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Click here for:| Date: | Thursday |
| Time: | 1:30-3:00 PM |
| Place: | Classroom Building, Room 106B, OSU |
| & Bizzell Library, Room 104, OU | |
| Inquiries: | kaladi.babu@okstate.edu or milton@nhn.ou.edu |
| Date: | Thursday |
| Time: | 3:30-4:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 110 |
| Inquiries: | bret.flanders@okstate.edu@okstate.edu or s.nandi@okstate.edu |
| Date: | Friday (bi)weekly |
| Time: | 2:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 147 |
| Inquiries: | perk@okstate.edu |
No talks scheduled: Prelim Exams
No talks scheduled: First Week of Classes
No talks scheduled
| Speaker: | Dr. James Wicksted |
| Head, Department of Physics | |
| Oklahoma State University | |
| Date: | Tuesday, January 23, 2007 |
| Time: | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM |
| Place: | Case Study 3 (Room 416), Student Union |
| Title: | NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: 2007 Competition |
Background. Oklahoma plans to submit a new application in the fall 2007 for continued support through the National Science Foundation Research Infrastructure Improvement (RII) Program. The current Oklahoma RII award of $9.0 million supports research infrastructure development in the disciplines of nanotechnology and plant virus biodiversity and ecology. New scientific themes will be selected for the 2007 application. Proposals from Oklahoma research groups in any of the disciplines supported by the NSF will be considered for inclusion in the 2007 application. Dr. Jim Wicksted will provide insights into the current status of the NSF EPSCoR Program and what is expected for those who wish to propose a new scientific theme area for the next grant application.
| Speaker: | Dr. John Mintmire |
| Department of Physics | |
| Oklahoma State University | |
| Date: | Thursday, January 25, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | Computational Simulations of Quasi-1D Nanostructures |
One-dimensional nanostructures such as inorganic nanowires and nanotubes represent potential materials for key components of future electronic, optoelectronic, and nanoelectromechanical systems. They will also serve as important model systems to demonstrate quantum-size effects in nanostructured materials. Understanding the properties of these nanostructures is essential to the development of devices based on their use. My presentation will discuss ongoing work in our research group at Oklahoma State on the development of new computational tools and their application for theoretical simulations of inorganic nanowires and nanotubes as well as on multiwalled carbon nanotubes, carbon nanowires, and graphitic nanoribbons.
Note: Due to unexpected action of the registrar the colloquia in this semester will be in room PS 141.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
| Speaker: | Dr. Chang-Kee Jung |
| Department of Physics | |
| State University of New York at Stony Brook | |
| Date: | Thursday, February 1, 2007 |
| Time: | 1:30 PM |
| Place: | 106 B Studio Room, Classroom Building, OSU |
| & Nielsen Hall, Room 103, OU | |
| Title: | T2K (Tokai to Kamioka) Long Baseline Neutrino Oscillation Experiment |
T2K is a second generation long baseline neutrino experiment to probe the masses and mixing of the muon neutrino with other species. It is the first long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment proposed and approved in the world to look explicitly for electron neutrino appearance from muon neutrinos, thereby measuring θ13, the last unknown mixing angle in the lepton sector. T2K will use Super-Kamiokande as the far detector to measure neutrino rates at a distance of 295 km from the J-PARC accelerator. The proposed experiment requires construction of a neutrino beam line, a near detector complex at 280 m (ND280) to measure the unoscillated flux, and, if possible, an intermediate detector at 2 km from the proton beam target. Recently, NUSAG (Neutrino Science Assessment Group) has recommended a support for the T2K US B280 collaboration's proposal to construct subsystems of the Beamline and ND280 Detector. Initial funding for the FY06 activities have been already approved by DOE.
