dennison ’01, Duane Lee ’01
8 Jan. Dr. Philip Collins – T.J. Watson Research Center
TPL 205 – 4:15 PM
“Carbon Nanotube Electronic Devices”
10 Jan. Prof. Janice Hudgings – Mount Holyoke College
TPL 205 – 4:15 PM
“Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers: A Bright Idea”
11 Jan. Dr. James Voelkel – The Johns Hopkins University
TPL 205 – 2:30 PM
“The Early Reception of Keplerian Astronomy in the 17th Century”
Sponsored by the Astronomy Dept. and the Leadership Program
15 Jan. Dr. Dwight Whitaker – University of Colorado – JILA
TPL 205 – 4:15 PM
“The People’s BEC: Towards a Bose-Einstein Condensate for the Masses”
15 Jan. Dr. Robert Williams – Former Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute
Brooks-Rogers Auditorium – 8:00 PM
“Probing The Universe With the Hubble Space Telescope”
Sponsored by the Astronomy Dept., the Leadership Program and the Lecture Committee
24-25 Jan. Bernhard Science Symposium – Women Scientists
Organizers: Sarah Bolton – Physics Dept. & Lee Park – Chemistry Dept.
9 – Feb. Dr. David DiVincenzo – IBM Watson Research Center
TPL 205 – 2:30 PM
“Prospects for the Physical Implementation of Quantum Computation”
2 March Dr. Susanne Lee – SUNY Albany
TPL 205 – 2:30 PM
“The Illuminating Case of the Bent X-rays”
9 March Prof. Jay Lawrence – Dartmouth College
TPL 205 – 2:30 PM
“Nonexponential Decay and Quantum Measurement Paradoxes”
11 April Alphonse Sterling – Marshall Space Flight Center
TPL 205 – 12:00 NOON
“Current Investigations in Solar Physics”
13 April Dr. Chad Orzel – Yale University
TPL 205 – 2:30 PM
“Squeezed States in a Bose-Einstein Condensate”
18 April Dr. Ted Jacobson – University of Maryland
TPL 205 – 2:30 PM
“Black Hole Entropy and the Holographic Principle”
27 April Dr. Jim Lerczak
TPL 205 – 2:30 PM
“Oceanic Internal Waves: From Internal Tides to Internal Surf”
4 May Dan Butts – Harvard Medical School
TPL 205 – 2:30 PM
“How Does Early Activity in the Retina Guide Brain Development?”
14 May Physics and Astrophysics Thesis Talks
TPL 205 – starting at 10:00 am
Ben Cooper, Paul Friedberg, Ken Dennison, Duane Lee, Joey Shapiro, Darik Vélez, Dan Seaton and Misa Cowee