| Speaker: | Dr. Chang-Kee Jung |
| Department of Physics | |
| State University of New York at Stony Brook | |
| Date: | Thursday, February 1, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | Henderson DUSEL: “Unearthing the Secrets of the Universe, Underground” |
The HUSEP (Henderson Underground Science and Engineering Project) collaboration was formed in April 2004 for the purpose of establishing an underground science and engineering lab at the Henderson Mine, Empire, Colorado, owned by the Climax Molybdenum Company, a subsidiary of the Phelps Dodge Corporation. The collaboration is a national organization that has representatives from Henderson Mine, the science and engineering departments of several regional and national universities. NSF has endorsed the value of a Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) that will offer an exciting opportunity to illuminate the dark side of Earth, life, and the cosmos. It will allow us to answer fundamental physics questions as to the nature of dark matter, the properties of the neutrinos and the stability of matter. It will provide a unique observatory to explore the microbial processes and evolution under our planet's surface and the complex connection between tectonics, rock properties and multifaceted reaction and transport phenomena. It will enable a dramatic improvement in underground construction, resource extraction and environmental remediation industries. DUSEL will also provide unique opportunities for cross-disciplinary education and outreach and for involvement of minority-serving institutions and local communities.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
| Speaker: | Dr. Jagdish (Jay) Narayan |
| John C. C. Fan Family Distinguished Chair in Materials Science and Engineering & | |
| Director of the NSF Center for Advanced Materials and Smart Structures | |
| North Carolina State University | |
| Date: | Monday, February 5, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | 102 Advanced Technology Research Center |
| Title: | Advanced Materials & Nanotechnology |
This talk addresses some of the fundamental issues and critical advantages in reducing the grain size/ feature size to the nanoscale regime [1,2]. As the grain size/ feature size is reduced below a critical value, the defect content in materials can be frozen or reduced virtually to zero. Thus, nanostructured materials offer a unique opportunity to realize the property of a perfect material, with profound implications for nanoelectronics, solid-state lighting, optoelectronics, superhard materials, nanomagnetics, sensors and information storage. However, with this opportunity comes a great challenge in terms of engineering a large fraction of atoms near the surfaces and interfaces. Another challenge is to self-assemble nanounits with desired microstructure and properties. This presentation briefly reviews these research areas with a focus on integrated smart systems. In addition, the need for coherent research programs relating science and technology to manufacturing is discussed in the context of a global economy.
Dr. Narayan received the MS and PhD degrees in Materials Science and Engineering, from the University of California at Berkeley. He received the BS degree with high honors in materials science and engineering, with minors in electrical engineering and solid-state physics, from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur in India. Following the PhD, Dr. Narayan worked at the Lawrence Berkeley and Oak Ridge National Labs. He then joined the North Carolina State University as Director of the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina. From 1990 to 1992 he served as the Director of the Materials Research Division at the National Science Foundation. He has published over 1000 papers and supervised more than 50 PhD students. His interests include nano materials and commercialization of university-based research.
| Speaker: | Dr. Michael B. Santos |
| Department of Physics and Astronomy | |
| University of Oklahoma | |
| Date: | Thursday, February 8, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | InSb-Based Heterostructures for Electronic Device Applications |
In narrow-gap semiconductors, electrons have properties that are much different than in GaAs or Si. For example, the effective mass of electrons in InSb is two orders of magnitude smaller than the mass in free space. This property can be exploited in electronic device applications, including field-effect transistors, magnetic-field detectors and ballistic transport devices, where a high mobility or a long mean free path is required. The strength of the interaction between an electron’s spin and a magnetic field is also enhanced in InSb. The consequences of a small effective mass and large spin-orbit coupling are seen in far-infrared spectroscopy and charge transport measurements performed on structures with nanometer-scale dimensions in one or more directions.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
| Speaker: | Dr. Melik C. Demirel |
| Department of Engineering Science & Mechanics | |
| Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 | |
| Date: | Friday, February 9, 2007 |
| Time: | 11:00 AM |
| Place: | 103 ATRC |
| Title: | Emergent Properties of Spatially Organized Polymer Nanowires Fabricated by Vapor Deposition |
We have engineered highly porous poly(p-xylene) structures consist of networks or columns of nanowires (50nm). Polymeric nanowires, which have an aspect ratio of 1000:1, are deposited by a novel procedure which combines aspects of physical and chemical vapor deposition processes. The structure and morphology of the polymer nanowires are characterized by electron, IR and XPS microscopy. Polymer nanowires are inexpensive to fabricate in comparison other lithography methods. The deposition method is simple and does not require any mask, lithography method or a surfactant. Physical and chemical properties of the films can be controlled and manipulated at the nanoscale by altering the side groups chemistry of poly(p-xylene)s or by changing the shape (i.e. chiral, chevron or columnar) of the nanowire respectively. Our ability to chemically and physically control these polymeric nanowires to produce films with a wide variety of biological properties makes them attractive candidates for use as biocoatings, biosensors, cell culture substrates and implant /device coatings.
Note: Refreshments will be served.
| Speaker: | Dr. Xincheng Xie |
| Department of Physics | |
| Oklahoma State University | |
| Date: | Thursday, February 15, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | The Heat Generation by Electric Current in Nano-Devices |
In this work, we study the heat generation in a nano-device with an electric current flowing through. A general formula for the heat generation is derived by using the non-equilibrium Keldysh Green’s functions. This formula can be applied in the linear and non-linear transport regions, for time-dependent cases, and with multi-terminal systems. The formula is also valid if the nano-device contains various interactions. As an application of the formula, the heat generation of the device with lead-quantum dot-lead is investigated. The dc and the ac biases are studied in detail. We find several interesting behaviors that are unique to nano-devices, revealing significant difference from heat generation in macroscopic systems.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
| Speaker: | Dr. Frank Wilczek |
| 2004 Nobel Laureate in Physics | |
| Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics | |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Date: | Tuesday, February 20, 2007 |
| Time: | 4:00 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | Ask a Nobel Laureate |
This will be a question & answer session. Refreshments will be served in PS 141.
| Speaker: | Dr. Frank Wilczek |
| 2004 Nobel Laureate in Physics | |
| Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics | |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Date: | Tuesday, February 20, 2007 |
| Time: | 8:00 PM |
| Place: | Student Union Theater |
| Title: | The Universe is a Strange Place |
Over the course of the twentieth century we have constructed a very successful fundamental theory of the behavior of matter. Viewed from this perspective, the world looks very different from our everyday reality. It is a very strange place and a beautiful one—in particular, we’ve come to understand that the building blocks of matter appear as notes in Music of the Void. I’ll describe this using a combination of facts, pictures, and jokes. Finally I’ll discuss some recent discoveries indicating that the world is even stranger than we’ve understood so far, and how we’re rising to the challenge.
Dr. Wilczek is considered one of the world’s most eminent theoretical physicists. He has received many prizes for his work in physics, including the Nobel Prize of 2004 for work he did as a graduate student at Princeton University, when he was only 21 years old. He is known, among other things, for the discovery of asymptotic freedom, the development of quantum chromodynamics, axions and the discovery and exploitation of new forms of quantum statistics (anyons).
Dr. Wilczek is a co-recipient of the 2005 King Faisal International Prize for Science. Among his other awards, Wilczek received the 2003 High Energy and Particle Physics Prize from the European Physical Society; the 2003 Lillenfeld Prize of the American Physical Society for the 2002 Lorentz Medal of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Wilczek has taught at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He contributes regularly to Physics Today and Nature. He is also known for his ability to communicate with a wide range of audiences. Much in demand for public lectures, he has been anthologized in the Norton Anthology of Light Verse and twice in Best American Science Writing (2003, 2005). Together with his wife Betsy Devine, he wrote a beautiful book, Longing for the Harmonies.
Following the lecture, Dr. Wilczek will sign his new book, Fantastic Realities: 49 Mind Journeys and A Trip to Stockholm.
The fantastic reality that is modern physics is open for your exploration, guided by one of its primary architects and interpreters, Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek. Some jokes, some poems and extracts from wife Betsy Devine’s sparkling chronicle of what it’s like to live through a Nobel Prize provide easy entertainment. There’s also some history, some philosophy, some exposition of frontier science, and some frontier science, for your lasting edification.
49 pieces, including many from Wilczek’s award-winning Reference Frame columns in Physics Today, and some never before published, are gathered by style and subject into a dozen chapters, each with a revealing, witty introduction.
Profound ideas, presented with style: What could be better? Enjoy.
| Speaker: | Dr. Frank Wilczek |
| 2004 Nobel Laureate in Physics | |
| Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics | |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Date: | Wednesday, February 21, 2007 |
| Time: | 9:00 AM |
| Place: | Student Union, Case Study 3 |
| Title: | Frontiers of Science |
| Speaker: | Dr. Norbert F. Scherer |
| Department of Chemistry | |
| James Franck Institute, University of Chicago | |
| Date: | Thursday, February 22, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | Free Energy Functions and Hidden Degrees of Freedom |
| from Non-equilibrium Manipulations of Single Molecules |
Recent advances in statistical mechanical theories of non-equilibrium processes can be utilized in analysis of single molecule experiments to derive free energy functions (surfaces). Specifically, we have employed the Jarzynski Equality in the analysis of force-extension measurements of single photoactive yellow protein (PYP) molecules. The resulting free energy functions measured as a function of pull axis coordinates results in clear signatures of anisotropic mechanical responses. Steered Molecular Dynamics (SMD) simulations allow establishing the microscopic details of the force-induced unfolding paths. In analogy with the behavior of extensible freely jointed chain models, we can identify signatures of dominantly entropic or mixed entropic and enthalpic force-extension curves for individual molecules. The second part of the talk describes a novel experimental approach to establish signature of memory effects in single molecules. Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) is used to monitor the conformational changes of single RNA molecules in response to periodic perturbations of the thermodynamic state of the solution. Sudden jumps in Mg2+ ion concentrations, conducted in a repetitive fashion, readily reveal the existence of slowly relaxing “hidden” degrees of freedom that are coupled to the observed coordinates. Generalized Langevin simulations allow establishing the necessary conditions for observing oscillations in the kinetic relaxation of single molecules.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
| Speaker: | Dr. Abel Julio González |
| Senior Advisor, Nuclear Regulatory Authority | |
| Argentine Government | |
| Date: | Thursday, February 22, 2007 |
| Time: | 7:30 PM |
| Place: | Student Union Little Theater |
| Title: | The International Atomic Energy Agency: |
| The Nobel Peace Prize 2005 |
For over two decades, Dr. González was director of Radiation Safety at the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog. As a senior officer, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the Agency in 2005 for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.
Dr. González is an expert in the fields of radiation protection, i.e. protecting people and their habitat against the detrimental effects of ionizing radiation and safety and security of radiation sources.. He is a member of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, an apolitical technical body reporting to the United Nations General assembly, which estimates the global levels and effects of exposure to ionizing radiation.
Dr. González is Commissioner of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, a non-profit academic charity founded in 1928 by the International Congress of Radiology, which issues global recommendations on radiological protection; Vice-President of the International Radiation Protection Association, which assembles and represents the radiation protection professionals around the world; and a member of the IAEA’s Commission of Safety Standards, which is charged with establishing international standards on nuclear, radiation, waste and transport safety.
| Speaker: | Dr. Abel Julio González |
| Senior Advisor, Nuclear Regulatory Authority | |
| Argentine Government | |
| Date: | Friday, February 23, 2007 |
| Time: | 2:00 PM |
| Place: | 106 Noble Research Center |
| Title: | 2006 Scientific Progress in Radiation Protection: |
| Protecting People and Their Habitat Against Atomic Radiation |
Dr. González will speak about the United Nations estimates on the health effects of radiation exposure from a report by the United Nations Committee on the Effect of Atomic Radiation; the latest recommendations on radiation protection from the International Commission on Radiological Protection; developments in the protection of patients in radio-diagnosis and radio-therapy and outcomes from recent international conferences; an international assessment of the effects of the Chernobyl accident with results from the Chernobyl Forum; and protection against a terrorist attack with radioactive substances which includes current ICRP recommendations on terrorism.
| Speaker: | Dr. Enge Wang |
| Institute of Physics | |
| Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China | |
| Date: | Thursday, March 1, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | A Step up to Self-Assembly |
Self-assembly has been ingeniously used in nature, such as the formation of beautiful snowflakes. However, our present understanding is still too shallow to achieve such complex process. By using ab initio kinetic Monte Carlo simulation, we can now uncover some of the building regulations of the island formation and decay mechanism on surface down to atomic-scale. In this talk, I will first discuss the one-, two-, and three-dimensional Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barriers in kinetics-driven growth. Within this framework, I will show how to control the island shape, the island instability, and the film roughness. However, the ES barrier doesn't describe the whole story of atomic processes in epitaxy. In the second part of this talk, I will introduce a novel concept: a true upward adatom diffusion on metal surface, which is beyond the traditional Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barrier model. Our study demonstrates that such novel adatom ascending processes can lead to the existence of an intriguing faceting instability. This faceting instability is characterized by the formation of hut-shaped islands with precise slope selections, and its dynamical evolution and kinetic nature are explored in comparison with experimental observations.
The work was done partly in collaboration with W.G. Zhu, J. Wu, M.Z. Li, F.B. Mongeot, U. Valbusa, and Zhenyu Zhang.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
Week of APS March Meeting
| Speaker: | Sir John Pendry FRS |
| Chair in Theoretical Solid State Physics | |
| Imperial College, London University, U.K. | |
| Date: | Friday, March 9, 2007 |
| Time: | 2:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 110 |
| Title: | What is Wrong with the Planck Radiation Formula? |
| A Quantum Story of Radiative Exchange of Heat Between Nanostructures |
SIR JOHN PENDRY holds the Chair in Theoretical Solid State Physics at Imperial College, London University in the United Kingdom. He is one of the world's leading physicists. His book “Low Energy Electron Diffraction” established the correct theoretical model for this important experimental probe of surface physics. Dr. Pendry joined the faculty at Cambridge as Fellow of Downing College in 1969, serving as Praelector of the College from 1974-1975. Pendry was Head of Theoretical Physics at the Science Research Council's Daresbury Laboratory from 1976 to 1981 when he moved to be Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London. Sir John has authored or co-authored more than 200 publications.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 from 2:00-2:30 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
| Speaker: | Sir John Pendry FRS |
| Chair in Theoretical Solid State Physics | |
| Department of Physics | |
| Imperial College, London, UK | |
| Date: | Friday, March 9, 2007 |
| Time: | 7:00 PM |
| Place: | ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center |
| Title: | Invisible Cloaks & A Perfect Lens |
| Speaker: | Stephen Gabriel |
| Department of Physics | |
| Oklahoma State University | |
| Date: | Thursday, March 15, 2007 |
| Time: | 1:30 PM |
| Place: | 106 B Studio Room, Classroom Building, OSU |
| & Nielsen Hall, Room 103, OU | |
| Title: | A New Higgs Doublet Model |
| Speaker: | Dr. Daniel R. Grischkowsky |
| Regents Professor and Bellmon Professor of Optoelectronics | |
| School of Electrical & Computer Engineering | |
| Oklahoma State University | |
| Date: | Thursday, March 15, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | Unique Features and Accomplishments of Waveguide THz Time-Domain Spectroscopy (THz-TDS) |
Waveguide THz-TDS utilizes THz spatial confinement to sub-wavelength dimensions together with long propagation lengths to dramatically improve the sample filling factor and consequently the sensitivity. For the TEM-mode of parallel plate metal waveguides, the spatial confinement, determined by the separation b between the plates, can be easily b = λ/10. We have demonstrated strong transmission of a THz pulse through a compressed waveguide with a minimum midpoint separation of only 8 μm, corresponding to b less than λ/100 for the lower frequency components of the pulse. Waveguide THz-TDS enables characterization of extremely thin sample layers within the waveguide. Our initial record setting measurement determined the THz index of refraction and absorption of 20 nm water layers on the waveguide plates. Our most recent work has discovered a powerful THz line-narrowing effect for microcrystalline organic films. A careful calibration of the THz absorption by the metal parallel plate waveguides has indicated a reduced conductivity in the skin-depth of fabricated metals.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
Spring Break.
| Speaker: | Dr. Alexander Khanov |
| Department of Physics | |
| Oklahoma State University | |
| Date: | Thursday, March 29, 2007 |
| Time: | 1:30 PM |
| Place: | 106 B Studio Room, Classroom Building, OSU |
| & Nielsen Hall, Room 103, OU | |
| Title: | Higgs Searches at the Tevatron: March ’07 |
| Speaker: | Dr. Roberto Bogomolni |
| Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry | |
| University of California at Santa Cruz | |
| Date: | Thursday, March 29, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | The LOV-Domain Histidine Kinases: A New Family of Bacterial Photoreceptors |
Light provides living organisms environmental information crucial for their biological functions and survival. Biological light sensory transduction is carried out by photoreceptor proteins that contain light-absorbing centers (chromophores). Plant bending towards the light (phototropism) and other responses to blue-light have been recently shown to be mediated by a light receptor protein (phototropin) that contains a derivative of vitamin B2 (a flavin) as chromophore. The flavin is bound to a small protein sub-domain (the LOV domain) that is also found associated to a many blue-light receptors proteins of algae, fungi, and bacteria. The LOV domain acts in all these systems as a ubiquitous light sensory module that after light stimulation generates an intramolecular signal that propagates to other segments of the proteins (the output domains) activating a variety of enzymatic and biochemical functions. Bacteria contain enzymes that catalyze the phosphorylation of protein histidine residues (histidine kinases, HKs) that are essential in environmental sensing and in the regulation of gene expression. We have recently discovered a new family of bacterial HKs containing light-sensing LOV domains (LOV-HKs), and shown that the light-activation of a LOV-HK in Brucella (a higly pathogenic bacterium) is required for virulency. The LOV domain is activated by light by a novel mechanism that involves formation of a covalent bond between the protein and the flavin chromophore. We have used time-resolved optical and vibration spectroscopy to unveil these photochemical reactions. In my talk I will describe the LOV-domain molecular activation reactions and I will present current speculation on intramolecular signal propagation mechanisms.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
| Speaker: | Dr. Moonsub Shim |
| Department of Materials Science and Engineering | |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | |
| Date: | Thursday, April 5, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | Molecular Adsorption, Carrier Injection, and Fano Lines in Carbon Nanotubes |
Carbon nanotubes possess many interesting and potentially useful properties such as ballistic transport, current carrying capacities on the order of 109 A/cm2, and one of the largest known specific stiffness. Yet many challenges remain due to difficulties in sorting out inherent properties from those altered by variations in the local chemical environment. We exploit electrolytes surrounding individual nanotubes to screen out many of the undesired effects and apply electrochemical potential to examine how nanotubes behave upon charge carrier injection. A combination of electron transport and Raman measurements at the single nanotube level reveals diameter dependent doping via non-covalent molecular adsorption in semiconducting tubes. In metallic tubes, peculiar electron-phonon coupling leads to Fano lineshape in addition to phonon softening at the band crossing point. Implications on physics and chemistry of carbon nanotubes are discussed.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
| Speaker: | Dr. Kim Milton |
| Department of Physics and Astronomy | |
| University of Oklahoma | |
| Date: | Thursday, April 12, 2007 |
| Time: | 1:30 PM |
| Place: | 106 B Studio Room, Classroom Building, OSU |
| & Bizzell Library, Room 103, OU | |
| Title: | How Does Casimir Energy Fall? |
| Speaker: | Dr. Roald Hoffman |
| 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry | |
| Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters | |
| Baker Laboratory | |
| Cornell University, Ithaca, NY | |
| Date: | Thursday, April 12, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:00 PM |
| Place: | 106 Noble Research Center |
| Title: | The Chemical Imagination at Work in Very Tight Places |
Diamond anvil cell and shock-wave technologies now permit the study of matter under multimegabar (i.e. several hundreds GPa) pressures. The properties of matter in this pressure regime differ drastically from those known at 1 atm. Just how different chemistry is at high pressure and the role that a chemical intuition for bonding and structure can have in understanding matter at high pressures will be explored in this lecture. I will discuss in detail an overlapping hierarchy of responses to increased density, consisting of (a) squeezing out van der Waals space (for molecular crystals); (b) increasing coordination; (c) decreasing the bond length of covalent bonds and the size of anions; and (d) an extreme regime of electrons moving off atoms and new modes of correlation. Examples of the startling chemistry and physics that emerge under such extreme conditions will alternate in this account with qualitative chemical ideas about the bonding involved.
| Speaker: | Dr. Yalin Lu |
| Sr. Research Physicist, Laser Optics Research Center (LORC) | |
| Department of Physics | |
| US Air Force Academy (USAFA), Colorado | |
| Date: | Thursday, April 12, 2007 |
| Time: | 4:00 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | Advanced Combinatorial Strategy in Nanophotonics and Nanoelectronics |
In more than a decade, the combinatorial strategy toward materials science has been mainly related to finding new or optimizing existing material compositions. Most recently the need for efficient structural optimization has been appearing, and the new structural combinatorial strategy can be one of the most effective tools for such an effort. This talk introduces the use of a new structural combinatorial strategy toward efficient nanoscale structural optimization and directly fabrication of new nanophotonic or nanoelectronic devices. It summarizes our recent progresses on new multi-functional nanostructured photodetector development, advanced negative refraction physics study via the efficient structural spreadsheet approach, and tunable plasmonic studies.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
| Speaker: | Dr. Roald Hoffman |
| 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry | |
| Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters | |
| Baker Laboratory | |
| Cornell University, Ithaca, NY | |
| Date: | Thursday, April 12, 2007 |
| Time: | 7:00 PM |
| Place: | Student Union Theater |
| Title: | Making Things: Changing Things |
Chemistry, poised between the physical and biological universes, doesn’t deal with the infinitely small or large. It is very much on the human scale and from that derives its great interest and its problems. In this generously illustrated lecture several views of chemistry will be presented: First of all, chemistry is, as it has always been, the art, craft, business of substances and their transformations. It is now also the science of molecules, both simple and complex—chemists always think simultaneously of macroscopic substances and microscopic molecules changing. One must also look at people’s perception of chemistry, in terms of its benefits, yes, but also in terms of its risks. Indeed, there is no way that a human activity so closely tied to change can be viewed without passion by people. This deeply democratizing science is full of tensions, which will be explored in this lecture. As will the strong element of creation or synthesis in chemistry which brings chemistry close to the arts.
| Speaker: | Dr. S. Dutta Gupta |
| School of Physics | |
| University of Hyderabad, India | |
| Date: | Monday, April 16, 2007 |
| Time: | 2:00 PM |
| Place: | PS 117 |
| Title: | Rigorous Results for Perfect Antireflection Coatings |
| Speaker: | Dr. Jogesh C. Pati |
| Emeritus Professor & Sr. Research Scientist | |
| Department of Physics | |
| University of Maryland, College Park, MD | |
| & Stanford University | |
| Date: | Thursday, April 19, 2007 |
| Time: | 1:30 PM |
| Place: | 106 B Studio Room, Classroom Building, OSU |
| & Bizzell Library, Room 104, OU | |
| Title: | Leptogenesis and Neutrino Oscillations Within a Predictive G(224) or SO(10) Symmetry |
| Speaker: | Dr. Jogesh C. Pati |
| Emeritus Professor & Sr. Research Scientist | |
| Department of Physics | |
| University of Maryland, College Park, MD | |
| & Stanford University | |
| Date: | Thursday, April 19, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | Quest For Unification: With Neutrino Masses Revealed Proton Decay is the Missing Link |
Starting with Maxwell’s unification of electricity and magnetism the quest for unification of the fundamental particles and of their forces has progressed remarkably well especially over the last four decades. This has been possible through an intimate interplay between theory and experiments at several laboratories of the world. The talk will present a brief overview of this progress including the growth of the standard model of particle physics.
The main focus of the talk will be on the idea of grand unification that proposes an underlying unity of quarks and leptons and of their three basic forces: The Weak, The Electromagnetic and The Nuclear. There is now impressive evidence in favor of this idea which I will enlist. This includes: (i) The observed peculiar quantum numbers of quarks and leptons in a family; (ii) Quantization of electric charge; (iii) Observed unification of the coupling strengths of the three forces that occurs at very high energies; (iv) Neutrino oscillations exhibiting tiny but non-vanishing neuitrino masses; (v) certain relations among the masses of quarks and leptons in a family; and last but not least (vi) The observed tiny matter-antimatter asymmetry that is crucial to the origin of life.
Some of this evidence support not only the idea of grand unification but also that of supersymmetry that proposes a symmetry between fermions and bosons. The missing links of this grand unification attempts are: (a) supersymmetry that will be searched at the forthcoming Large Hadron Collider, AND (b) Proton Decay that is the hallmark of grand unification. A search for the latter would need a major underground detector that would also be able to probe sensitively neutrino oscillations and supernova physics.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
Prefinals Week
| Speaker: | Mr. Christoph Thiel |
| Institut für Optik, Information und Photonik | |
| Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany | |
| Date: | Monday, April 23, 2007 |
| Time: | 2:00 PM |
| Place: | PS 117 |
| Title: | Atom-Photon Entanglement and the Production of Dicke States |
| Speaker: | Dr. Yanhua Shih |
| Department of Physics | |
| University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250 | |
| Date: | Thursday, April 26, 2007 |
| Time: | 3:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 141 |
| Title: | Quantum Imaging |
One of the most surprising consequences of quantum mechanics is the entanglement of two or more distant particles. Although questions regarding fundamental issues of quantum theory still exist, quantum entanglement has started to play important roles in practical applications. Quantum imaging is one of these exciting areas. Quantum imaging has so far demonstrated two peculiar features: (1) reproducing ghost images in a “nonlocal” manner; and (2) enhancing the spatial resolution of imaging beyond the diffraction limit. Both the nonlocal behavior and the apparent violation of the uncertainty principle are due to the two-photon coherent effect of entangled states, which involves the superposition of two-photon amplitudes, a non-classical concept in the quantum theory of photo-detection. This talk will review the history of two-photon imaging and emphasize the non-classical nature of the phenomenon.
Note: The traditional student-speaker chat will begin in Physical Sciences Room 147 at 3.00 PM. All students are welcome! Refreshments will be served.
| Speaker: | Dr. Helen Au-Yang |
| Department of Physics, OSU | |
| Date: | Friday, April 27, 2007 |
| Time: | 2:00 PM |
| Place: | PS 147 |
| Title: | Chiral Potts Model |
Finals Week
No talks scheduled.
| Speaker: | Dr. Tatsuru Kikuchi |
| Theory Group | |
| KEK, Tsukuba, Japan | |
| Date: | Tuesday, May 15, 2007 |
| Time: | 12:30 PM |
| Place: | PS 147 |
| Title: | Phenomenology of the Minimal SO(10) Model and its Extensions |
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Last Updated: .
This page was prepared by Helen Au-Yang and Jacques H.H. Perk.
jhhp@jperk.phy.okstate.edu